The stage seems set for yet another courthouse battle between the Prime Minister and a UNC politician – this time over public criticism of the government's handling of the covid pandemic and the its impact on the economy.

In the latest case, Dr Rowley has taken objection to a Facebook video posted by UNC senator David Nakhid on June 14, and is demanding the defeated 2020 Tunapuna candidate retract his comments, remove the offending video, issue a personal apology and pay unspecified compensation.

In a pre-action protocol letter written by attorney Adana Bain-Bertrand, dated June 23, Nakhid was accused of using language to suggest that Dr Rowley clandestinely imported 80 vials of Pfizer vaccine for "his friends and party financiers and used the National Security Minister to cover up the scheme."

[caption id="attachment_898845" align="alignnone" width="1024"] David Nakhid during the general election campaign as a candidate in 2020. The UNC senator is facing a defamation lawsuit from the Prime Minister. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]

The lawyer also complained that Nakhid's words suggested that the Prime Minister used the pandemic for personal financial gain at the expense of citizens and compared him to the Haitian despotic leader François Duvalier, also known as Papa Doc.

In addition, the legal letter suggested that Nakhid accused Rowley of being a liar, and purposely pitting the two dominant races in Trinidad and Tobago against each other for his own political gain.

Nakhid was given 14 days to respond, pay an agreed sum of money representing aggravated and exemplary damages and give an undertaking never to repeat the words on any platform.