Panday: Griffith wrong on anti-crime proposal

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday said Captain Gary Griffith was wrong to say that he (Panday) was holding Trinidad and Tobago to ransom by refusing to give his blessing to a reported anti-crime proposal to Government by former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

 In a  report yesterday, Griffith said Panday’s current attitude meant TT would never receive any assistance from the Opposition on any matter, including reducing crime. Griffith, who was comptroller of the Prime Minister’s residence when Panday was PM, also claimed that as long as Panday remains Opposition Leader and head of the UNC, the nation could expect little salvation when it comes to TT’s crime problem.

Contacted yesterday, Panday said he had not seen the report but found it hard to believe that Griffith would make such comments. Asked if he was angry about Griffith’s reported remarks, the UNC leader replied: “He (Griffith) is a citizen. I believe that he is entitled to his views.” In a previous Newsday interview, Panday said Giuliani’s proposal would not work under TT’s present political system because “the present Constitution (of TT) debilitates” any effort to effectively deal with the root causes of crime in the country. “Giuliani operated under a different political system,” he stated. Panday reiterated that under the system employed by Giuliani, the New York Police Commissioner was made accountable to those in authority. The former prime minister said during recent, private discussions between Giuliani and himself, the former NY mayor agreed that constitutional reform was crucial to fighting the root causes of crime in TT and ensuring accountability on the part of the Police Service.

Panday has been calling for a meeting of Government and Opposition minds to address the crime situation in TT and has charged former President Arthur NR Robinson for preventing the UNC from ensuring that the Police Service Reform Bills served their intended purpose to weed out corrupt elements from the Police Service and ensure greater accountability on the part of the Service. Panday said the UNC knew the Bills needed constitutional reform in order to work but Robinson removed the UNC from office in December 2001, and installed the PNM before those reforms could be initiated. Panday said there is no truth to the longstanding public perception that the UNC reneged on a deal with the PNM to pass the Bills in Parliament, regardless of who won the 2000 general elections. The Bills were not passed after the UNC won the 2000 polls and Prime Minister Patrick Manning has repeatedly condemned the UNC’s refusal to support the Bills as a major hindrance to Government’s anti-crime efforts.