Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial-Ramdial has rallied to the defence of National Transformation Alliance (NTA) leader Gary Griffith following what she believes was a “Maduro-like” attack at a news conference on Tuesday.

Speaking at a media briefing at the Unc’s Chaguanas head office on Wednesday, the senator described Tuesday’s conference as Government trying to deflect from its failure to deal with crime. Furthermore, she alluded to it being an abuse of power.

“I cannot believe that two ministers of government, holding senior Cabinet portfolios would spend more than an hour I think it was, close to two hours, talking about an individual who is now a political opponent. It’s very Maduro-like, when a government uses its power to try to attack its political opponents,” she said.

She was referring to the political style of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro whose dim view of and actions against that country’s opposition forces are well-known.

The hour-and-a-half media conference was hosted by Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds and Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne.

It focused on Griffith especially during his tenure as police commissioner. The press conference on Tuesday focused on Griffith responding to recent claims he made in public on the Strategic Services Agency imbroglio to an incident, when he was CoP, where a man died while in police custody.

Griffith himself described the press conference as immature and believed it was a political ploy to discredit him. Last week, the NTA announced Griffith’s intention to contest the St Joseph seat in the next general election.

The post Jayanti defends Griffith appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.