If the Prime Minister is retaining Jack Warner in Government, then former Udecott head Calder Hart can come back home since Hart, like Warner, had also been praised for performance in his time as Udecott head, says Congress of the People (COP) deputy leader Robert Mayers.Remaining unconvinced that the COP got a fair deal in the Cabinet reshuffle, Mayers also said yesterday that Prime Minister Kamla Persad- Bissessar had no respect for Congress of the People (COP) leader Winston Dookeran.Mayers spoke after Persad-Bissessar's reassurance on Monday that the COP had received a fair share in her Cabinet realignment. The COP wrote Persad-Bissessar on Sunday-immediately after word of certain impending Cabinet changes- seeking a meeting in the spirit of unity.
The PM, however, officially announced her changes a couple hours after COP's letter was delivered to the St Ann's residence.COP MP Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan who was shifted from Energy to Public Administration has said she would have not accepted the post if it had been a personal decision. But she said she had to be guided by the coalition's interest (and accepted it).COP senator Prof Patrick Watson was axed also. He said he did not feel the time had come for him to leave and he felt some elements in the PP "seem bent on UNC-fying the PP."
Excluding the Prime Minister, Watson had said "not the Prime Minister, but certain people there," and it was evident to him the way some appointments were made, the COP was being marginalised, "and UNC people were getting the strongest posts."COP leader Winston Dookeran had said he was disappointed that Seepersad-Bachan was shifted and COP deputy leader Prakash Ramadhar had toed the line with party's executive members' position on the issue.But MP Anil Roberts had criticised Bachan's stance, also saying some in the COP complained too much.Yesterday, deputy leader Mayers said he was told that Persad- Bissessar was willing to have talks with the COP. But Mayers launched a blistering attack on the Prime Minister, starting with her handling of the Warner issue.
"Warner has brought not only the office of the Works Ministry into disrepute, but the country as well," he said. "There seems to be a growing tolerance for such things by people who should know better...It cannot be that corruption is OK once you're performing. "If that's how they feel, then we should all bring back (Calder) Hart because he did a lot of work and he was praised for his performance also and then allegations were levelled against him just like that happened with Warner."Madam Prime Minister addressed the nation last Sunday, not as Prime Minister, but as UNC leader, and all she did in her reshuffle was consolidate the UNC's position in Government.
"While the Prime Minister would have acted with constitutional authority, she is in fact in a coalition and so she might not have had the moral authority to do it...She should have spoken to the COP leader."Mayers said the situation supported the view by COP leadership contender Vernon de Lima that the party's leader needed to be outside the Cabinet and not hamstrung by collective responsibility when the time came to speak about controversial issues."The Prime Minister says she spoke with Carolyn and Prakash last Saturday, so it seems that having consulted with the party's deputy leaders, she may believe Dookeran is history," he said.
"She has had no respect for Winston since he was in the UNC."When Winston and (Basdeo) Panday had problems, she galvanised people in the UNC for her to become Opposition Leader...She's always had disrespect for him and she appears to still have it now."So don't feel she's a nice gentle little lamb-she's a deadly serious politician."She's using the Panday model to embrace Tobago using the methods he did in 1995...She's appointed Delmon Baker to Finance and given a post to Embau Moheni who's NJAC's point man in Tobago.
"If she adds a few PNM MPs to the mix, she can dispense with Tobago entirely as Panday did."Mayers said he believed Bachan's shift from Energy was to "allow certain people to get their contracts that were stalled under Bachan's watch."The UNC has always been saddled with the corruption image and no one has forgotten the Piarco Airport project," he said.On the creation of a Foreign Affairs/Information Ministry under Suruj Rambachan, he also said: "If you understand why Fazeer Mohammed was fired from CNMG, you'll understand why communications is under Suruj."