AG’s health our business

When John Jeremie was appointed Attorney General, he emphasised that he was “not a politician.” If this was in fact so, then Mr Jeremie has been a quick study. Indeed, his unexplained absence from the country could be a page torn straight from his political leader’s book. Citizens will recall that in 1998, Patrick Manning, who was Opposition Leader at the time, was absent from Trinidad and Tobago for over a month. When the media began asking questions, they were told that Mr Manning was in Venezuela for a vacation. But even the highest-ranking PNM party members, including then-party chairman Dr Linda Baboolal, apparently did not know where he really was.

Only when Mr Manning returned did he inform the public that he had, in fact, gone to Cuba for heart surgery. And when asked why he had not let citizens know this beforehand, Mr Manning replied that he was trying to avoid traumatising the nation. Since that incident, and the criticism that followed it, Mr Manning seems to have learned his lesson — albeit imperfectly. On his last trip to Cuba, the public was told what he was going for. But he still ended up staying for several weeks more than was expected, and getting information from the Government was like pulling teeth.

And now we have Mr Jeremie following this long-established PNM tradition. On April 22, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a release stating that Mr Jeremie had been granted “a temporary leave of absence due to illness.” Then on Tuesday April 26, the Attorney General’s office issued a release saying that Mr Jeremie had been in office every day — trying to imply that the AG was not ill, but not coming outright and saying so.

In similar fashion, Information Minister Dr Lenny Saith tried to discredit Newsday’s report, saying that Mr Jeremie was not at home dying nor had he had a heart attack (which we never claimed). Dr Saith even went so far to say that he had spoken to Mr Jeremie and the AG “sounded in good health” — an auditory diagnosis that must astonish medical doctors everywhere. And, at Thursday’s post-Cabinet briefing, Government Ministers stonewalled all questions aboutthe AG’s health.

Frankly, we think this attitude reflects a complete contempt for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. While it is a perfectly understandable reaction for Members of Parliament to want to hide their health problems, they cannot ethically do so. Once they took their oath of office, the MPs became public property. It is citizens who pay their salaries and, therefore, citizens have a right to know of any matter which might affect how their MPs do their job. In the case of the AG, his absence from the country on “private business” has already delayed the judicial review case brought by Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma — surely the most pressing matter on the nation’s political agenda. This alone shows how absurd it is for the AG to claim that he can have any business described as “private.” Mr Jeremie is supposed to return to Trinidad tomorrow. We expect that he will then disclose full details about his trip and his health. Anything else would constitute a second slap in the face for the citizens he is supposed to be serving.