Former Senate President Timothy Hamel-Smith agrees with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s assertion that Police Complaints Authority director David West should have notified someone that he was involved in the witness-tampering matter in the defamation lawsuit between former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley. However, he says rather than telling the Prime Minister, West should have notified President Anthony Carmona.
In announcing the removal on Monday night of Ramlogan and national security minister Gary Griffith as a result of the imbroglio that involved the Offices of the Attorney General and the PCA, the PM criticised West and Rowley for not indicating to her West involvement in the defamation matter.
She said while she could not remove West from office, he could possibly have prevented the current fiasco by letting her know in the first place. She added that West’s remaining in the chair could also possibly taint the forthcoming police probe of his complaint against the former AG. Speaking at his Albion Street, Port-of-Spain, law offices yesterday, Hamel-Smith said he agreed with that.
“Assuming that West did not tell the President, then that would have been a shortcoming,” Hamel-Smith told the T&T Guardian yesterday as he addressed questions on whether Persad-Bissessar’s call for West to step aside were justified.
“I could see the Prime Minister being very peeved about that fact that it wasn’t put on the table but I thought as opposed to her saying it should have come from the leader of the Opposition it should have come from West himself to the President then from the President outward.” He added: “There was a duty on West to make that known.”
Persad-Bissessar consulted with Rowley on West’s suitability for the PCA post when it became vacant last year and after both agreed his name was forwarded to Carmona. Yesterday, Hamel-Smith said if he were Carmona, he would now call in West to get a statement from him.
Stunned at Senate removal
On his removal from the Senate chair, Hamel-Smith, a senior member of the Congress of the People, said he was left with very little choice but to resign upon the instructions of leader of Government Business in the Senate Ganga Singh. But he said Singh was simply carrying out the orders of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. He admitted to there being unanswered questions on why he was asked to resign, saying he was stunned by the request when Singh visited his home on Sunday.
“From my perspective, she having expressed her desire that I resign... because she appointed me... she felt for whatever reason that she needed a change, that I certainly could not withhold my resignation and therefore I tendered my resignation to the clerk of the Senate because that is what the Constitution calls for and I sent a copy to the Prime Minister,” Hamel-Smith said.
Saying he knew Singh very well as the two had gone back a long way, he said he didn’t get a clear answer on why he should give up his post. “He (Singh) gave an overarching statement that the Prime Minister wanted to bring in a number of new ministers through the Senate and therefore needed space to make that appointment.
“I didn’t know what that had to do with me and remember saying to Ganga, ‘Ganga stop talking in riddles just come straight...’ I mean it must have been an embarrassing thing for him to have to do. Then he told me, ‘Look, the Prime Minister wants you to resign,’ but he did not identify anything specific,” Hamel-Smith added.