Attorney: House Speaker acted correctly in referring Rowley to Privileges Committee

House Speaker Wade Mark did not act prematurely by acceding to the Prime Minister’s request to refer Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley to the Privileges Committee over the Section 34 email scandal.

On Monday, the PNM Tobago Council called on the Chairman of the Privileges Committee to wait until an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the email scandal is complete before taking action.

However, Attorney Jagdeo Singh said Speaker Wade Mark can only act on what happens inside the Parliament and not external evidence.

“What was amply demonstrated from the debate was that there was prima facie evidence before the Speaker that the email thread quoted by Dr. Rowley was false or they were demonstrably unreliable and that is what the Speaker took into account and that is what he has to take into account. So the claims that the Speaker acted in a premature fashion, I don’t think they are well founded.”

Dr. Rowley is expected to appear before the Privileges Committee in the very near future.

C-News