MP Lee – AG, stop telling untruths and stop embarrassing yourself!
I read with great interest the comments of the Attorney General yesterday seeking to pour scorn on the judgment of our highest Court in the landmark ruling delivered yesterday by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
In commenting on the matter the Attorney General stated, “We had no input in the case, indeed Petrotrin handled the case exclusively. The Ag’s Office and the government were unaware that Petrotrin had not disclosed the information requested. Secondly the Attorney General was not a participant in that matter. We could not correct what I have seen to be material misrepresentations with respect to the Attorney General’s Office in this matter. Had the Attorney General’s office been a participant, the Court would not have been allowed to labour under the misrepresentations made to the Court”.
I found the comments of the Attorney General to be quite troubling having regard to statements made by the Attorney General only last month regarding this issue.
It was, ironically, on the 1st April 2019, that Attorney General Faris Al Rawi held a press conference at the office of the Attorney General with respect to this said matter.
At this press conference the Attorney General announced that he was going to write the Privy Council on this issue with respect to statements made by Mr. Anand Ramlogan.
The Attorney General, at the Press conference, is quoted as saying,
“It is now public knowledge that Ramlogan never initiated any legal action against Jones. He reiterated this was because of advice from Vincent Nelson, QC, hired by the PP that the case would collapse. Al-Rawi said the “story gets worse” when Ramlogan’s Freedom Law Chambers filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)request asking for the disclosure of the judgement delivered in the London Court of Arbitration in the WTGL St Lucia matter and all related witness statements”. (see attachment)
As citizens we must ask the following pertinent questions, how could the Attorney General claim to know nothing of the case when he was holding a press conference one (1) month ago regarding statements made in the said matter?
How could the Attorney General know nothing about the case when he was announcing information about the Freedom of Information request made by Ramlogan’s Law Chambers?
How could the Attorney General know nothing about the case and claim to have no input when he was writing the Privy Council in the said matter to complain about Ramlogan?
How could the Attorney General tell the country that Ramlogan never initiated any action against Jones when the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is questioning the role of Attorney General Faris Al Rawi in withdrawing the High Court action filed against Jones to recover more than 1 Billion dollars on behalf of the taxpayers of this county?
This scenario demonstrates the eagerness of the Attorney General to advertise his incompetence and his enthusiasm to make a headline without considering the consequences of his actions. Had he been more concerned about protecting the public interest many things would have been different and the taxpayers of this country would have been in a much better place. Had he considered protecting the public interest the claim against Malcolm Jones would not have been withdrawn. Had he been more concerned about the public interest and less concerned about his ego perhaps he might have known what was happening in this matter.
The Attorney General should not be telling untruths. They Attorney General needs to learn that you can fool some of the people some of the times you can’t fool all of the people all of the time!