Panday: No deal on tea room brawl

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday dismissed reports that he had brokered a deal with Prime Minister Patrick Manning to calm troubled waters between Housing Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma —  arising out of an incident involving both men in the Parliament’s tea room last week. During last Friday’s sitting of the House of Representatives, Manning and Panday held a five- minute private discussion behind the Speaker’s Chair. House Speaker Barry Sinanan referred the incident to  the Committee, which consists of Sinanan (chairman), Health Minister John Rahael, Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, Public Utilities Minister Pennelope Beckles, Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Princes Town MP Subhas Panday. It will meet on October 1.

Sources claimed that Manning and Panday had discussed how the situation could be resolved outside of both the Privileges Committee and the courts. They also claimed that efforts were being exerted on both Rowley and Sharma to back down from their respective stances and the Committee will simply rap both MPs on the wrist and put the matter to bed. Contacted yesterday at his Couva North constituency office, Panday declared, “No such thing (a deal with Manning) happened last Friday’.” Asked whether he knew if Sharma was pursuing legal action against Rowley, Panday replied, “That is a matter for Mr Sharma.” When Panday was initially asked last Friday about the nature of his talks with Manning, he responded: “You know I can’t talk about that.”

When asked if Persad-Bissessar would remove herself from the Privileges Committee if she was one of Sharma’s attorneys, the UNC leader quipped, “I haven’t got the faintest idea.” Meanwhile, Persad-Bissessar said she would be “guided accordingly” on the matter by the Speaker when the Committee meets on October 1. The Siparia MP indicated, however, that since the UNC was “already outnumbered” on the Committee by the PNM, it was important that another Opposition MP take her place if the Speaker states that her sitting on the Committee would be a conflict of interest. UNC insiders suggest that the party may opt for Pointe-a-Pierre MP Gillian Lucky to take Persad-Bissessar’s place, if it becomes necessary, because Lucky’s legal ability would be an asset in the Committee’s deliberations.