PM: THA is not Wild Wild West, we have a national emergency

THE Prime Minister says Chief Secretary Farley Augustine had no valid reason to utilise the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) as a platform to shield himself while making unfounded defamatory remarks and spreading slanderous accusations without any concrete motion.

At the post Cabinet media briefing on Thursday afternoon, at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, Rowley said he will seek legal advice on whether the THA Act makes provision for the assembly to be used in this way.

He said, “The question that has to arise now based on what has happened in Tobago is whether the Tobago House of Assembly Act where provision for immunities and privileges are made, whether in law those privileges are superior to the privileges that are provided to the Parliament under the Constitution.

“This is not about me any more. This is now a national emergency. Do we have a house where executive authority exists where people have no fetter and could do exactly as they please, even against written instructions as to what shall and shall not be done to the detriment of citizens?"

Dr Rowley said the Government awaits legal advice to determine the next step.

He said anyone who goes against the laws of TT do so at their own peril.