(Trinidad Express) Gary Griffith, national security adviser to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, yesterday slammed the protocol blunders which occurred during the recent three-day visit of the President of China, Xi Jinping.
In an e-mail entitled “Poor excuses for protocol faux pas”, Griffith said: “There were far too many glaring and unforced hitches.” He stressed, though, that these protocol gaffes did not fall under the purview of the Prime Minister.
While protocol experts have focused on the protocol lapses at the ceremony at the airport for Xi’s arrival, Griffith widened the net of protocol blunders to include the State banquet.
“The number of blunders are too numerous to singularly mention. However, the State banquet would have put even those completely ignorant of protocol training in tailspin: From the lack of a master of ceremony; to the non-announcement of the arrival of Their Excellencies; to the non-announcement of the National Anthem of China and the National Anthem of Trinidad and Tobago; to the lack of interpretation of the toast; to the questionable seating arrangements; to the last-minute invitation of the Leader of the Opposition,” Griffith stated.
Griffith also referred to the position of the President in the line-up, saying that as a former aide de camp to the President, he is aware the President is assisted by military personnel, whose responsibility, in collaboration with the Chief of Protocol, is to ensure the President assumes his position in the line.
Apparently laying blame squarely at the feet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the many protocol slip-ups, Griffith said he was “absolutely flabbergasted” by the statements made by “a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (that is permanent secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Margaret Parillon) that the Prime Minister utilised a more “personal touch”, hence the “relaxed protocol treatment”.
“I am absolutely flabbergasted that such a statement could emanate from within the hallowed halls of what is supposed to be the bastion of diplomacy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
Parillon, speaking at a thank-you ceremony for employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the office of the Prime Minister for hosting the visits of US Vice-President Joe Biden and the Chinese President, Parillon said the “relaxation” of the protocol measures was simply the Prime Minister and her protocol team exercising a “personal touch” and was “an expression of a desire to please”.
Parillon also said protocol and ceremonial were both science and art.
