Analyst on silk affair: Govt now looking at damage control

The silk affair has cost the People’s Partnership some damage and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is now attempting to do damage control. This was the view of political scientist Dr Indira Rampersad yesterday. She was responding to questions on the issue of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s decision not to give up her appointment as Senior Counsel.

She said: “I think some collateral damage was suffered by the politicians (involved). “The Prime Minister is now trying to do some damage control by attempting to explain why she would not give it back. “Attorney General Anand Ramlogan is also attempting damage control by seeking to have national consultation on the silk affair (by putting out a Green Paper for public comment).” 

 

She added: “If the Prime Minister returns the award, it means she felt something was amiss in accepting it. “I don’t think that’s the signal she wants to send out. Also, I think the PM does not believe anything is wrong in accepting silk.” Rampersad said the PM also made a valid point when she said it would be wrong to call on people to return the award because others who received it over the past 50 years would also have to give it back. She added that there were two issues involved in the silk debate—the perceived independence of the judiciary and the credibility of the Government. “There is the perception that giving silk to the Chief Justice was a kind of bribe and I think both sides want to preserve their images,” she said.

 

Rampersad said the debate in the media and by members of the public seemed unfair. She noted that former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, who has strongly condemned the acceptance of silk by the PM, was the one who created the position of senior counsel, a local version of Queen’s Counsel. She also recalled he was soundly beaten by Persad-Bissessar in the 2010 general election. Asked if the latest “black mark” in the Government’s book would affect its credibility, she replied: “The next general election is in 2015. “Everything has a short life in T&T but when the election bells are tolled all would be replayed,” she said.