The petition taken to acting President Timothy Hamel-Smith by the People's National Movement (PNM) was accompanied by signatures, said Opposition Senator Faris Al-Rawi. Speaking to the media after a panel discussion, titled: Section 34: Dealing With The Issues, at UWI's St Augustine Campus yesterday Al-Rawi said Hamel-Smith had told Opposition Leader Keith Rowley he needed only to receive the document which accompanied the signatures.
"There were certainly signatures that accompanied the document. I was present on the day. As it stands right now, the petition stands open to supplementation," said Al-Rawi. He added following the advice of Hamel-Smith, a final package would be delivered to President George Maxwell Richards on his return to T&T. "When we delivered the document to the acting President, we had well over 25,000 signatures, said Al-Rawi.
He said since then, many had come forward to add their signatures. Asked how many signatures they were hoping to garner, Al-Rawi said: "It's reported that Minister Moonilal said the PNM and 34 people would sign the petition, so if we accept his standard then anything over 34 should please the Government." He said the "ridiculous argument" on the part of the Government that there were no signatures accompanying the petition was untrue.
Asked if Rowley had received any responses from his letters to international organisations about Section 34, Al-Rawi could not say how many responses had been received. Letters were sent to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Organisation of American States Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza, United States ambassador to T&T Beatrice Wilkinson Welters, the Association of Caribbean States, British, French, Canadian and Netherlands embassies in T&T to join the PNM in "causing the present Government of T&T to govern within the commitment of their oath of office as designed for the protection of the interests of all the people of T&T."
Al-Rawi's response came after Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal had spoken on the issue. Moonilal said: "Apparently a petition was submitted without a list of petitioners. "Now the only time I know you can submit a petition without the list of petitioners is a divorce petition. I am sure we will hear more of it later on."