PM: Law Association elements working with UNC

THE Prime Minister yesterday charged that elements of the Law Association (LATT) and the Opposition UNC are trying to get him to advise President Paula-Mae Weekes to invoke Section 137 of the Constitution, to form a tribunal to investigate allegations made against Chief Justice Ivor Archie.

Dr Rowley said this is being done to overturn a decision by the Court of Appeal in August 2016 to quash elections petitions filed by the UNC to overturn PNM victories in certain marginal constituencies in the September 2015 general election.

At a PNM Diego Martin West constituency conference at the Point Cumana Regional Complex, Rowley defended his decision not to advise the President to invoke Section 137 of the Constitution.

“I work for the people of TT. I don’t work for the Law Association,” he declared. Rowley said he did not reply to a letter from the association, not out of disrespect, but because he was fully aware of his constitutional role.

He sought advice from an independent queen’s counsel in London, not from the Ministry of the Attorney General or a regional attorney, because he did not want anyone to accuse him of impropriety.

The advice which Rowley received said there were no grounds to invoke Section 137 proceedings against Archie

Saying the association received conflicting advice about whether there was a case against Archie, Rowley claimed the real motive was to strengthen an petition before the court, claiming that Archie was biased and the Appeal Court’s decision to quash the UNC’s election petitions should be overturned.

“We will ignore them totally,” he told supporters. Rowley claimed three attorneys elicited the support of a handful of other attorneys at a recent LATT meeting to vote for Section 137 proceedings to be invoked. He said the UNC believes it could use the courts as “their political playground” to fuel their political agenda.

Rowley said he was still waiting for Israel Khan, SC, to sue him for not invoking Section 137.” He questioned the silence of the association on claims of legal fee scandals allegedly involving attorneys who are also UNC members. He said this strategy being employed by the UNC is no different from its efforts to thwart investigations into alleged corruption under the former PP government.

Rowley said former COP leader Prakash Ramadhar was acting like “southern black wing”, trying to distract people from the truth about Cambridge Analytica’s (CA) role in the September 2015 general elections. The southern black wing is a bird which tries to distract people from finding its nest.

Rowley said the PNM will launch its local government election campaign in Chaguanas next month. He claimed the UNC’s One Corridor initiative was the continuation of its CA strategy to win the upcoming local government and general elections.

Earlier in the conference, Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds speaking on crime in general, revealed that three girls from the St Jude’s Home had to be hospitalised after ingesting medicine at the facility. He also said three other girls had escaped from the home but gave no other information.