Section 34 decision left Opposition and Round Table with egg on their faces: PM Kamla

That comment came Monday night from Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at a political meeting in Barataria. She was speaking about the landmark decision against claimants who had challenged the government’s amendment to the Administration of Justice Act. 

The judge was asked to consider whether the Amendment which repealed Section 34, with retroactive effect, had infringed the rights of those who sought freedom from prosecution from criminal offences. She ruled that they were not.

Persad-Bissessar said when the state won, the people won. And that, she said upsetthe PNM and its ROUND TABLE, which she called the WRONG table.

“They didn’t have to march and we didn’t have to march. We understood that we made an error and we dealt with it quickly and responsibly… We convened Parliament and we repealed Section 34. That was the correct, the responsible thing to do.

“And some people chose to exploit it and the court ruled against them. That caught the PNM and the ROUND TABLE by surprise. They were hoping that the state would lose and people would be free.

“I am advised they wanted that desperately because they thought it would give them a strong political weapon to fight out…

“They were so sure the judge would rule against us… they booked CITY HALL for a media conference and they were all decked out in their finest wear to look good for the cameras and pontificate about how they would bring down this government because these men would walk free.

“They ended up with egg on their faces. They had nothing to say except to repeat their stale and irrelevant story lines about a criminal conspiracy and that I should fire your competent and able Attorney General.

“And once the verdict didn’t go their way, they started deserting the ship. Their legal luminary Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj was missing in action.”

She set the records straight: “Well for the records, and the PNM, Section 34 was repealed on 13th September before they marched on 18th September and before they delivered a bogus petition to the office of the president.

“They got a few people together, told them they were going to deliver a petition of thousands of names to the President, went to the Presidents office and delivered…a letter.

“According to them, they were leaving the petition open at Balisier House for people to come in and sign up until 22nd October…for the return of President Richards who had left the country on the very morning of their march on September 18th and returned to the country after a five-week vacation.

“What they are not telling you is that the Bill to repeal section 34 was passed in the House of Representatives on 12th September, it was passed in the Senate on 13th September and President George Maxwell Richards assented to it on 14th September…

“For those who need to keep this for their records you can find it in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette Volume 51, No. 150 and the reference for the legislation is Act No. 15 of 2012.

“Do not let them fool you with their lies that we repealed the section 34 after they marched. They have been lying to the population on talk shows about how we responded to their marches by repealing section 34…

“The truth is that YOUR government acted properly and professionally to deal with a problem … in order to protect every man, woman and child in this country – including the few who marched with Rowley and company.”