UNC ponders privilege motion against AG

Asked yesterday whether the Opposition had decided to move this motion when the House of Representatives sits on Friday for Private Members Day, Opposition Chief Whip David Lee said, “It’s early days yet. We will see.” He told Newsday the Opposition is still reviewing what was said on this matter in the House last Friday.

“We are going through the issue,” Lee stated. He said Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had telegraphed the UNC’s intention to bring a motion against Al-Rawi in one of her statements over the weekend.

In a statement on Saturday, Persad-Bissessar said, “The UNC also gives notice that it intends to move a motion in the House to bring the Attorney General and/or the Acting Prime Minister (Colm Imbert) before the Privileges Committee for deliberately and wilfully misleading the Parliament and attempting to unduly apply pressure and influence on the Judiciary in a politically sensitive case in which the Government’s illegal conduct is being challenged.” When Al-Rawi spoke on the issue in the House last Friday, he said, “For the record, the matter is being appealed. It is on at 9 am on Monday and it is on the lowest rung of the ladder, leave to appeal.” On Sunday, Imbert told Newsday he did not make any statement on the matter in the House.

“I have checked the video of Friday’s parliamentary session and confirmed that I had already left the House when (Oropouche East MP) Roodal Moonilal first mentioned the decision of Justice Seepersad and I did not utter a single word.” In a subsequent statement issued by his ministry, Imbert said when he was contacted by the media last Friday evening for a comment, he said the judge’s decision “will be appealed.” Imbert made it clear that he never said, “it had been appealed” since the court’s registry would have been closed at that time.