Sir Ellis Clarke believes there is nothing in the Trinidad and Tobago constitution to prevent Chagunas MP Jack Warner from opening an office in the neighbouring Couva North constituency currently held by opposition leader, Basdeo Panday.
The former president and one of the principal authors of the 1976 Republican Constitution, made the comment to Newsday in reference to the political battle within the United National Congress (UNC).
He told Newsday, “There is nothing in the Constitution to prevent that.... That is an internal matter.” He also said Panday's decision to appoint a UNC "caretaker" MP for each of the three "RAMJACK" constituencies is internal and "political".
The controversy is part of the political battle raging inside the UNC between the political leader and three dissident MPs that is now putting opposing sides in a rush to offer service to constituents.
Basdeo Panday first announced that he would become the "surrogate father" of Chaguanas West, the constituency currently held by Jack Warner. He also announced that he would ask Kelvin Ramnath to take responsibility for Tabaquite, held by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj and Harry Partap will be in charge of Mayaro, the seat held by Winston "Gypsy" Peters.
Panday's argument was that since the three MPs had abdicated their responsibilities to their respective constituencies it was his responsibility to ensure that the UNC looked after the interests of people in those districts.
Warner responded by announcing that he would do the same, starting with Couva North, the seat that Panday first won in 1976 and continued to win in every election since then.
Warner also announced plans to set up offices in two other "Panday" constituencies, Princes Town South, which is held by his brother, Subhas Panday, and Oropouche West, held by his daughter, Mickela Panday.
But concerns were raised that Warner might be breaching parliamentary rules by doing that, so the Chagunas MP wrote to the Speaker of the House of Representatives seeking his guidance in the matter.
Speaker Barendra Sinanan has confirmed that he has received Warner's letter seeking clarification on the matter but offered no comment on the issue. "I am dealing with it and that is all I would say at this time,” he told Newsday.
Warner plans a big "party" for the opening of the office with a band from India providing entertainment, followed by a public meeting at Jerry Junction, considered to be the heartland of Panday's constituency.
He plans to call the office the UNC Alliance Management Committee office/Couva North. The two other offices would be similarly named, he said.
Warner has not decided who will be the "caretakers" of the two other constituencies but has suggested that they could be women.
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