By Sheila Rampersad
May 08, 2015 – trinidadexpress.com
When incumbent Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was an opposition MP, she read into the Hansard a letter written by People’s National Movement (PNM) councillor Dhansam Dhansook. The letter, addressed to then-Prime Minister Patrick Manning and read in Parliament by the Siparia MP on April 28, 2005, alleged Dhansook paid then-Energy Minister Eric Williams a $75,000 bribe and then-Works and Transport Minister, Franklin Khan, a $120,000 bribe. Dhansook further alleged he had received death threats in relation to the matter.
Dhansook would later recant the allegations. In December 2007, Williams was released from seven charges of unlawfully accepting money from Dhansook. Magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan, in dismissing the charges against Williams, said the evidence given by Dhansook during the trial was “so tenuous” that a jury, properly directed, could not convict.
Three years later, Khan too was freed from multiple corruption charges. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, in discontinuing prosecution of Khan, told the San Fernando First Magistrates’ Court, “Dhansam Dhansook is not the type of witness the prosecution chooses to mount any further prosecution against Mr Franklin Khan.”
I recalled the Dhansam Dhansook affair several times on Wednesday as the same MP for Siparia, now Prime Minister, led her charges in a motion to censure and suspend from the Parliament Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley. I wondered whether, using the arguments delivered by the Government members, the current Prime Minister could have been suspended from Parliament back then.
Of course she could have been.
PM: No abuse of process in suspension of Rowley
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said there was no abuse of due process in the suspension of Opposition leader, Dr Keith Rowley, from the Parliament.
SPLIT OVER ROWLEY
INDIFFERENCE overcame anguish in the Diego Martin West constituency of Opposition leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday, as people reacted to his suspension from the Parliament Wednesday.
Former House speaker: Not good for the country
Former speaker of the House of Representatives Nizam Mohammed said yesterday that what happened in the Parliament was not good for the security and stability of the country.
Panday: Govt has handed Rowley the sympathy vote
‘A stupid strategy’
“I recalled the Dhansam Dhansook affair several times on Wednesday as the same MP for Siparia, now Prime Minister, led her charges in a motion to censure and suspend from the Parliament Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley.”
Unless someone has been living under a rock, we all note that the politics in TNT has change.
There has been by last count about 19 people ministers included who have been demoted or fired. Just ask Mary King, Jack Warner, Anil, Glen, Chandesh, Partap….To name a few. The Prime Minister has acted even getting rid of the AG when he was accused of attempting to pervert the course of justice. So there is nothing new in regards to Rowley being kicked out of Parliament. Panday as Opposition Leader was given a year suspension for opening his laptop. The writer of this article obvious lacks a clear understanding of how Parliament has been functioning these last 4 years.
Mr. Panday was suspended for breaking the House rules relative to his laptop use. One cannot say that Mr. Rowley broke any House rules. Indeed, the motion of censure did not accuse him of such. Come on people, read, reason and use your brains.
Up to this point, we do not know that the email allegations are fake. Only our police department can certify that. We have many opinions and assertions that they are fake but NO certification. This only comes from the police investigation, the contents of which we do not currently know.
Again, reason. When Mrs KPB read her allegations in the House back then and it proved to be an unfounded allegation and false, by the same principle being applied today, she could have been suspended from the services of the House also.
One writer said that that time is different to now because the politics have changed. That argument is just foolish. The issue is not the change in politics. The issue is the constancy of principle! If something is wrong 100 years ago, it is still wrong 100 years later. The environment may change but principles never do!!!
Read, reason and explain with knowledge…not emotion and preference. That’s how the 1st World operates.
Sheila Rampersad, like a typical uninformed journalist, should know the difference between a specific letter with specific allegations made by a specific source and a set of alleged, whistle-blower emails making serious allegations of murder, conspiracy, bugging. These are two very different situations which should not be compared and used as a rationalization of Rowley’s actions.
Being a pagan means believing only what they are nurtured to believe. No amount of truth that discounts their truths, can survive the implant of paganism in their brains.
Pagan —
: one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods : an irreligious or hedonistic person.
I see Keith wining on a teenager, owning several expensive vehicles, living in a million dollar property at Woodbrook place.
Irreligious — he talking about cyat to often these days. I never hear him say like the PM “put God first and walk behind”
Are you saying Kian, Keith is a pagan???
