Rowley vex over tearoom report

Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday condemned the Privileges Committee for not punishing Fyzabad Member of Parliament Chandresh Sharma, the police officers who were on duty for what he described as questionable conduct, and Opposition MPs for not giving a “true report.” “This is not the end of the matter!” he snapped during a press conference at the Housing Ministry yesterday. The committee’s report into what has now become known as the tearoom brawl came out in Rowley’s favour, finding that there was insufficient evidence to support Sharma’s allegation that he was physically assaulted by Rowley, and “sufficient evidence to conclude on a balance of probabilities, that Mr Sharma did accuse Dr Rowley of being a racist in the performance of his duties.”

After careful deliberations, the committee, with the exception of two members, determined that “no finding of breach of privilege or contempt has been made.” “It is not acceptable for an MP to be found guilty of calling another a ‘racist’ and for nothing to be done,” charged Rowley. He said that there is a precedent for calling someone a racist, citing the case of Ken Gordon and Basdeo Panday. In a scathing attack on the committee’s actions, or lack thereof, Rowley accused MPs Sharma, Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Ganga Singh of misleading Parliament. He warned, however, “the issue is now in the hands of the House (of Representatives) to decide if the behaviour of MPs Sharma, Ganga Singh and Kamla Persad-Bissessar was acceptable.” Rowley said the report would be debated and then the house would decide what action would be taken by a majority vote.

Rowley was also concerned with the errors made by the police officers who received the initial reports from Sharma at Parliament. He criticised the initial omission of the addendum to the station diary containing the allegation that Sharma was beaten by Rowley in the police reports. Rowley said he plans to take the matter to the Police Complaints Authority to have the conduct of the officers investigated. In response, Sharma questioned the committee’s methods of choosing witnesses. “How did Fitzgerald Hinds become a witness? Why weren’t Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Ganga Singh called? They accompanied me to make the police report as well as to the hospital. Why wasn’t Robin Montano called? He went to report the incident to the Speaker.” Sharma also questioned the credibility of a tearoom assistant who Sharma said, when before the committee, gave a varied account of what transpired by saying that she heard him call Rowley a racist.