Kamla:

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning’s statement to Parliament confirmed that he gave a resign-or-be-charged ultimatum to Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma, according to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar. She said she believed this warranted an investigation by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and by the police to determine if there was an attempt to pervert the course of justice.

She again called for an investigation into Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls by the DPP and the Integrity Commission.

The Siparia MP said the prime minister, the chief magistrate and the chief justice should be investigated, and noted that she planned to discuss the question of moving a motion of no-confidence in the prime minister with her parliamentary colleagues.

Persad-Bissessar has called on the prime minister to resign and call general elections immediately, given the fact that so many high offices are in odium and disrepute.

The Opposition Leader had earlier attempted to debate as a definite matter of urgent public importance the allegations made by the chief justice against the chief magistrate.

Later in the proceedings, Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath told House Speaker Barry Sinanan that he was worried that if he (Sinanan) made a ruling that the Government didn’t like, it would get someone to make a report against him. “And the House will not have a chance to adjudicate in your impeachment,” Ramnath said, recalling that a previous Speaker had been put under House arrest.