Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will reject every Independent Senate amendment. She again called the senators satanic Luciferian monsters.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says her government will not accept a single amendment from the nine Independent senators to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property (Amendment) Bill, 2026, ahead of the bill’s second reading in the Senate on Monday. Persad-Bissessar, who again described the senators as “Luciferian monsters,” said the position stems from their unanimous vote last week against the government’s Special Operations Bill. The procurement bill passed the House of Representatives 25-10 on Wednesday and proposes expanded exemptions covering energy and national security matters, along with public-private partnerships for public housing.
The dispute traces back to the Special Operations Bill vote, which ended in a 15-15 tie in the Senate before Senate President Wade Mark exercised his casting vote to pass the legislation 16-15. All nine Independent senators joined six Opposition senators in voting against the bill, which establishes a framework for special operations in designated areas, including closed-area restrictions and search powers. Independent Senator Michael de la Bastide had said he could not support the bill because it placed emergency-style powers in the hands of the executive without sufficient judicial oversight, while Independent Senator Desiree Murray raised concerns over the absence of a mandatory body-camera requirement for police during such operations.
Government ministers have publicly backed the prime minister’s position. Housing Minister David Lee said the Independent senators had consistently sought to delay government legislation, while Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath defended Mark’s casting vote, citing a 2017 precedent set by former House Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George. Independent Senator Anthony Vieira called the government’s refusal to consider amendments “deeply regrettable,” arguing that scrutiny and amendment are fundamental to Parliament’s function. Opposition MP Camille Robinson-Regis separately disputed comparisons to the 2017 precedent, arguing that a presiding officer’s casting vote has traditionally been used to preserve the status quo rather than create a majority the government could not secure on its own.
Persad-Bissessar also addressed Opposition MP Marvin Gonzales, who had called her a “political La Diablesse,” saying she considered the description a compliment. On crime, she said the murder toll stood at 260 for the year, with the government working to keep it below last year’s total, and said the majority of killings were linked to disputes between ordinary citizens rather than gang activity. She said she did not intend to raise her concerns about the Independent senators with President Christine Kangaloo for now, citing the recent death of Kangaloo’s mother.