No Mamoo, I am saying that YOU ARE THE PAGAN. FOLLOW YOUR HISTORY AND YOU WILL FULLY UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE A PAGAN!
“Faced with the reality that someone was mauled to death while sleeping on the footpath, reactions from some stars have the same quality: the outrage is not over the drunk driving, the sympathy is not for the victims, the concern is not for the rule of law. Rather, what emerges is the stunning “why were they sleeping on the footpath?” The poor are to be held responsible for their own lack of options. They are a nuisance, standing in the way of drunk drivers in fancy cars who think footpaths are racing tracks. It would be easy to write this off as the reaction of a deluded few.” …..taken from the India express
I think this explanation can be applied to what is taking place in the parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. In fact it aptly explains what is commonly referred to as ‘pagan’ behavior in our land.
One of the many things that go unnoticed in the media is what I would like to term ‘Professional Misconduct’. It happens everywhere, no just in the press. In government we see it in almost every single authoritative figure. In reporting of the downgrade of Trinidad and Tobago by Moody’s, Kamla stressed that her Finance Minister is meeting/have me/will be with Moodys (to correct the erroneous rating). She did not use those words in bracket but the illusion of that meaning was definitely implanted or sublimated to suggest that she and Howai have influence to change or supplant what is already is public knowledge – Moodys downgraded Trinidad and Tobago’s credit ratings because of Government’s failure to put its house in order or have an efficient infrastructure to account for the nation’s finances.
The implication in Kamla’s statement is clearly to show or inject that Moodys made a mistake. The truth on the part of Moodys or any international reporting agency is that ‘making a mistake’ is in effect creating a case for it’s eventual downfall. Moodys or S&P do not go about using magical figures to come up with these ratings. The information they gather are mostly from official sources. In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, the financial data they gathered must have been from Howai’s ministry and that of the Central Bank. Those figures along with other corroborative financial data and statistics from other sources are what is used to analyse the information. So Howai’s ‘meeting with Moodys’ cannot and will not change anything. I view this attempt by Kamla to mislead as professional misconduct.
Kim Boodram of the Express article ‘Split Over Rowley’ reporting on how his constituents regards Kamla’s suspension of Rowley, as one in which the majority of his constituents ‘don’t care’. Kim Boodram stated in her article “A handful were downright gleeful, saying Rowley had shown no compassion for his constituency whether in or out of government and at least two people drew their United National Congress (UNC) party cards to show their support for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.” The article shied away from giving the impression that Rowley had any support from his constituents and emphasized that they “don’t care”. To balance her views Boodram realized that it would be inconceivable that such reporting can be viewed as credible without showing a kind of support for Dr. Rowley who, she added “James Thomas, the 62-year-old chairman of Party Group 1 of the constituency, said it was with a heavy heart that he witnessed his MP being banned from the Parliament.” It is not exactly an exuberant support but one that was an acceptance of Rowley’s fate rather than one of sticking by their choice of representation. No constituency is perfectly in favor of its representative. There will always be dissidents who do not approve. I am not disputing Kim Boodram’s evidence of the facts she reported. It may be entirely true but that truth may not be representative of the whole of his constituency. So, what Kim Boodram is really telling us is NOT of his constituency but a group of people she met in his constituency. Her reporting should state exactly that and NOT to give the impression that such is the take of his whole constituency. Would she have done that in Kamla’s constituency? I don’t know that, but I do know that there is an illusory implication that even though Dr. Rowley is heavily favored to comfortably win his seat in Diego Martin, Kim Boodram wants to give the impression that most of his constituents “don’t care”. This too, I find is professional misconduct. We are not all illiterates when we take time to read what is presented to us as ‘news’. I am not disputing the accuracy of her facts. What I am disputing is how she presented the facts and this to me is a subtle form of misguidance. It is my opinion that the presentation of Kim Boodram’s reporting was to tell me that most of the people that Dr. Rowley represents with don’t care or only care for the UNC. It is subtle reporting like this that confuses people and it is my hope that the press should not assume that because it is comatose in its vigilance the 4th estate, does not mean that we are similarly comatose in understanding what is presented to us.
But….wait a minute…The Express is well known for supporting the PNM and exposing the ill deeds of the government.
Was it not Ria Taitt of the Express who tried to get Ramlogan’s parents in the sanctity of their own home to say that Ramlogan beats his wife? Now that’s professional misconduct. I finally agree with my friend, Kian.
