Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles has delivered a stinging condemnation of PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s messages to the nation on its 64th anniversary of Independence.In a statement posted to social media Monday, Beckles described the two addresses as insensitive, divorced from reality, and devoid of any distinction between party politics and the responsibilities of national leadership.She pointed to the PM choosing to address the United National Congress (UNC) before addressing the nation, adding that she used a moment that belongs to all citizens to promote a partisan narrative of grievance and division.“That is not the conduct of a Prime Minister seeking to unite a country,” she continued.She was referring to an Independence Day social media post by the Prime Minister Monday addressed to the “UNC family from UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissesar”.Beckles also referenced the Prime Minister Independence Day message to the nation issues on Sunday in which she urged the country to “grow up”, stop blaming problems on the colonial past and asserted that the nation was prosperous under British rule. The Opposition Leader said she rejected the PM’s attempt to rewrite the history of the nation.“Trinidad and Tobago’s journey to Independence, and our development thereafter, cannot be reduced to a politically convenient version of history that serves whichever audience she is addressing,” she said.She continued: “The Prime Minister is wrong to present our colonial inheritance without acknowledging the profound inequalities and social conditions that existed at Independence. Equally, she is wrong to recast our post-Independence history as a partisan struggle between victims and villains.”She argued that the nation deserves better, adding that the nation’s history is more substantial than that.“It is therefore no surprise that a Prime Minister who appears unwilling to properly acknowledge the historical place of Dr Eric Williams as the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago would now offer such a distorted account of the history of our Independence,” Beckles said.She added: “A Prime Minister who cannot speak honestly about our history cannot credibly lead the nation forward.”