ROWLEY RUNS FROM KAMLA

AFTER seventeen hours of non-stop debate over three successive days of Parliament sittings, when the time came for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to reply to the allegations made against her by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, Rowley and PNM MPs walked out on their own no-confidence motion, leaving Persad-Bissessar to brand him “a great deceiver”.

On a day of high drama, the Prime Minister responded to Rowley’s circulation of purported emails which suggested a conspiracy to murder, pervert the course of justice and illegally tap the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in relation to the Section 34 affair. 

In addition to the many inconsistences raised in relation to the emails, Persad-Bissessar said in the space of three days Rowley had “boiled down like bhaji”, changing his story from “Murder He Wrote” to something less thrilling, in a clear “back back” after serious questions emerged over the authenticity of the documents circulated.

The Prime Minister said what Rowley said in Parliament on Monday did not match the documents he actually circulated to MPs in the chamber on that day; had changed aspects of his story since Monday; was calling for a probe by the Integrity Commission which would, in fact, be illegal; and that in his wrap-up yesterday Rowley presented further information which simply did not make sense.

The Siparia MP once more denied the allegations, describing them as “a great hoax”; a “fiction” and the actions of a joker.

“O what a tangled web they weave, when first they conspire to deceive,” Persad-Bissessar said, quoting Sir Walter Scott’s famous line. She quoted a Yoruba proverb: “who lies for you, lies against you.”

The motion of no-confidence was defeated with 26 Government MPs, including sacked Justice Minister Herbert Volney, voting against it. No Opposition MPs were present to vote on their own motion, and the Clerk recorded the results as having, “no member voting for; no abstentions”.

The Prime Minister also successfully raised a disciplinary motion — termed a motion of privilege — against Rowley, arguing that he had deliberately and willfully misled the House and abused the special privileges which allow MPs to speak freely in Parliament without fear of lawsuit. Speaker Wade Mark ruled that the matter would be referred to the Parliament’s Privileges Committee, since, in his view, a first instance a case against Rowley had been made out. While there had been theatre in the chamber the day before, yesterday saw true drama unfold at the Level 3, Tower D Parliament chamber, Wrightson, Port-of-Spain.

Amid all of the political sparring, a UNC “party activist” known as Patsy Lezama collapsed in the public gallery, complaining of shortness of breath. She was taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital were she was last night described as being in a stable condition. Immediately after Rowley wrapped up the debate on the motion of no-confidence filed in his name at 5.30 pm, the Prime Minister rose to speak with the leave of the Speaker under Standing Order 34 (2). That Standing Order allows a minister to have the final word in any motion which is critical of them. (The motion of no confidence as formulated by the Opposition named and criticised the Prime Minister and her administration.)

However, PNM MPs — who raised no point of order — appeared to not be convinced of the validity of the Standing Order and immediately began to pack their belongings and walk out of the chamber before a word was uttered by the Prime Minister.

“Boo! Boo! Boo!” cried Government MPs. “The debate is over now!” PNM Point Fortin MP Paula Gopee-Scoon cried back. “Don’t come back!” was the rejoinder from Tabaquite MP Dr Suruj Rambachan.

PNM officials who were also in the public gallery, and who had all sat through all three days of the debate, also left the chamber at this point. These included Senator Fitzgerald Hinds and PNM labour officer Jennifer Baptiste-Primus. “Fabrications!” Government MPs cried to them.

Outside the chamber Rowley, questioned on why the Opposition walked out, told reporters the Prime Minister had not taken part in the debate where she could be open to query. “So we gave her the chamber to talk to herself,” Rowley said. But inside the chamber, the Prime Minister did not let the opportunity pass her.

“Mr Speaker, I never knew people would be so terrified of me speaking that they would abandon the seats that they have worked so hard to get!” she said. Later, she added, “The honourable Member for Diego Martin… ran away! They all ran away and its their own motion! As soon as the Member for Siparia was going to speak they all fled!”

Of Rowley’s motion, Persad-Bissessar said, “I’ve been here many years in the House and I have never witnessed such a wanton abuse of Parliament. This is what I see as a conspiracy of deception. If there is any conspiracy whatsoever here, it is the conspiracy of a great deceiver. That is all it is. They came again today with untruths. There are several pieces of this fiction.”

Reading from a prepared note, the Prime Minister once more denied the allegations.