Complain when the articles do not support your point of view. Now that’s democracy….
No TMan,while you are fixated on PNM and UNC, my focus has always been and will continue to be accuracy. I admit that Kim Boodram reported facts. But the facts were deliberately intended to suggest that Dr. Rowley did not have any support. My reasonings are supported by facts too, not sentiments. Dr. Rowley is the current popular holder of that seat. It is expected that there will be people who are against him. He is still the popular choice to hold unto that seat in the next election. So to suggest that he lost popular support by his suspension from parliament, is by my definition professional misconduct. I am not saying Kim Boodram is biased, I’m saying when her article is weighed for accuracy, she presented her facts without crediting Dr. Rowley with any positivity and that is professional misconduct. In the last THA election, a reporter by the name of Cassandra Forbes was stationed in Tobago, her reporting was stubbornly of the view that it was too close to call. When questioned of her surety, she emphasized that being on the ground and seeing what is going on is confirmation of her analysis. All this time election money was exchanging hands like a basketball, yet she chose to neglect obvious facts – PNM won by a landslide. This is the objective of my complaints.
Your accusation against the Express is unfounded!!! Just 5 short years ago all parties were saying that the Express was anti-PNM. What has changed in your mind in those 60 months? Investigative journalism has not! Calling out of Government officials on matters that affect the public has not!!! Journalists going to extreme lengths to get the scoop on civic matters has not!!! Tell us TMan, what do you think has changed in the Express between 2009-2015?
Talk to our friend, Kian. He gave us an extended lecture on Media and Professional Misconduct.
There are certain reporters of the Express who have great difficulty with showing objectivity.
When you have three different interpretations of the same story in three different newspapers, you have to wonder.In T&T there seems to be four sides to every story: the government, the Opposition, the Media and the truth.
Fellow bloggers, I am having a huge problem and I might need some help here.
I am finding it difficult to believe that Dr. Rowley or someone else, sat down and invented/fabricated and produced, not one or two or three, but 31 e-mails. Dr. Rowley, an intelligent human being of sound mind, then came to the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago and the world, and revealed these 31 pieces of untruths and somehow thought they will morph into truths. I am not buying that. I in town too long.
Next, of what benefit is the suspension of Dr. Rowley to the people of Trinidad and Tobago? Will it remove the vagrants off the streets? Will it help the thousands of our nation’s children who sat the SEA? We are just paying these jokers to play their little games.
We all know the law is an ass. Well so too is Parliamentary practice. If the Prime Minister or one of her subjects had brought 100 e-mails to Parliament, could the Opposition have gained the same result of suspension? No, it is a majority voting system. What’s good for the goose, does not stand a chance with the gander.
Let me make it clear, I do not roll with politicians. I don’t know any of them personally, and I have never seen any of them in the flesh. Not one single one of them will give me a ride in their tax payers vehicle if I am standing in the rain. Oh, maybe my daughter, if she was a fine piece of creation.
A very wise observation Frontsman. Mamma, TMan, Dictator Kamla, Moonilal/Cunnilal and the whole of the the UNC are casting allegations, left, right and center. They termed Dr. Rowley a Fabricator. But as you suggested, they all say how stupid he is and have convicted him of all kinds of misdeeds, including coming up with these situations all by himself. Not ONE of these idiots, yes idiots were able to create a scenario where Dr. Rowley had the ability, time, expertise, knowhow, collaboration, affinity with others in the IT profession or show how he could have done this. But they ALL proclaimed him guilty! Well, I agree with you Swordfish, the people of Trinidad and Tobago would be damned fools to believe this concoction. In the IT world there is something known as hacking, that is when really smart young people are intelligent and skillful enough to penetrate the most sophisticated applications and programs on the internet. Much of what was contained in those emails were things that the government and its agents in the UNC parliament were known for. If Dr. Rowley was so GUILTY, as the goons in the parliament claimed, how come they have NEVER brought one single expert to come into parliament, expose themselves, state who they are, tell us what their expertise was and explain to us how Dr. Rowley managed to attain such acumen as to think of the contents of every email. corroborate them and present them? Jezebel and her fellow accusers ONLY interest was to convict Dr. Rowley. They really have absolutely no interest on how these emails were concocted and made its way to the parliament. Our comatose press, in just manner as Moonilal/Cunnilal and Jezebel, accepts those theories that just because Dr. Rowley brought these emails to the parliament, he is also GUILTY of making them up. HOW IDIOTIC? How puerile? How condescending? How unimaginative? How sinister? How vulnerable? In a court of law we do not prosecute people because we don’t like them. We do note prosecute people because we don’t like what they say. How come Jezebel, Moonilal/Cunnilal, Wade Mark the the whole lot of them NEVER presented the papers they were showing in parliament for public scrutiny?
