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Wayne Sturge admits he didn’t want a ministerial portfolio
‘I asked to be left alone’
Defence Minister and Toco/Sangre Grande MP Wayne Sturge said he never wanted a ministerial post, but Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told him it was too late.“After she was sworn in, she asked what I wished for,” Sturge said. “I replied, ‘I wish to be left alone’.”She asked: ‘What do you mean?’ I said I didn’t want to be a minister because I told the people of Toco/Sangre Grande on the campaign trail they needed a full-time MP. It would be virtually impossible to manage a ministry, especially Defence, and still properly serve my constituency.
“She assured me she’d build a team to deliver on all we promised the people of Toco/Sangre Grande.”Sturge revealed his family was about to migrate to the United States.
“The country had reached a point. It was heading down the wrong road. I feared for our safety and future. But I realised I’d be abdicating my responsibility and abandoning my ancestral home. My family would be second-class citizens abroad.”
“We spent nine-plus years under a man who boasted about using an obeah man against his leader, a good man, Mr Manning. We paid dearly. But now we are under a different dispensation, the love of a mother. There is no more discrimination, and the vision is inclusivity,” he saidSturge said the Defence Ministry would make hard decisions.
“But it will benefit all of us as we tackle crime together,” he assured.
‘I asked to be left alone’
Defence Minister and Toco/Sangre Grande MP Wayne Sturge said he never wanted a ministerial post, but Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told him it was too late.“After she was sworn in, she asked what I wished for,” Sturge said. “I replied, ‘I wish to be left alone’.”She asked: ‘What do you mean?’ I said I didn’t want to be a minister because I told the people of Toco/Sangre Grande on the campaign trail they needed a full-time MP. It would be virtually impossible to manage a ministry, especially Defence, and still properly serve my constituency.
“She assured me she’d build a team to deliver on all we promised the people of Toco/Sangre Grande.”Sturge revealed his family was about to migrate to the United States.
“The country had reached a point. It was heading down the wrong road. I feared for our safety and future. But I realised I’d be abdicating my responsibility and abandoning my ancestral home. My family would be second-class citizens abroad.”
“We spent nine-plus years under a man who boasted about using an obeah man against his leader, a good man, Mr Manning. We paid dearly. But now we are under a different dispensation, the love of a mother. There is no more discrimination, and the vision is inclusivity,” he saidSturge said the Defence Ministry would make hard decisions.
“But it will benefit all of us as we tackle crime together,” he assured.
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