“We on this side, categorically deny and refute any and all allegations contained in the reprehensible email script concocted by persons with nothing but sinister intentions. We unequivocally deny any ownership or authorship of these emails,” she said.

But she added, “I find it very hard to believe that the Opposition Leader used these Standing Orders to abuse the freedom of speech. I cannot believe, and I do not think any right-thinking member of the nation would believe, that the Honourable Leader of the Opposition would have read those emails and not realised, on the face of the documents alone, that they were false.” Persad-Bissessar said Rowley’s position since Monday has clearly changed.

“It reminded me of a book title and of a song that was very popular. On Monday, it was ‘Murder He Wrote’. Today, the Honourable Member for Diego Martin West has backed back. He is now asking for an investigation.”

The Prime Minister revealed that while Rowley, according to the Hansard, had called out several email addresses that were not hers in piloting the no-confidence motion on Monday, the documents circulated in fact contained different text. She noted Rowley, at different points on Monday called out emails with usernames such as kamlapblj; kamla@bp.

“That was not the email address which appeared in the documents,” she said. The documents Rowley handed over only referred to one email, kamlapb1@gmail.com which is the Prime Minister’s public account.

Additionally, she said Rowley’s explanation of the “.con” that appeared at the end of one email address in the purported email trail did not add up. Rowley yesterday suggested he had been advised that “.con” refers to a file type. But Persad-Bissessar said that file type has nothing to do with emails and, in fact, refers to computer games.

“It is used to open files for people who play games and he (Rowley) has used it very well to play games here,” she said. She said while Rowley once referred to school students as “duncy-heads” those same tech-savvy students today would question his judgments based on the materials he presented to Parliament.

The Prime Minister observed that Rowley, on Monday, had said a reference to “Thomas” in one of the emails was a reference to chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy Thomas Smitham. However, it subsequently emerged that Smitham was not at that time at the embassy. Rowley yesterday changed his story saying the “Thomas” was possibly a reference to another official employed at the embassy.

“I apologise to chargé d’affaires Smitham for him having to be brought into this dispute,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister said while Rowley has rejected her decision to refer the matter to the police and has instead called for the Integrity Commission to probe the emails, a perusal of the Integrity in Public Life Act reveals that that body cannot investigate cases of murder, illegal interception and attempts to pervert the course of justice. Those criminal offences, she said, fall exclusively under the remit of police.

“The Integrity Commission does not have jurisdiction in law should they attempt to carry out an investigation into murder,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar admitted a crime was in fact made out on the documents Rowley presented but not what he thought. The crime, she said, would be a violation of legislation to ban illegal interception of emails. Also, if the emails are bogus, the offence of public mischief would be raised.

The Prime Minister also noted Rowley cited statements made from sacked Justice Minister Herbert Volney, a former criminal court judge. Volney this week said he was convinced by the evidence. At the same time, he also, on Tuesday, admitted to making errors in his judicial career, namely the Brad Boyce case. Persad-Bissessar queried whether Rowley was right to cite Volney’s views, especially since Rowley once publicly rejected Volney’s credibility outright.

Persad-Bissessar said Rowley does not seem to trust his fellow Opposition members since he also stated that he did not tell them about the purported email trail because he was concerned of leaks. She asked what would be the fate of someone who, while in Opposition, does not trust his fellow members, if ever that person were to enter government.

On the motion, which accused her Government of undermining the Judiciary, the Parliamentary Opposition, the Office of the DPP and the media, the Prime Minister said it was the Opposition that had questions to answer. She said yesterday’s walk-out on their own motion was a demonstration that the Opposition was undermining itself. “They don’t need our help,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar, during Rowley’s wrap-up in the same debate, had also challenged Rowley to state outright whether former President George Maxwell-Richards had expressed dissatisfaction over the Section 34 affair. Rowley declined. In her contribution, the Prime Minister revealed she was written to by the President twice in December 2012 and responded on both occasions with no further queries. She declined to make public the contents of the correspondence. However, she said the Office of the President does not have the investigatory power to probe the allegations contained on the surface of the emails.

“And they have the gall and temerity to come in this Parliament and accuse my Government of undermining the institutions of democracy?” the Prime Minister said. “It is impossible to defend the indefensible and that is what we are seeking here from the Leader of the Opposition.”

Persad-Bissessar said, “I will not resign and then run away. I did my duty. But the time for the Opposition Leader will come. You know what they say about karma and retribution. What goes around comes around and I believe the Opposition Leader’s time has ran out.”

Newsday