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Siparia
MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar, third from left, and Oropouche
West MP Mikela Panday, right, were pictures of elegance
as they chatted with colleagues Nizam Baksh, left, Chandresh
Sharma, and former Chaguanas Mayor Orlando Nagessar, outside
of the Red House in Port-of-Spain, before yesterday’s
ceremonial opening of Parliament.
Photo: Dilip Singh
Viewers
of Parliament’s Channel 11 are in for a hot premier
season, if yesterday’s convening of the Ninth Parliament
was anything to go by.
There were no radical changes to the agenda, even if PNM
MP Gary Hunt was the first—and it seemed the only early
one.
(His colleagues started arriving after UNC MPs Hamza Rafeeq,
Subhas Panday and Harry Partap)
However, it was clear from the minute Prime Minister Patrick
Manning—offering handshakes to PNM and UNC MPs alike—held
out his hand to Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday, that the
upcoming term will be an “interesting time” for
both sides.
Panday, who never looked or got up (or smiled), shook Manning’s
hand for the briefest minute—then, without missing
a beat, immediately wiped his hand with his handkerchief,
which he seemed to have conveniently ready for some reason
or other.
UNC MP Jack Warner also proffered a noticeably limp cold
handshake in return to Manning’s outstretched palm.
It was only UNC chief whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj—who
once sought help from Manning in his 2001 sally against
the UNC—who rose to shake Manning’s hand.
All of that occurred before the deep advice offered to parliamentarians
by President George Maxwell Richards yesterday.
But his delivery seemed set to take a while to sink in,
judging from the subsequent events in the Chamber: the Opposition’s
aggressive thrust and the Prime Minister’s attempt
at “humble countenancing” in response.
If the first session lent insight as to the looming firepower,
it also sneaked a look at the fashion savvy—or lack
thereof—of certain MPs.
By last night, PNM MP Donna Cox and Attorney General Bridgid
Annisette-George might have become tired of the gentle—and
probably also pointed—advice to take a page out of
the book of UNC Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar—by
far the best-dressed female in the entire Parliament yesterday.
Persad-Bissessar was the complete package from top to toe,
in a muted gold-toned coat dress, an offsetting brown chunky
necklet and—her piece de resistance—exceedingly
elegant gold slingback pumps.
Cox, by contrast, attempted—glaringly unsuccessful—to
carry off a hat and suit outfit of white and black.
The hat, a cross between pillbox and bouffant, did not sport
an abstract design which might have saved the ensemble,
though it did gain Cox some curious stares and expressions—and
not necessarily complimentary—as she took the oath
of office.
Annisette-George, for some reason, shed her black and white
attorney’s suit for a lilac number topped by a nondescript
brown straw, beach-type brimmer.
The picture of professionalism—and more befitting of
the office of AG—was, however, cut by Finance Minister
Karen Nunez-Tesheira (who was luckily in the front row alongside
Manning.)
Perhaps, Cox and Annisette-George will consult fellow PNMite
Rosemonde Montano, wife of Senate President Danny Montano,
who was her usual elegant self—grey chapeau and all—yesterday.
Or, they may well seek the help of the handler who wrought
Hazel Manning’s recent makeover.
And the fashion results might all be seen on Channel 11
in months ahead, along with the political firepower. (GA)
Attorney
General Brigid Annisette-George dispenses with the power
suits for a more festive look. Photo: Karla Ramoo
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