Analyst: PM should not use AG for 'personal matters'

Political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath says the Prime Minister can be accused of abusing his power in asking the Attorney General (AG) to investigate whether Chief Secretary Farley Augustine abused Tobago House of Assembly (THA) privileges during a special sitting of the assembly on Wednesday.

At the sitting, Augustine played audio clips of meetings he had with a man earlier this month, who claimed he met with high-ranking government and police officials in an attempt to destabilise the THA administration.

He further alleged the group was part of a network that is “illegally gathering information on citizens and political opponents.”

On Thursday, responding at a press conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's, Port of Spain, Dr Rowley was scathing in his condemnation of Augustine's presentation.

He said the act of using a recording of a "stranger" – a person who was not a member of the THA and, therefore, had no privilege to speak therein – was an abuse of the house.

"The chief secretary does not have the right under law or provisions of the assembly to do what he has done...

"To give voice to a stranger to make uncontested allegations against the country's leadership, is an absolutely reckless, horrendous abuse of the Tobago House of Assembly and whatever modicum of privilege it may have."

Rowley said he had directed Attorney General Reginald Armour to investigate whether Augustine's actions had exceeded the privileges of the THA.

Ragoonath spoke to Newsday on that development on Friday.

He said, “In directing the AG to go and find whatever, I don’t know whether that is abusing the privileges of the State.

“The Prime Minister’s entire argument was simply that this was defamation against his own character. That should be a personal matter. He shouldn’t be using the AG to go and look for that.

“But if he is using the AG to look for cases where the abuse of parliamentary privilege has occurred and how they are treated with, that is a different issue.”

Ragoonath added, “I don’t feel that if he is looking at it from his own personal perspective – because he said he is going to protect his character – so if he is going to protect his character, he should use his own private legal adviser to protect his character and not necessarily use the AG to do that.”

Ragoonath claimed that in TT politics, “Those who hold the power seem to have the ability and the capacity to use that power in whichever way they want to.”

He said, while Rowley has asked Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher to continue her investigations, he did not hear anyone say they would probe Augustine’s allegations to see whether or not they had merit.

“That is something that I would be concerned about.”