Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has struck down embattled Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader Jack Warner’s fresh allegations on the Section 34 issue as being crazy and false and has asked her lawyers to take the requisite action to stop “this malicious misinformation once and for all.”
This after Warner held a media briefing at the Normandie Hotel in Port-of-Spain yesterday, where he read out a statement on the Section 34 issue which he had completed with Justice of the Peace Anthony Soulette on May 29, the day after he was released from prison after he failed to secure bail when he first appeared in the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court on charges related to his dealings as a former Fifa vice-president.
The statement chiefly alleges a conspiracy on the Section 34 matter by Government officials, spearheaded by Persad-Bissessar, in order to “assist” former UNC financiers Ish Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson.
Warner alleged that followed “receipt” of a bribe, totalling $8.3 million, prior to the May 2010 general election.
Detailing a series of alleged developments, Warner alleged that the Prime Minister, in an effort to appease the US government for “her misrepresentation and mishandling of the Galbaransingh/Ferguson extradition and more so to neutralise a powerful political opponent with the capacity to lessen her party’s chances at the upcoming polls, she believes a golden opportunity has arisen for her to get rid of me based on the US charges.”
Warner, who also made claims about how former Justice Minister Herbert Volney was fired, said he was praying the PM would deny his statements, send him a pre-action protocol letter, refer him to her attorney or talk about it on the platform.
He said he had two more issues “more damning” than yesterday’s allegations to reveal and would also be doing an expose on the waste water treatment project.
After being asked about Warner’s claims regarding Galbaransingh, Ferguson and Section 34, Persad-Bissessar, responding via statement, said: “I don’t intend to waste any more time on Mr Warner’s ludicrous behaviour and crazy claims.
“The press conference held by Jack Warner was a damp squib littered with lies and more lies. I am responding at the earliest opportunity in the hope this will ensure that these outrageous claims by Warner are treated with the contempt they deserve.”
She added: “Let me state very clearly and unequivocally that these accusations are false and without any foundation whatsoever.
“I hope that observers will by now have noted the pattern of increasingly far-fetched claims being made by this man and how quickly each set of his claims unravels once the facts are known. Everybody knows his present plight and why he is becoming so desperate. He is a stranger to the truth.”
Timeline support
In putting a timeline as she refuted his claims, Persad-Bissessar said: “The record shows that Mr Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh, presiding in the Port-of-Spain High Court, stayed in November 2011 any move to have Galbaransingh and Ferguson extradited as being ‘unjust, oppressive and unlawful.’
“This was well before the proclamation of Section 34 (in fact, almost one year before). So that claim of a connection is, as others, absolute nonsense.”
She added: “Section 34 was passed unanimously by all sides of the House in 2012. It was subsequently repealed within 24 hours of receiving advice from the DPP to do so.
“As I stated at the time, I dealt with Minister (Volney) as I needed to do. He had given erroneous advice to the Cabinet and had failed to represent accurately the position and views of the Chief Justice and Director of Public Prosecutions.”
Citing the contents of the statement she gave in September 2012 on the matter of Section 34, Persad-Bissessar added: “It gave me no pleasure to dismiss him but all ministers in my Government are accountable and when tough decisions have needed to be taken, I have taken them.”
She also denied Warner’s allegations that she instructed Attorney General Garvin Nicholas to sign his extradition papers.
“In fact nothing has been signed by the AG to date. Another lie.
“Let Mr Warner take his allegations to the Integrity Commission, as he and others have done before and for which I have been cleared on every occasion. Let him take his allegations to the police with the evidence he claims to have. This will put a stop to this nonsense,” she said.
She added: “I have a duty to the people of T&T to lead this country and work tirelessly on their behalf. I remain focused on the issues that really matter and am doing everything I can to improve the lives of all the people.
“ I trust Mr Warner’s desperate and fallacious claims will be treated with the derision they deserve by the people of T&T.”
Contacted yesterday, Galbaransingh said he had not seen Warner’s statement or heard it and could not comment. Ferguson didn’t reply to calls.