By Prior Beharry
OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar refuses to give Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley more time to respond to a pre-action protocol letter.
Dr Rowley attorneys responded to the letter sent by Persad-Bissessar.
On May 10, Dr Rowley’s attorney Adana Bain, instructing Michael Quamina, SC, said that the pre-action protocol letter that Persad-Bissessar sent did not enclose any recording, video or a full presentation at the PNM Family Day in Toco on April 30 where he is alleged to have made the defamatory statements.
Persad-Bissessar, through her attorney Saddam Hossein, who is also the MP for Barataria/San Juan, on May 4 sent Dr Rowley the legal letter for “statements that were made and published about our client mean and were understood to mean that our client as The Leader of the Opposition, The Political Leader of the UNC and a former Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago acted irresponsibly, improperly, negligently, recklessly and despicably by ascribing to her the offensive and racially divisive remarks.”
That letter had initially given Dr Rowley seven days in which to reply.
But, in the response, Bain said, “The full presentation, by definition, would include, but would not be limited to, the specific words complained about in your letter. We therefore write to enquire as to whether you have any such recording which can be made available to us as part of the Pre-Action Protocols.”
And in reply, Hosein, in a letter dated May 12, said, “As you have no doubt noted, the link for the relevant part of your client’s defamatory speech was provided at paragraph 4 of our letter dated 04th May 2023.
“Furthermore, extensive reference was made to newspaper articles which faithfully reported on his contribution and there was no refutation or correction to these media reports by your client. Indeed, the CNC news report confirms that he did in fact utter the defamatory words complained of.
“We are under no obligation to provide your client with a copy of anything more than this.”
He added, “Your client is the Prime Minister of the country, and should he wish to have access to a complete audio-visual recording of his speech, it would be simple for him to obtain same from the PRO of his party or State-owned TTT which is controlled by the Government.
“Alternatively, he could simply whisper a request into the ear of Mr Gilbert Peterson, SC, Chairman of TATT who is his personal friend and golfing partner after the tee-off for the next round of golf in Barbados or any other golf course on the next occasion.”
Bain stated that given the “many components of a defence to a claim of slander” and wanting to take full instructions from Dr Rowley, that they required 28 days from her letter to make a response.
Saddam described this is a “delay tactic” and gave Dr Rowley only 14 days “hereof” to respond.
He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, we review your request as nothing more than a delay tactic that is designed to frustrate and stall our client’s claim. Please be advised therefore that we have been instructed to file our client’s claim within 14 days hereof unless our demands as set out in our previous letter are met.”
