Charles: Why the delay Dr Rowley? Release the OAS report immediately
MP for Naparima, Rodney Charles, is questioning PM Rowley’s delay in making public, the report by former Ambassador Christopher Thomas on the recent OAS mishap.
In response to a recent question in Parliament, concerning a timeline for the report to be made public, the PM said, “as soon as it is appropriate, the report will be made available to the Standing Committee on Foreign Policy.” He further stated that, “the findings of the report showed that there were shortcomings on the part of persons who hold office in this country.”
“Why is now not an appropriate time for the report to be made public? The suspicion is that the report might have concluded that some blame lay with Minister Moses and that Rowley is once again protecting his friend by delaying the publication of the report. By doing this he may be hoping that the country will forget about Minister Moses’ incompetence and inability to effectively manage the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs,” says MP Charles, “Dr Rowley must come clean and clearly state whether Moses was implicated and, if he was, take the appropriate action against him.”
It has been eight weeks since T&T was regionally and internationally embarrassed for voting against Dominica’s request to waive its OAS membership fees and Dr Rowley still appears slothful to reveal those culpable of this gross diplomatic blunder. If the PM subscribes to the Westminster principle of Ministerial responsibility, as he claims he does, then there should be no hesitation on his part concerning this matter.
Recently in Britain, Home Secretary Amber Rudd resigned her position thereby accepting Ministerial responsibility for the Windrush fiasco.
Unless Dr Rowley comes to terms with his Prime Ministerial responsibility to put TT’s interest ahead of past and present personal friendships, T&T’s international image will continue to suffer under clueless Dennis Moses and his autopilot Ministry.
Rodney Charles
MP for Naparima