THERE was no reciprocity from wet-behind-the-ears Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

And she should not be given credit for any semblance of unity on the Opposition benches in the Lower House last week Friday, after former Finance Minister, Gerald Yetming, who has resigned from the United National Congress (UNC) spoke on the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Bill 2006.

Indeed, the lady who now occupies Basdeo Panday’s cherished seat clearly intends to rule like her predecessor, so much so that House Leader Ken Valley has already dubbed her “The Tigress”.

UNC MPs seem bored while KAMLA PERSAD-
BISSESSAR gives her maiden presentation as
Opposition Leader.

But that does not mean that it will redound to the benefit of the UNC masses, who desperately need leadership because the lady certainly needs a lesson in graciousness.

Not even half an hour had passed since embattled Political Leader Winston Dookeran, without a fight, gave his blessings to her choice of Hamza Rafeeq as the Chief Whip, when Kamla tried to upstage all her colleagues.

After a long and boring presentation by Valley, during which he was engaged across the floor by banking expert Gerald Yetming, Kamla jumped to her feet to give her maiden presentation as Opposition Leader.

Now, it was the kind of area in which she is no expert and her petticoat was showing.

She added nothing to her party’s value and it just came across as if “I am the boss, so I will speak first”.

What would it have taken for her to allow the best bowler to open the attack, which would have been a good strategy and engendered some kind of goodwill?

Instead she offered nothing of substance -- in the true tradition of a Pandayite -- and sounded as if she simply pulled up stuff from the Internet to make up her presentation on that afternoon.

Of what relevance was Boris Yeltsin and Russia to the Western model?

She could not say, but it was a straight case of dropping names.

The men on the back bench seemed to be sniggering among themselves and the front benchers for the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) were looking on with interest, and it was only respect which restrained them from training their guns on the woman whom Valley dubbed “The Tigress”.

If she had acted in the national interest, Kamla would have known that she had to utilise the best resources in the Lower House -- that is, unless she is carrying out Panday’s divisive agenda to the T.

Her over-anxiety even showed up when she announced that Yetming and Roodal Moonilal will be representing the UNC on the Joint Select Committee of Parliament to review the Bankruptcy and Insolvency legislation, obviously usurping the functions of the Chief Whip.

But a humble Hamza Rafeeq took it all in stride; at the end of the day it seemed that he, like the rest of the men on the Opposition benches preferred to do what men do best when a woman is talking: ignore her!