Rowley happy Gordon’s staying

Flashback: Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley and Integrity Commission chairman Ken Gordon at a function in Port-of-Spain in 2011.

Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday greeted the news of Integrity Commission chairman Ken Gordon’s decision to remain in office with gladness, but said he had some regrets about the way the May 15 meeting between the two was blown out of proportion. Rowley made the comment during the tea break at yesterday’s House of Representatives session in Port-of-Spain. Gordon had released a statement earlier in the day saying, among other things, that he was well within the law to have hosted the meeting.

Commenting on the statement, Rowley said Gordon had rejected the “sinister interpretations” put on the meeting. “It’s good that he had not resigned, because I don’t think that the circumstances warranted it,” Rowley said. In stressing the meeting with Gordon was urgent, Rowley said if he or Gordon were planning a meeting, “it would not have been in that way, so as to allow persons to misrepresent and hype up the situation with agendas of one kind or another.”

He said based on the “extraneous matter brought in about conspiracy, treason and misbehaviour in public office, clearly it matters not where the meeting took place, as they would have gone down that road.” He acknowledged, “Things did not go as they should have, but not that badly, warranting a resignation.”

Asked if he had any regrets about having the meeting with Gordon at his home, Rowley said: “In a way I must say yes, because I didn’t like the way the meeting created the opportunity for persons to misrepresent it.” Rowley also said he expects a full Integrity Commission to be in place next week.

Guardian