EYE TO EYE

Addressing a news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister in St Clair following a meeting between Government and the Opposition, Rowley was optimistic that both sides have, “set the framework for future effective cooperation” to deal with crime in TT. He said after 90 minutes of dialogue, Government and Opposition agreed “to cooperate more effectively in the Parliament.” To this end, Rowley said Government will relinquish chairmanship of the National Security JSC to an Independent Senator, “so as to ensure that the political acrimony that may exist between Government and Opposition may not form part of the chairing of this committee.” This JSC was chaired in the Tenth Parliament by then Independent Senator Dr Rolph Balgobin. Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds is the current chairman of that JSC now in the Eleventh Parliament. Declaring that Government and Opposition must work,” in a body of mutual respect and responsibility” to better serve the electorate, Rowley said the National Security JSC will literally be, “meeting on what the country needs to do...what legislation needs to be addressed...to be created to be amended...where are the disagreements and do that behind closed doors before we come to the Parliament.” He said Government has also committed to alert the Opposition about legislation before the Legislative Review Committee “and then go forward when legislation takes shape, into committee and then to the Parliament floor.” Rowley said there was also consensus on the need for greater resources at the Parliament and Opposition Leader’s Office to facilitate more effective passage of legislation.

Indicating many issues discussed yesterday were familiar to both Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and himself, “coming from very different perspectives,” Rowley said the Opposition was willing for the Indictable Offences Bill to be brought back to Parliament, in order to abolish PIs. He added both sides agreed, “the occurrence of the infamous Section 34,” prevented this from happening.

Rowley said there is now, “some commitment to work on that with dispatch.” On PIs, he said the evidence shows that “justice is not getting served.” On abolition of trials by jury, Rowley said Government and Opposition need to talk further about the way this is to be done.

He stated this must be part of the arsenal in the fight against crime because, “the very attack on witnesses by the criminal element has made the use of the jury system and an effective jury pool part of the problem to be solved.” While Government and Opposition agree that capital punishment remains the law, they are divergent on its implementation.

He said the Opposition proposed new arrangements for capital punishment but Government is standing by its position that if the current law is interferred with, “we open the door for the Privy Council to permanently effectively abolish capital punishment in TT.” On anti-gang initiatives, Rowley said Government and Opposition agreed to see whether the existing law, “can be salvaged, amended and represented. He also said both sides agreed proper intelligence gathering by the police was “an area of absolute effectiveness which has to be there otherwise the police will continue to be largely ineffective.” While the meeting was “a good opener,” the Prime Minister observed, “Until we have this collaboration in the Parliament, it will still remain a promise.” Underscoring that it is only then, “that we will know whether the meeting today has borne any fruit,” Rowley concluded by telling reporters, “The taste of the pudding would be in the eating in the Parliament.”