Now UNC wants legal costs waived

THE OPPOSITION UNC on Friday asked for potential legal costs against some of its MPs, including UNC leader Basdeo Panday, to be waived if Prime Minister Patrick Manning gets such a reprieve from the courts. In a letter dated January 15 to Solicitor-General Lynette Stephenson, UNC chairman Wade Mark expressed the party’s concern that Manning had made a written request for a waiver of debt of $1,072,018.72 which is owed to the State arising out of an unsuccessful High Court action in 1997. The Prime Minister has already paid the bulk of the outstanding legal costs in that matter.

Stressing to Stephenson that it was incumbent she reply to Manning’s request, Mark said: “Should you decide to grant a waiver, we hereby immediately request a similar waiver in respect of any costs that might be awarded against UNC MPs in matters which are at present pending before the High Court.” Mark told Stephenson her “continued silence and inaction” on this matter could cause “a serious fracture of the supreme law of our land, the Constitution.” The UNC chairman also claimed Manning was in breach of Section 48 (b) of the Constitution which reads: “No person shall be qualified to be elected as a member of the House of Representatives who is an undischarged bankrupt having been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Mark said should Manning be unable to discharge his debt to the State, he (Manning) should be disqualified both as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and San Fernando East MP. Speaking in the Lower House last Friday, the Prime Minister told Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar: “Something happened. Guidelines were set. Guidelines by the Attorney General of the Government of which you were a part and no action was taken on it. In other words, it is not true to say that subsequent to the application of 1995 nothing happened. Something did happen but that the process was not complete. That’s the fact.” At the same sitting, Leader of Government Business Ken Valley said Manning’s application to waive costs was made while the UNC was in power and was done against a background where out of 107 cases, only two resulted in payment of costs. Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said no proper arrangements were made by the former regime to pay such costs and Government was now working out these arrangements.