Time to hold that 1990 coup inquiry: MP Winston Peters

Officials and dignitaries laid wreaths Monday at the eternal flame outside Parliament to remember the victims of the 1990 attempted coup and to pay respects to those who died in the six-day uprising led by Jamaat al-Muslimeen leader Imam Abu Bakr.

Deputy House Speaker Pennelope Beckles said "all those who lost their lives on that terrible day are heroes and heroines who will continue to inspire generations.”

One MP at the ceremony again raised the issue of trying to find answers. Winston "Gypsy" Peters said it is time for a commission of inquiry into the circumstances and events of that tragedy.

He told reporters he believes persons currently holding positions of authority in the country were linked to the coup. "I believe the inquiry should be allowed because everyone wants to know what took place and the people are willing for Government to spend money towards holding of an inquiry," Peters told Newsday.

Congress of the People (COP) leader Winston Dookeran told reporters the UNC Government wanted to hold an inquiry but could not do it because of a court matter involving the Jamaat.

He noted that since there are no pending court issues the government has no excuse for refusing to hold such a probe.

Dookeran was one of the people who helped end the coup. While Prime Minister A.N.R.Robinson and most of the cabinet were hostages along with other legislators, Dookeran took control of the administration and eventually agreed to grant the insurgents amnesty if they surrendered.

Based on that a court freed the entire group of charges of treason, kidnapping and murder. It was overturned on appeal but the government never bothered to pursue the matter further or rearrest those behind the plot.

Despite the calls for a probe, there's no sign that the Manning administration has any interest in bringing closure to the events. Four years ago Manning dismissed the idea, saying it would serve no useful purpose.

And a spokesperson for the prime minister told media Monday there is no indication that Manning's position has changed. Paige De Leon told the Trinidad Express, "At this time, I am not aware that the Prime Minister's position has changed, but I am aware he has been very consistent in the past on where he stands on the issue...he has been very consistent in the past on where he stands on the issue."

Here is what Manning said in 2005: "It is the view of the Government that 15 years is a very long time, that a lot of the circumstances that existed 15 years ago exist only in a very hazy way in the minds of many and that we are not convinced that a commission of enquiry is the way to proceed at this time or that there is any useful purpose that will be served."

Opposition leader Basdeo Panday shares that view but believes that if people want an inquiry then the government has a responsibility to hold it.

"First of all, I think it is rather late in the day to have an enquiry, since most of the evidence might not be available. But if the people of Trinidad and Tobago feel that they need some closure and they need to know more about it, well then, by all means have the enquiry," he told the Express, adding, "I don't see what purpose it will serve now."

Related: Today in T&T history - the 1990 Muslimeen Coup