OPPOSITION Leader Pennelope Beckles says Prime Minister Kam­la Persad-Bissessar should focus on accounting to the country rather than attempting to influence the composition of the Opposition’s Senate bench.Her comments came in response to remarks by the Prime Minister, published in another daily newspaper yesterday, in which she said the Opposition Leader should be the “last one to talk about questionable cha­racters” in the UNC.The Prime Minister was responding to allegations made by Beckles during a People’s National Movement (PNM) Sport and Fami­ly Day event, Nelson Mandela Park, Port of Spain, on Sunday, where she claimed several members of the Government had questionable backgrounds.Beckles made the allegations amid mounting Government pressure over Opposition Senator Janelle John-Bates’ continued role in Parliament after she offered her resignation following allegations of improper conduct related to her role on the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC).Responding in a Facebook post yesterday, Beckles said the Prime Minister’s comments were an attempt “to distract from her failing Government, which is facing the mounting displeasure of citizens”.She accused Persad-­Bissessar of failing to show compassion to citizens, lacking accoun­tability over the Government’s handling of “more than $4 billion in contracts”, failing to stimulate economic growth and failing to present an anti-crime plan.Beckles said, “Trini­dad and Tobago looms under the shadow of a national crisis under this UNC Government, led by questionable characters, including persons on bail and those before the courts on other serious matters.“I find it shamelessly oxymoronic that Kamla Persad-Bissessar seeks to lecture me on integri­ty, accountability, or leadership when she herself has questions to answer; being permanently absent and notoriously impotent, having over-promised and delivered precisely nothing to Trinidad and Tobago,” she continued.She added, “Her (Persad-­Bissessar’s) Government is on the verge of collapse, and she is clutching at straws, but trying to disparage me will not help her. I say again to Kamla, leave me alone.”Beckles further argued that the Prime Minister’s comments were intended to divert attention from issues such as LandmarkTT Gate and ‘HDC Gate’.“But it is not working,” she added.