OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar did an excellent job in her response in Parliament to the 2022/2023 Budget. She described it as “a vicious attack on the poor and working class” and called for a general election.
With the rise in food prices it’s becoming more and more difficult and many low income people find it hard now to make ends meet, as they cannot even buy a doubles, far less a bake and shark.
Only in times like these do we really realise how good we had it under the Peoples Partnership led by Persad-Bissessar. Look at what’s occurring now as there is one fiasco after another and one catastrophe after another. The latest one we see the current administration involved in another major cover up messy situation, the recent Faris/Nelson fiasco. The state witness and whistleblower King’s Counsel Vincent Nelson insisted that the then-attorney general Faris Al-Rawi promised that a presidential pardon would be given to him provided that he gave evidence against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and attorney Gerald Ramdeen.
The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) has finally come out of the closet calling on Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, to speak on the issue, asking for “a full and unambiguous statement” on major issues arising out of the alleged indemnity deal agreed between former Al-Rawi and Nelson in 2017.
The association stated: “LATT is not in a position to determine (in the absence of the full response requested) whether there has been corruption, misfeasance in public office or politically motivated prosecution of any public official, politician or attorney, but maintains that the absence of any robust explanation to the public will encourage speculation of wrongdoing or covering up wrongdoing.”
This is a cop out in my opinion but even with their attempt to maintain their relevance, the questions unanswered in this one is mind boggling.
The LATT said there are several Questions for Armour:
1. Did the former attorney general take part in the collection of evidence for the purposes of this prosecution? From the information in the public domain the answer to this is quite clear. A resounding Yes.
2. Was Nelson, still getting fees or still the recipient of legal fees from the GORTT, after he made his agreement with the former AG and was a key witness in a criminal investigation? This has already been revealed in Parliament and in 2017 to 2019 period Nelson received fees from documentation disclosed in parliament. The information can easily be accessed.
3. Was the fees paid kept secret in this alleged agreement, the indemnity agreement and did it agree to “no civil proceedings will be commenced… for repayment of any fees paid to you (Nelson), in respect of legal business, in the period 2010 to 2017?” Therefore basically was this agreement allowing Nelson to keep all his fees he made so his fees would be protected no matter how it was made during any criminal investigation by the state? This basically sounds like inducement to me but I’m no lawyer.
4. Was the indemnity agreement forced on Nelson, was he pressured by the former attorney general and was this the plea agreement also done by the former AG, when the only person that has that remit is the DPP? Nelson has reported in the media already that he was pressured.
5. Why was this information concealed and other parts of the agreement and evidence concealed from Parliament? Was it to ensure that the opposition was not to be aware of it? Was it done particularly to go after opposition opponents to destroy the opposition in future elections? Well this one the parties involved need to say why and the reason for this.
6. How much funds were actually paid to Nelson? Was any legal fees, fines or outstanding fees taxes or liens paid on his behalf? The public interest is immense on this one and it doesn’t look like it’s going away very soon. Under the Freedom of Information Act this can easily be accessed. So really is LATT serious to get to the bottom of this or was it just to show they were doing something under the pressure from various quarters to say something?
That’s why I’m saying that we really didn’t realise how good we had it previously under a more caring, compassionate and competent Government under Persad-Bissessar. Now can we ever trust our current administration again to do the right thing for the people of Trinidad and Tobago instead of doing anything possible to destroy people’s lives at any cost to keep their positions and power?
Neil Gosine is an insurance executive. He is also the treasurer of the UNC and a former Chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies. The views and comments expressed in this column are not necessarily those of AZP News, a Division of Complete Image Limited.
Questions to Answer in Nelson Affair
OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar did an excellent job in her response in Parliament to the 2022/2023 Budget. She described it as “a vicious attack on the poor and working class” and called for a general election.
Only in times like these do we really realise how good we had it under the Peoples Partnership led by Persad-Bissessar. Look at what’s occurring now as there is one fiasco after another and one catastrophe after another. The latest one we see the current administration involved in another major cover up messy situation, the recent Faris/Nelson fiasco. The state witness and whistleblower King’s Counsel Vincent Nelson insisted that the then-attorney general Faris Al-Rawi promised that a presidential pardon would be given to him provided that he gave evidence against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and attorney Gerald Ramdeen.
The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) has finally come out of the closet calling on Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, to speak on the issue, asking for “a full and unambiguous statement” on major issues arising out of the alleged indemnity deal agreed between former Al-Rawi and Nelson in 2017.
The association stated: “LATT is not in a position to determine (in the absence of the full response requested) whether there has been corruption, misfeasance in public office or politically motivated prosecution of any public official, politician or attorney, but maintains that the absence of any robust explanation to the public will encourage speculation of wrongdoing or covering up wrongdoing.”
This is a cop out in my opinion but even with their attempt to maintain their relevance, the questions unanswered in this one is mind boggling.
The LATT said there are several Questions for Armour:
1. Did the former attorney general take part in the collection of evidence for the purposes of this prosecution? From the information in the public domain the answer to this is quite clear. A resounding Yes.
2. Was Nelson, still getting fees or still the recipient of legal fees from the GORTT, after he made his agreement with the former AG and was a key witness in a criminal investigation? This has already been revealed in Parliament and in 2017 to 2019 period Nelson received fees from documentation disclosed in parliament. The information can easily be accessed.
3. Was the fees paid kept secret in this alleged agreement, the indemnity agreement and did it agree to “no civil proceedings will be commenced… for repayment of any fees paid to you (Nelson), in respect of legal business, in the period 2010 to 2017?” Therefore basically was this agreement allowing Nelson to keep all his fees he made so his fees would be protected no matter how it was made during any criminal investigation by the state? This basically sounds like inducement to me but I’m no lawyer.
4. Was the indemnity agreement forced on Nelson, was he pressured by the former attorney general and was this the plea agreement also done by the former AG, when the only person that has that remit is the DPP? Nelson has reported in the media already that he was pressured.
5. Why was this information concealed and other parts of the agreement and evidence concealed from Parliament? Was it to ensure that the opposition was not to be aware of it? Was it done particularly to go after opposition opponents to destroy the opposition in future elections? Well this one the parties involved need to say why and the reason for this.
6. How much funds were actually paid to Nelson? Was any legal fees, fines or outstanding fees taxes or liens paid on his behalf? The public interest is immense on this one and it doesn’t look like it’s going away very soon. Under the Freedom of Information Act this can easily be accessed. So really is LATT serious to get to the bottom of this or was it just to show they were doing something under the pressure from various quarters to say something?
That’s why I’m saying that we really didn’t realise how good we had it previously under a more caring, compassionate and competent Government under Persad-Bissessar. Now can we ever trust our current administration again to do the right thing for the people of Trinidad and Tobago instead of doing anything possible to destroy people’s lives at any cost to keep their positions and power?
Neil Gosine is an insurance executive. He is also the treasurer of the UNC and a former Chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago. He holds a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies. The views and comments expressed in this column are not necessarily those of AZP News, a Division of Complete Image Limited.