Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has said she has instructed Attorney General Anand Ramlogan to investigate a potential conflict of interest in Jack Warner's roles as Works and Transport Minister and Fifa vice president before Opposition Leader Keith Rowley raised the issue.
She said it was her belief Warner would do the appropriate thing should there be an apparent and clear conflict. "I asked the Attorney General to make inquiries into the matter. In fact, even before the issue arose, I asked the AG to look into the matter for us because we do not want to be out there doing what should not be done," she said. Persad-Bissessar agreed to be interviewed after yesterday afternoon's Clean and Beautify (C&B) programme launch. She was responding to Rowley's decision to write the Integrity Commission requesting an investigation into Warner serving as both Fifa vice president and a member in her Cabinet.
She said: "I do believe Mr Warner will do what is appropriate in all the circumstances and it is a new government. It is early days and there were transitional arrangements to be made. "Mr Warner had commitments to the World Cup, which is a massive exercise and he is honouring those commitments. "In the transition there will be quite a number of issues which all ministers need to resolve." Persad-Bissessar reiterated that "the appropriate course of conduct will be taken in due course" should there be an area within the Westminster system that precludes a minister from holding office, such as in Fifa.
She said: "Mr Warner is a maverick. It is that very trait that people love him for. He gets things done. He can work. He gets things done. I am sure we will look at it, if there is no legal impediment. "Mr Warner has said it for himself, that if Mr Warner has to choose, he will choose and do the appropriate thing. "For the time being the matter is being considered and we will be guided accordingly."