00:00And Prime Minister Kamala Pesant-Besasa is hitting back at Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzalez
00:05after he accused her of using hateful and divisive language against citizens who do not share the
00:11government's views. The Prime Minister says she will continue to speak out against what she described
00:16as those enabling violent criminals. The political war of words is escalating. It follows
00:24Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzalez's criticism of the Prime Minister in which he accused her of
00:30spewing hatred at citizens who do not support the UNC. But Prime Minister Kamala Pesant-Besasa is not
00:37backing down. She tells TV6, quote, I will always spew hatred on people who carry out Satan's evil
00:44work against good people. Why wouldn't I? End quote. The Prime Minister then turned her criticism
00:51towards what she described as the nine demon president senators, referring to independent
00:57senators as well as PNM MPs and senators. Pesant-Besasa said, quote, maybe Marvin, just like the nine demon
01:06president senators, support Satan's work to have criminals poison your beautiful children with
01:12deadly drugs, to rape your mothers, wives and daughters in their own beds, to beat and rob your
01:19fragile elderly. End quote. She continued saying it was her opinion that those parliamentarians who
01:25opposed government's crime legislation were supporting criminals by saying, quote, it is my
01:30opinion that the nine president senators, PNM MPs and senators who voted to protect murderers, rapists,
01:37child molesters, home invaders, child killers and other heinous criminals who terrorize law-abiding
01:43citizens are satanic and vile. End quote. The Prime Minister also sought to frame the dispute as one
01:50between her government and what she described as supporters of the drug trade. She then tuned her
01:56criticism specifically to PNM supporters, adding, quote, of course, PNM supporters would disagree because
02:02they would rather see their children continue to be slaughtered in the streets by the local drug
02:08mafia finances of the PNM than accept help from a UNC government. End quote. And she ended by stressing
02:16what she says is her commitment to protecting citizens from violent crime. The comments come amid
02:22continuing political divisions over the government's crime-fighting legislation and the role of opposition
02:28legislation and independent lawmakers in parliament.
