Rowley: PM accepted need for consensus (with CNC3 video)

After almost an hour of talks between the Government and the Opposition over candidates for the presidency, the Government did not disclose the name of its prospective candidate. This was reported by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley at a news conference at his Charles Street office, Port-of- Spain, yesterday.

The Opposition had asked for the meeting with the Prime Minister. The Government team was led by PM Persad-Bissessar and included Labour Minister Errol Mc Leod, Legal Affairs Minister Prakash Ramadhar, Tobago East MP Vernella Alleyne-Toppin and Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal. 

The Opposition’s team, which was led by Rowley, included Whip Marlene Mc Donald, Diego Martin North East MP Colm Imbert and Senator Faris Al-Rawi. Rowley said the meeting discussed the need for consensus which, he said, the PM accepted. He said he also used the opportunity to complain again about the conduct of Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, who claimed the PNM had not spoken with its prospective nominee for the post. 

Presidential Nominees 04 02 2013

The PNM’s choice for consideration for the post of President was Justice Rolston Nelson, a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice. Rowley said he spoke to Nelson and he agreed he would accept nomination for the post of President by consensus. “The Attorney General is quite wrong to have done what he did,” Rowley added.

He said yesterday’s meeting was “very cordial, very useful and I dare say, one way or the other, very productive.” Rowley said the two sides understood each other better after the meeting and Persad-Bissessar said she would consider the Oppositions’s suggestion along with others made by other people. In explaining the PNM’s choice for President, Rowley said it was hoped that Nelson, if elected, would be able to bring some hope of a better organised nation.