Max not up to the job

THE FAILURE of President George Maxwell Richards to appoint a new Integrity Com-mission brings into question his suitability for the Presi-dency of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. This was the claim yesterday from former Senate President Michael Williams.

Williams recalled that when Richards was elected Presi-dent, he (Richards) said he had been apolitical all his life and this would be “a credit to his Presidency”. “In my judgment however, it was his greatest liability and disqualification, rendering him very susceptible to manipulation by diabolical politicians. I did not consider that Richards had a sufficient appreciation of our Constitu-tion and expected that the politicians would run rings around him,” he said. Williams stressed it was Richards’ duty to maintain the Integrity Commission and the President “does not act on the advice of the Prime Minister” in appointing members of the Commission. “Instead, it is one of his few prerogatives exercisable ‘in his own discretion’ after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The final decision is his, and no consultation with the Prime Minister or anyone, can justify Richards’ failure to make the appointments, thus terminating the constitutionally-established Integrity Commission,” he added. Newsday understands that three persons will be appointed to the Commission tomorrow at President’s House.