Police on Tuesday blocked opposition Senate leader Wade Mark from entering the Red House in Port of Spain to preside over a Joint Select Committee of the Parliament charged with seeking accountability and transparency in government affairs.The officers said they they had instructions to prevent Mark from entering the building because of the possibility that he may have been exposed to the Swine Flu virus during a flight to Trinidad from Miami on May 30.
The opposition United National Congress (UNC) reacted swiftly, calling the matter an affront to the constitution and an assault on democracy.
A statement from the office of the leader of the opposition said the executive, leadership, members and supporters of the UNC "widely and strongly condemn the unlawful employment of mischief and abuse of power by the President of the Senate" to obstruct Mark from entering the Parliament "to carry out his constitutional responsibilities to the people of Trinidad and Tobago".
The party noted that Mark could not be a threat since it is common knowledge that the incubation period of the virus is no more than seven days. Mark travelled from Miami over 10 days ago, the statement pointed out.
It added that doctors at the Ministry of Health have cleared Mark, saying he was not a health risk to anyone because of his presence on that flight.
"The obstruction of Senator Mark in the face of the clear common knowledge that the incubation period of the virus had long passed is an affront to the constitution," the party said.
It added, "It represents a most sinister assault on the democratic process and a deviance from good, responsible governance. The behaviour of the President of the Senate confirms the inherent bias which he is so often accused of injecting into his conduct of Parliamentary matters.
"What is even more alarming is the purport that a senior official of the Ministry of Health could have been involved in the laying of this plot to silence a vocal member of the Opposition in Parliament."
The party is demanding an explanation from the Minister of Health. It wants Jerry Narace to say "on whose instruction and on what basis the order was given to suddenly revoke the lifting of Senator Mark’s ‘self-quarantine’ and extend it to 10 days."
It wants to know why Mark was singled out from approximately 150 other passengers who also display no symptoms of the swine flu virus and who are walking freely among the public.
The party said "the machinations of the persons in the Ministry of Health in this conspiracy" amount to misconduct in office and abuse of office. It added, "Such conduct brings into question how often decisions that affect public health are influenced by political factors."
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