Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar does not have to wait for further evidence to dismiss National Security Minister Jack Warner from her Cabinet.Maharaj described issues surrounding Warner and his son Daryan Warner's involvement in United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigations as an embarrassment to the country.
"You do not have to wait to get all the evidence when it comes to a minister who should be removed from the Cabinet," he said."It is sufficient if what you have would cause the public to lose confidence in the government, especially if you do not take action.""This is a situation in which the American government has made it quite clear that it is not sharing any information and intelligence with T&T.
"If you look at newspapers over the last few days, you would have seen reports from the US State Department saying that a lack of political leadership in this country is one of the causes of an ineffective fight against the drug trade and crime. What more embarrassment can occur to T&T?"In an interview on Thursday, political scientist Dr Bishnu Ragoonath said the Prime Minister has full authority to dismiss any Cabinet member without redress or explanation, but it is within her right to seek further information from the US State Department before taking any action against Warner.
Reuter's reported last week that Daryan Warner is assisting the FBI and IRS with investigations into alleged corruption involving international football governing body Fifa. Warner is reported to be a person of interest in the case.Soon after that report was published, Persad-Bissessar said in a statement that she "will not rely on published reports in the media but will again seek to get official corroboration of the information now in the public domain before making any determination or pronouncement."
She has since instructed Attorney General Anand Ramlogan to write to US Attorney General Eric Holder Jr to obtain official confirmation and facts surrounding the investigation.Maharaj said he does not believe the Prime Minister will take action against Warner because she had failed to do so in the past. He said allegations that there was a revived Flying Squad operating under the Ministry of National Security were enough grounds for Warner's dismissal."This is an excuse the Prime Minister is making, as she has done over the last two and half years, to bite the bullet and not face the reality in government," he said.
He said Persad-Bissessar does not need to be told what steps she needs to take against Warner. However, he pointed out, many calls for his dismissal have fallen on deaf ears."The word I would use is curious and it is mind-boggling for a country to have had to endure scandal after scandal and ministers remain in office...It is not only Warner," Maharaj said."This Government, the Prime Minister, has not over the last two and a half years demonstrated the commitment to hold high standards in public life because there has been several instances in which ministers ought to have resigned and she ought to have taken step to remove them."