By Clint Chan Tack
October 11, 2019 – newsday.co.tt
A statement issued by the Office of the President (OTP) does not appear to have answered questions about why guests invited to functions that it hosts may only bring legally married partners. The statement was issued after President Paula-Mae Weekes spoke about the issue before after this year’s national awards ceremony.
In the statement, published yesterday, the Office of the President said the policy followed was a traditional one, and the issue of invitations to the ceremony had been “outstripped by misinformation and unreasonable speculation in the recent past.”
Invitations to the ceremony are issued in the name of the Head of State to named guests, it said, and the OTP does not “and guest” invitations. The OTP said the method of compiling the list was identical in 2018 and 2019, and there are two categories of guests for the ceremony.
The first is guests of the President, Prime Minister and the awardees.
The OTP said, “In the issuing of these invitations, marital or other relationships is not a consideration and therefore married, affianced, co-habiting, same sex, even casually dating couples, may be invited in this category.”
Full Article : newsday.co.tt
The President has every right to put stipulations in place especially for award ceremonies as to who can come. Under the last Presidency a known gang leader was present at an awards presentation. This was the joke of the year as many bloggers caption this individuals in memes on the cyber network.
All invitations should stipulate dress code and persons invited given security clearance. Anyone showing up not fitting the criteria should be rejected despite anyone plea. As for legally married partners, some may want to bring their fiancé or their parent or close family member. Proper guidance should be sought on these matters. Protocol must be observed.