Carmona right man for the job says Dana

Justice Anthony Carmona is the right man for the job of President, says former head of the Law Association Dana Seetahal, SC. Carmona was nominated by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and is expected to be elected unopposed when the electoral college meets next week Friday to elect a new head of state. President George Maxwell Richards’ second consecutive term ends next month.

Contacted for comment yesterday, Seetahal said she was pleased to see the choice for President was someone with a legal background and T&T will be well-served by having Carmona as head of state. Seetahal said she got to know Carmona around 1983 when he was state counsel in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

She said he will bring “an effervescent, happy and caring personality” to the office. Seetahal quickly pointed out that she was not saying that other people were not caring, but “he exudes that warmth and compassion.” Carmona had a “warm and embracing” personality and she was confident he would be a good President because of his “charisma and character.”

Seetahal also said she was happy to see that the Opposition was in agreement with the Government’s choice for President. Asked if the nine Independent senators appointed by President Richards should resign when Carmona is appointed, Seetahal, a former Independent senator, said it would be the proper thing to do. She recalled that in 2003, when Richards replaced Arthur NR Robinson as President, all nine Independent senators offered their resignations, though Richards did not accept the resignations and they continued.

She stressed, however, that the new President should be allowed to determine if he wanted to keep or change the Independent senators, as that was “one action under the Constitution [in which] he acts in his own discretion.”