“I’m trained not to be scared.” That was the boast from National Security Minister Gary Griffith yesterday as he fielded questions from reporters on the police probe into the matter concerning Attorney General and Police Complaints Authority director David West, in which Griffith himself is alleged to be part of the picture.
Asked whether he had corroborated West’s statement to police on the issue, Griffith said he could no speak about something being investigated by police. He said he had not had any meeting with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and added that he was still minister. “The very fact I’m here shows that I am,” he added.
During debate, when teased by the People’s National Movement (PNM) while answering an Opposition question, Griffith admonished them: “I am the Minister of National Security.” Speaking to reporters afterwards, Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley called on Persad-Bissessar to “call election now” as the Government had collapsed. He also noted the issue concerning House Speaker Wade Mark, saying the Parliament was also embroiled in a situation and the Cabinet had imploded.
Rowley said the only recourse from all of this was for a general election to be called to deal with all the matters “in one dose or we will end up with an attempt to patch and fix and mend and it will only get worse.” He said the PM was dealing with the issue concerning the AG in the same way she had dealt with issues regarding Jack Warner, Anil Roberts and others.
“... Pretending not to know what to do, that’s the Prime Minister’s style. Is only when the landslide is about to bury them, they try to step aside. But this landslide will bury them without any effort on their part,” he added. PNM PRO Faris Al-Rawi also detailed the defamation case against Ramlogan. He said the PNM would have to examine the implications of the West issue on that.
Attending yesterday’s Parliament session and watching Griffith speak were former United National Congress leader Basdeo Panday’s daughters, including Mikela and an older sister. They left early in the session.