"Political tabanca!" That's how Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday dubbed the actions of her predecessor Basdeo Panday and Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath after both stymied Opposition efforts to obtain Parliamentary debate on UNC's call for the removal of Udecott head Calder Hart. "It is a sad day for a great man to reach this impasse," Persad-Bissessar said. "It's a sad day for Opposition politics when the PNM can depend on Mr Panday and Ramnath to rescue them...and save the Hart or Mr Manning because the issue would have had wide exposure in the highest forum in the land." Debate on the Hart issue was defeated after Panday and Ramnath failed to stand up and be counted among the number of Opposition MPs who attempted to obtain debate on the matter. The issue unfolded during yesterday's House of Representatives after Ramnath took up his new seat on the Opposition backbench.
At the start of the session, Persad-Bissessar attempted to obtain debate regarding the UNC's call for the revocation of the appointment of Hart from Udecott and other state enterprises. Persad-Bissessar said that on Thursday, "incontrovertible document evidence" was placed in the public domain. She said this allegedly confirmed family relationships of Hart to two people in which the ownership and control of CH Development was vested at the time when Udecott awarded it the contract for the construction of the $368.9 million Legal Affairs Tower to CH Development. Persad-Bissessar claimed that this was at a price which was more than $60 million higher than that of the lowest bidder. She claimed Hart failed to comply with sections of the Integrity Act pertaining to conflict of interest in the award of the Legal Affairs contract, "since Hart did not declare such interest nor disqualify himself from the decision-making process."
Persad-Bissessar said the situation has served to undermine public confidence in Hart as Udecott chairman and in the administration of Udecott. Speaker Barendra Sinanan who agreed to allow debate on the issue at the end of the sitting, asked if all MPs agreed. When Sinanan received a mixed response–"Nos" from the PNM side and "Yes" from the UNC–he called for MPs who wanted the debate to stand up. Sinanan said the support of 11 MPs was necessary. However, although there were 11 UNC MPs in the Parliament, only nine stood up and Panday and Ramnath remained seated. Those who stood were Jack Warner, Persad-Bissessar, Roodal Moonilal, Tim Gopeesingh, Chandresh Sharma, Vasant Bharath, Subhas Panday (Panday senior's brother), Harry Partap and Winston Peters. MPs Mickela Panday and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj were late. MP Nizam Baksh was absent and Hamza Rafeeq is due home from Antigua this weekend.
Panday later told reporters he was not consulted on the issue and did not want to be committed to something he did not know about. He said: "I didn't know what she was going to say, supposed it ended up being statement which I disapprove of... surely I deserve to be consulted...I'm very concerned about the issue, but I'm not going to be made a fool of." Panday said he preferred that Persad-Bissessar would have "reached out" and told him what she was going to say. He said previous UNC caucuses prepared like that. On the view that his action embarrassed the Opposition, Panday said, "No, this indicates I will not be treated like a child." Asked about the public's interest, Panday said: "What public interest. I'm a MP and have a responsibility and I cannot back up statements I know nothing of." Panday said he was not putting his own interest above the public interest.
"My interest is very important...I have to live with myself," he added. He said he trusted Persad-Bissessar's decision as a leader. But, he said, he has not spoken to Persad-Bissessar since before the UNC election. He said it was not true that she tried to call him. At a subsequent briefing, Persad-Bissessar flanked by seven MPs–excluding Subhas Panday–said the two MPs' action denied the population the opportunity of having the Government answer important questions on the Hart issue. She said she would refile the call for Hart's removal with the Parliament on Monday. It will qualify for debate next Friday.