A last-minute letter from Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley to President Anthony Carmona stalled two planned appointments to the Integrity Commission.
Preparations were already underway for yesterday’s double appointment, when the arrival of Rowley’s letter at 8.15 am effectively stopped the proceedings.
Some three hours after the scheduled start, Carmona addressed the media saying that he had decided to defer the appointments to the Integrity Commission because of Rowley’s letter.
“In the circumstances, I have since dispatched a letter to the Honourable Leader of the Opposition indicating that I have afforded him additional time and that I expect his response to my proposed appointments by Monday, 22 June 2015,” Carmona said.
On Thursday, Rowley issued a media statement saying that he had received Carmona’s letter on June 10 and needed more time to make his own discreet enquiries into the proposed appointees. Rowley also believed that the appointments would be illegal as he, in his capacity as Opposition Leader, was not properly consulted before the appointments.
“I wish to state very matter of factly that I engaged the consultative process with the Leader of the Opposition and the Honourable Prime Minister in the meaningful and proper manner which such consultations require, pursuant to the usual customary and traditional practice of this office,” Carmona said.
He said on June 8 he prepared and signed off on two letters of consultation directed to Rowley and Persad-Bissessar proposing two names to join the Integrity Commission under current chairman Zainool Hosein.
“I have given careful consideration to the letter of the Leader of the Opposition and it is my decision this morning to defer the appointments to the Integrity Commission in order to allow the Honourable Leader of the Opposition and by extension the Honourable Prime Minister additional time to consider the proposed appointments,” Carmona said.
Carmona detailed the process through which both Persad-Bissessar and Rowley were apprised of the proposed additions to the Integrity Commission.
“The two letters of consultation with respective Curriculum Vitae attached left our letter pool in our mailroom on the morning of Tuesday, 9 June 2015, I repeat the morning of Tuesday, June 9, 2015, and were hand delivered by our messenger to the offices of both the Leader of the Opposition and the Honourable Prime Minister,” he said.
Carmona said there were receiving signatures from both offices and that Persad-Bissessar’s office received the letter after Rowley’s.
“It must be noted that the Office of the President, prior to this morning, was never contacted by the Honourable Leader of the Opposition acknowledging my letters of consultation or objecting to the proposed appointments with reasons and representations stated and or requesting dialogue and discussion in respect of the proposed appointments or requesting additional time to consider the proposed appointments or acceding to the proposed appointments,” Carmona said.
Carmona said it was “indeed regrettable” that Rowley “in his wisdom sought to first ventilate, inter alia, his request for additional time in the public domain rather than through official channels.”