An attempt by Point Fortin MP Paula Gopee-Scoon to raise a Motion of Privilege against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was yesterday denied by Deputy House Speaker Dr Fuad Khan.Gopee-Scoon was not allowed to present the motion as the Deputy Speaker ruled that it had been filed too late.The Opposition MP and former prime minister Patrick Manning later held a news conference in a Committee Room at the Red House to explain why the motion had been raised.
Gopee-Scoon said the motion had to do with statements by Persad-Bissessar on the operations of the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) under the former People's National Movement (PNM) regimes from 2001 to 2010.Persad-Bissessar had claimed in a statement to Parliament last November that the SIA was "illegally" engaged in wiretapping and there were files about the activities.Manning said the PM later made contrary statements about the same matter.
Gopee-Scoon said the motion she wanted to present was based on three issues:
• The MP for Siparia (PM) deliberately and wilfully misled the House on the legality of wire-tapping.
• The Member imputed improper motives against the Member for San Fernando East in clear violation of the Standing Orders and persisted in that behaviour by not returning to the House to correct the misleading statements which were made and this has brought the House into disrepute and public odium.
• The Member was grossly reckless in the abuse of privilege of freedom of speech in the House.
The former foreign affairs minister said Persad-Bissessar "deliberately misled the House into believing that she was in possession of hard evidence to demonstrate that the private communications of people named and other innocent citizens were being intercepted." "There was a clear denial of that even in the case of the Commissioner of Police," she said.
Both Manning and Gopee-Scoon said while they accepted Khan's ruling, "accepting his ruling and agreeing with him are two separate things."Manning then declared: "I disagree very much with the view expressed by the (Deputy) Speaker...We are entitled to do that."
He insisted that while he had no reports of phones being tapped and while there was no Cabinet decision to engage in such activity, wiretapping was not illegal as was claimed by Persad-Bissessar. He quoted a British case in which the House of Lords asserted that on national security laws and any security laws you can wiretap.