Trinidad PM threatens to take the media to court
November 15, 2008
Published on Monday, November 10, 2008
By Oscar Ramjeet
Caribbean Net News Special Correspondent
Email: oscar@caribbeannetnews.com
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, is hopping mad with the media and has threatened to go to court about allegations made against him in the press.
He told newsmen that he would not hesitate to visit media houses and complain if he disapproves of the content they produce.
Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning. AFP PHOTO The Trinidad Guardian reported that Manning said, “I have taken a personal decision and that decision is that if ever I am aggrieved by anything the media does in the future, I am going to the courts.”
He was expressing his disappointment with the media in the aftermath of reports that he had stormed into the offices of radio station 94.1FM to complain about two radio announcers who criticised him during a broadcast.
Several individuals and groups have expressed concerns over Manning’s visit to the radio station and questioned whether it was an attempt to suppress press freedom.
But Manning maintained that it was his right as a citizen to visit anywhere he wanted.
“First of all, I didn’t suspend anybody from a radio station. I have no such authority,” he said. “If individuals were suspended from a radio station, it was purely internal and a management issue that has absolutely nothing to do with the Prime Minister.”
“The second issue, therefore, is whether it is proper for the PM to visit a radio station,” he added. “If it is proper for a citizen of T&T to visit a radio station, then it cannot be improper for the PM as a citizen of T&T to do the same - unless of course there are rights available for citizens in T&T, except the PM of the country. That, of course, cannot be so.”
Asked whether he would acknowledge that his influence as Prime Minister resulted in the suspension of the two announcers, Manning responded, “What influence? I told those in authority at the station what had happened and I made it clear. I was making no complaint and expected no redress because expecting redress from the media is asking too much.”
He also revealed that he was taking the matter of the weekly newspaper report about him storming into the station to court.
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