Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has failed the citizens of T&T. He has also brought the office of the AG, the administration of justice and the country into disrepute.
That was the view of former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj in the face of growing calls for the removal of Ramlogan on social media, in the newspapers, and by the Opposition, after Police Complaints Authority (PCA) Director David West stated that Ramlogan had asked him to withdraw his statement in a defamation lawsuit relating to the failed extradition of Section 34 applicants Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson, in exchange for his receiving the PCA job.
Ramlogan is now the subject of a police probe. On Thursday, a new dimension to the story unfolded when National Security Minister Gary Griffith disclosed that on the urgings of the AG, he had contacted West to find out if he (West) had pulled back a document which was filed in the High Court.
“I am of the view that the Attorney General has no moral authority to continue a minute more in his office,” Maharaj said yesterday.
“The AG has not only brought his office into disrepute, but the administration of justice and the country into disrepute as well. Everyday this continues, Trinidad and Tobago is losing its reputation. Even the vice president of the United States of America, in the presence of T&T’s Prime Minister, stated that in the Caribbean, America has its eyes on issues of corruption and breach of the rule of law.”
Maharaj said as far as he was aware no other AG in the Caribbean had been under a police investigation. “To my recollection this is unprecedented in the Caribbean. It is not proper for an AG who is the subject of a police investigation to be still in office. “But more important, he has failed to show the standards of conduct in public life which an Attorney General must show in order to generate public confidence in the office of the AG.”
As the holder of the country’s third highest office in the land, Maharaj said, Ramlogan was duty bound to provide legal advice to the Cabinet, President, Commissioner of Police and state agencies. Maharaj said to his recollection, Ramlogan had not initiated any piece of legislation or taken any action that brought benefits to the country’s citizens. “So unfortunately, it seems, he has been a liability to the People’s Partnership Government and the country.”
Maharaj said following every misstep made by Ramlogan, there were calls for his removal, but the PM failed to act. “The public now had the perception that the PM is afraid to take action against the AG because he is a very powerful man. The Prime Minister is hoping that the Attorney General resigns.”