How come they have never given the public an opportunity to investigate for themselves in detail, the pieces of paper they were displaying waving their hands in Parliament. The conviction of Dr. Rowley is a witchunt and Jezebel and her fellow conspirators will pay a price for it. The comatose press press are a very gullible group who take anything given to them without proper investigation and then present it to us as facts. As one who used to be in the IT world myself, it is with great concern I find this conviction very strange where one can just accuse you of something, get a majority of their peers to say yes you did it then convict you. They claim to have documented claims from the United States. Are those documents in the archives of the parliament? Can further investigations be conducted to validate the authenticity of these so-called documents?
Swordfish, I think you have just brought new insights into this conversation and it is time people recognize Jezebel and her administration for what they are – good-for-nothings! Parliament has officially become a big joke and we are the stupid audience looking on. What a country? What a gullible people! Is this the legacy we wish to leave for the next generation? What about the press? In time to come the true facts will come out and when it does, what if the true story is totally different from the official one as presented by Dictator Kamla and Company? How do we fix that? This I believe is and administration hungry for vengeance and their target is Dr. Rowley. Who is leading the rush to find the truth?
CORERECTION: I made reference to the person whom I complemented as ‘Swordfish’. I really meant it to be Frontsman. Sorry about that Frontsman. I guess Swordfish was on my mind.
Well, we do know that Rowley was not smart enough to create these emails, but he should have been smart enough to be suspicious of this email package delivered to him. He was obviously “set up” by someone or some group of individuals who are now having a good laugh. Rowley proves over and over again that he lacks good judgment.He is salivating at the prospect of becoming PM.
THEY FEEL ALL AH WE ARE A BUNCH OF FOOLS, DEM ALONE SMART. BUT WE WILL SEE WHATS THE SPIN DOCTOR SAYS.
Sheila WHO SAID THIS…..In keeping with this, I posed the same question in my address to the Tobago House of Assembly, on April 26th of this year:
“How often, as leaders, we see the need to protect the voiceless, the marginalised and the dispossessed among us and we see this strictly in terms of class and other social structures, conveniently forgetting that it equally applies in the arena of politics? Where there is no representation, voices can be silenced. Mohandas Gandhi once said, “I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong”. Dear assemblymen and women, you have the responsibility to ensure that no one in Tobago, or Trinidad, suffers from the vagaries of what I will term ‘majority politics’.”
Is KAMLA heeding these words especially the last 2 weeks in Parliament? The man who said this i 2013 must be now scratching his head in disbelief.
Rowley fired by Manning…
Dr. Keith Rowley’s appointment as Trade and Industry Minister was revoked with immediate effect on Wednesday 23rd April, 2008, by President George Maxwell Richards acting on the advice of Prime Minister Patrick Manning. This dismissal comes six months into the term of the Patrick Manning administration and has impassioned many supporters of Rowley.
Rowley fired from Parliament by Kamla…
The Prime Minister has said the Google records provided to her attorneys reveal there were no such exchanges as alleged from her e-mail account.
Next to fire Rowley, the people of Trinidad and Tobago and the people of Diego Martin.
“The Prime Minister has said the Google records provided to her attorneys reveal there were no such exchanges as alleged from her e-mail account.”
Mamoo, are you sure this is what you wanted to write? Have you are anyone else seen this revelation from Google? Who are the Prime Minister’s attorneys in this matter?
Remember Mamoo, this is the same Prime Minister who, only after seven months as the leader of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, told the 1.3 million living souls of this nation, that Reshmi Ramnarine was the most qualified and suitable citizen to head the premier spy and intelligent agency of our country.
This agency was so ‘top security’ that I am sure that not even .3 of the .3 million people knew of its existence, forget the 1 million.
No vote of ‘No Confidence,’ no suspension, because majority rules, whether right or wrong.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Rowley-Ill-expose-corrupt-303146681.html?m=y&smobile=y&clmob=y&c=n
Yeah,and I am quite aware,that many don’t really care ,if Good Friday,falls on a Wednesday,but if the people of T&T,makes a similar mistake,and elect this political clown ,along with her UNC dominant, PP goons,to power again,then it’s clear,that they are more stupid,than one gives them credit for,hmmmmm?
