Indira Craig,
How would you rate the performance of the police today?
Jules Vasquez,
I think that tear gas backfire was a big victory over them but also I think that the police had numbers, they had organization, they have learnt from their past lessons and they were out there purposefully, strategically, not to let this get out of control, not to end up in that teacher's union kind of situation where they had to drag people away anything like that. So I think they were very purposeful, very direct and they didn't end up in this situation of having to drag teachers away.
Indira Craig,
Do you think the Prime Minister's approach to having the second and third deferred until next week was a good strategy?
Jules Vasquez,
I think it worked for him in that in some sense of sapping the momentum because we have a long weekend as well and it is only a four day but in a political way, it doesn't save himself at all. So while strategically it may be a tactical victory, in some regards because we'll wait and see if the Leader of the Opposition is s good as his words in bringing out those crowds next week but its hard to restart an engine that's already reached its peak. So tactically it did work but we'll know by next week Friday. Consequentially next week Friday we'll also know how the members vote on it.
I spoke to a number of the members today who are in the margins, who are in between; John Briceno, Mark Espat, Joe Coye, Cordel Hyde. I spoke to three of those members and certainly the determination on the part of at least two of three that I spoke to are very serious to not vote for this bill. Now who does not vote for it, does so under the consequence of the Prime Minister says, I am told he says, that if you don't vote for it well you're not with the government. They will resign or have to be fired. That's the threat that the Prime Minister made.
Consequentially today Indira other bills passed was the Vesting Bill and the Shrimp and Aquaculture Bill. The BTL Vesting Bill we don't even know that that is yet, it is such a strange creature. But we believe it's changing the entire ownership structure of BTL. It seems, from just a cursory reading of it, moving the entire ownership of BTL into a new company.
So we wait for next Friday, Channel 7 of course will be on the front line and next week we'll have a far more structured story of sequentially what happened in all this and we'll show you all the stuff that were on other tapes that we couldn't bring you today.
