Danny denies plot to kick out Robin

Government Minister Danny Montano yesterday denied that he advised Senate President Dr Linda Baboolal to suspend his brother, Robin, as was alleged by UNC Senator Wade Mark. However, Montano said he could see how Mark came to that conclusion. “He would have seen me having a conversation with Dr Saith, John Jeremie and Dr Baboolal,” Montano noted. But the conversation was on another substantive issue. Montano said he was concerned that the Government was in breach of the Standing Orders in respect of Mark’s private motion on the Equal Opportunities Legislation. He said Jeremie had confirmed that the issue was before the courts and it became clear that Parliament was in breach of the subjudice rule by allowing the debate on this motion to go forward.

“I wanted to speak to Dr Baboolal about it because I wanted to tell her that the matter was subjudice, and that it was an offence to the judge for Parliament to be discussing the matter and  coming to a conclusion on something which the judge was suppose to make a determination on,” Montano stated. “I was consulting with AG John Jeremie when the issue with Robin blew up,” Montano said. As soon as Baboolal suspended the House (to decide what to do about Robin Montano’s outburst), Danny Montano went with Jeremie to speak to her about the “grave breach of the sub judice rule.” “When she got to her office, she was in conference with the Clerk (of the Senate),” he said.

Montano said Baboolal did indicate to them that she planned to suspend Robin Montano “and I shrugged and John shrugged.”  “I had nothing to do with her decision vis-a-vis Robin. She was standing on her own,” he said. Asked whether he agreed with the suspension of his brother, Montano stated: “I love Robin and I admire him, and he feels he must do what he does. But he has to live with the consequences of his actions. I support everything he does, provided it is in accordance with the Standing Orders and proper parliamentary practice.” Meanwhile, in a release issued yesterday, the UNC condemned the suspension of Robin Montano and “the perpetuation of bias being practised by Senate President Dr Linda Baboolal against UNC members of the Senate.” The UNC stated that the behaviour of Baboolal was consistent with her acting as a PNM chairman, rather than as an independent, impartial and neutral President of the Senate.

“By her actions, Dr Baboolal has totally compromised the independence and impartiality of her office. Tuesday’s  outburst and her further admittance that she was biased is behaviour unbecoming of a neutral, impartial and independent president officer. The admittance of bias on the part of the Senate President is a terrible confession to be made by any presiding officer much less a President of the Senate,” it said. Saying that if democracy was to prevail, the Senate could not be supervised in the manner which allowed partisan politics to influence the conduct of the presiding officer, the UNC stated that Baboolal must remember that she took an oath before God to conscientiously and impartially discharge her duties. The UNC also reminded Baboolal that her first duty was to the people of Trinidad and Tobago and not the PNM. The status of Mark’s motion on the Equal Opportunities Legislation is in doubt, given the fact that it is sub judice, and that Mark abruptly curtailed any further discussion on the motion when he stormed out of the Parliament in the middle of piloting the motion.