PM Apologizes After Heavy Backlash: “Post Was Meant To Be Shared To My Personal Page”
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has apologized for a statement posted to the Office of the Prime Minister’s official Facebook page this afternoon regarding the group of Venezuelans who drowned off off the coastal town of Guiria, saying the sentiments shared were meant to be posted to his official page and not the official government platform.
In the strongly worded statement that has since been deleted, OPM blamed, quote: “agents of the OAS, the Opposition and other Trinidadian and Venezuelan imps” for creating the false narrative and “lying in the face of the available information”.
The post received heavy backlash online, prompting it to be removed nearly two hours after it was posted.
In a follow-up post from OPM’s page, Dr. Rowley said:”The previous post should have been written as two separate statements and was intended for publication on the Prime Minister’s personal social media account. I regret and apologise to all for the distress caused by the post.”
Another post read: “To Ashanti’s family and all other members of families who experience this unspeakable hurt I share your pain.”
Among those condemning the statement was Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar, who described the messaging as “unimaginably shameful”.
Persad-Bissessar said: “Instead of a sane immigration and border security policy, Keith Rowley chose instead to simply spew hate, malice, confusion, and has exposed his fragile mental state. He is clearly incapable of displaying leadership on this serious issue”.