The hard, though largely unspoken rule for representatives of a political party in TT is that a vote in Parliament runs along party lines. The local...
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THE EDITOR: In my view, Dr Rai Ragbir, the UNC's Cumuto/Manzanilla MP, broke ranks with the UNC and voted for the Whistleblower Protection Bill because of principle. However, I think there is more to it than that. I believe he broke ranks due to his profession as a physician. Doctors normally take an oath to do all that is reasonably and legally possible to save lives. That principle is first and foremost in the Hippocratic Oath, as it is called in the medical field. Applied in the political arena, the oath signals that he has acted consciously not to harm anyone, but to save lives by supporting the bill. I don’t see any harm in supporting the bill, but the question is why the rest of the UNC MPs didn’t vote for it? Was it to toe the party line, or was it because the PNM would receive the credit? Whatever the case may be, Ragbir in my opinion acted by virtue of his conscience because the core of the bill protects the whistleblower who reports corruption or malfeasance in the political field. Some may call him "a PNM," or a “neemakaram.” or a disloyal UNC member, while others would praise him for his nobility in acting without fear or favour in doing what he considered the right thing, despite what the consequences may be. Whether he is on a journey to the political cemetery or his days in the UNC are numbered, Ragbir is a man with testicular fortitude and who has the interest of the people at heart. He is not saving the life of a patient, but saving the life of a nation. I think Ragbir did it because it was the right thing to do, and to do otherwise would have earned him sleepless nights and a guilty conscience. JAY RAKHAR via e-mail The post Why Ragbir broke ranks with UNC appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
The hard, though largely unspoken rule for representatives of a political party in TT is that a vote in Parliament runs along party lines. The local...
Cumuto/Manzanilla MP Dr Rai Ragbir told Newsday on Friday evening that he put the country's interest, and his conscience, first when he broke rank...
THE EDITOR: In the arena of parliamentary politics, votes can often serve as critical indicators of a representative's alignment, principles and...
CUMUTO/MANZANIILA MP Dr Rai Ragbir on Friday broke rank with opposition colleagues in the House of Representatives and voted for Government's...
OPPOSITION chief whip David Lee was philosophical when asked to respond to his colleague Rai Ragbir's surprise vote for the Government's bill in the...
Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds welcomed Cumuto/Manzanilla MP Dr Rai Ragbir's support for Government's Whistleblower Protection Bill...
ON June 21, the government and opposition unanimously passed a bill authorising the use of polygraph tests, drug testing and biometric identification...
THE EDITOR: The Newsday editorial of June 25 focused on the Government’s passage of whistleblower legislation by simple majority. The editorial...
FIVE days after the end of the UNC's internal elections, National Transformation Alliance (NTA) political leader Gary Griffith says he is still...
THE EDITOR: Thirty-eight for. None against! It appears that this nation owes a debt of gratitude to Cumuto/Manzanilla Member of Parliament Rai...