Sharma: UNC never denied me

FYZABAD MP Chandresh Sharma yesterday accused Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley of misleading the population by saying that his own party, the UNC, used its parliamentary majority in May 1997 to prevent him from raising a petition in the House of Representatives. Last Friday, the PNM used its majority in the Lower House to prevent Sharma from raising a petition, in which he was seeking to obtain certain parliamentary documents to use in his legal efforts to overturn a decision by Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson not to prosecute Rowley in connection with the September 15, 2004 tea room incident.

Sharma told Newsday that Rowley’s claims were false because no such  petition was raised by him in Parliament in May 1997. The UNC MP said he raised a petition in the Lower House on June 20,1997 on behalf of Ynolde Martineau of Gopeesingh, Martineau, Edwards and Company. Sharma said it may have been in connection with Ishwar Galbaransingh of the Deyalsingh Report, but he was not certain of this. However, Sharma was clear on the fact that the Hansard record of June 20, 1997 showed that then Opposition Chief Whip Ken Valley raised objections to his petition.

He explained that as a result of Valley’s objections, then House Speaker Hector McClean advised him that “we cannot proceed with the petition in the way in which we normally do.” Sharma claimed that this was a clear attempt by the PNM to protect Rowley and the Diego Martin West MP had become an embarrassment for the ruling party. Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Sharma’s attorney in the matter, agreed with his recount of the events of June 20,1997. She said in light of the events then, it raises questions about whether current House Speaker Barry Sinanan followed the right course of action last week in Parliament.