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,210873.html
Sadly,dem Jamaicans always get a bad name,and yet they allowed the extradition of a notorious criminal to America,so that he could face charges.The PM,his long standing benefactor,Mr Goulding ,who cuddled him,was kicked out of office,for so doing.
T&T in contrast,attempted to make a law,to not only free,but block two notorious party supporting , white color bandits,from getting extradited to the USA,to face their crimes.
In the interim,they choose to fill our prisons ,with low end criminals-many indulging in victimless crimes,such as marijuana possession.Care to guess,who is suddenly trying to legalize marijuana in T&T,and their ulterior motives?
How bout dem tribal farmers,who unlike ,slave grand pickinees,are getting all our state owned prime lands,courtesy Kamla,in her pre election damblays?
Let’s tip de brakes on that for a bit.
Fast forward to 2015,and those in power,are trying to castrate the leader,whose fervent anti corruption stance ,not only gave them initial power in 2010,but likewise,who unlike -transparency International, fake gurus ,like fired Mary King-tried to expose them,and all their financial shenanigans.
Thanks Dr Rowley,for swinging your sledgehammer to the shin of that fake Christian,nepotistic bastard,call Manning,and his Hart buddy.
Thanks for your sterling service,and more so ,for being an unrelenting champion of the people,and no ,we don’t care ,how you came about the evidence,to sink these economic barbarians.
Go get em ,big fella!
Keep swinging that symbolic sledgehammer,at Kamla’s head ,elbows,and kneecaps!
When -not if-you assume power,leave no stone un-turn-as we like to say on the streets-in finding the stolen state loot,and si,prosecuting them,wheresoever they choose to hide.
Since they cannot run with their properties/fixed assets,we’ll seize,and sell ,where appropriate.
“Rowley fired by Manning…
Dr. Keith Rowley’s appointment as Trade and Industry Minister was revoked with immediate effect on Wednesday 23rd April, 2008, by President…,” bla bla bla!
MAMBOO
This Mamboo guy,with his dog brain logic.
Ok,sometimes I tend to forget,he left the Mayaro primary school,in standard 1,or is it ABC?
For de Record,Patrick Manning,did not just fire Dr Rowley,simply because ,he was admiring the ample posterior of Hazel his opportunistic wife,or begged her ,on too many occasions ,for little carnival wine,during the annual PNM fetes.
There are specific reasons ,as to why Manning,and Kamla,hates this man ,and perhaps wish ,he could experience some harm.
Let dem try!
Speaking of the PP,just who is this fool of an AG,we now have here,after the overdue departure of Rammy the crook,in ‘Nickholeass?’
Hey Nick,if you wish to go down that part,and enforce another foolhardy rule,aren’t you aware,of the implications?
I’ll you.Your clueless PM ,would have no choice,but to hold by-elections ,to replace them ,as she naively did, for Jack Warner,and anti T&T- foreigner Volney-and loss.
Translation:-Less time in office, for ‘you alze,’to prey,and plunder,before the national elections are Constitutionally due.
Ain’t this bozo ,the one,our late ,legal luminary ,in Desmond Allum,told us about,that could not pass,his bar exam,and lied that he did,before drawing a salary,in breach of T&T ,Law Association rules?
Yep,we should have known.
In the words of my late,extremely wise,Tobago Granny? “Birds of a feather,flock together!”
Yes sariiii,and if Nickholeass,and Howai, walks like Siparia ducks, talks like Couva ducks,and behaves like South of de Caroni ducks,they just can’t be Grande,or Charlottesville Tattoos,are they, people?
Just saying,enough already!!!!
http://www.stabroeknews.com/2015/news/regional/02/05/new-tt-ag-query/
Can’t help it folks,but I just despise corrupt folks. Unfortunately,there is a distinct segment of our society,who -from cradle to grave- culturally embrace this despicable behavioral trait,and don’t give a hoot,if they destroy our entire country,while indulging in same.
If you still need me to elaborate,on who they are,or what they do ,then go ahead, and vote for Kamla,and her PP goon,then ,’whey you get ,you tek,’as de wise lady ,would say.
Long live the Republic of Tobag…ooops,….lo siento,T&T!
I love this land, Y tu?