PNM refuses to give court its membership list; Espinet not a PNM member

Rose Janiere went to court Tuesday with a computer-generated list of members of her party - the People's National Movement (PNM) - as directed by Justice Vasheish Kokaram. But she left court without showing it to anyone.

The matter of the PNM's membership list came up the day before in a bribery case involving former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday and his wife, Oma, and businessmen Ishwar Galbaransingh and Carlos John.

Panday filed for a judicial review seeking to have Magistrate Ejenny Espinet, who is hearing the matter, disqualified on the basis of political bias.

Panday's lawyer asked for the list to determine whether Espinet was a member of the party and whether her father, a former PNM cabinet minister, was still on the membership list.

The judge also wanted to know if Attorney General John Jeremie was on the list. His interest in Jeremie was because Espinet is a trustee of the Morris Marshall Foundation and she was proposed for the position by Jeremie.

The defence alleges that the foundation is a PNM organization since it is based in Laventille, named after a former PNM MP and 10 of its 15 board members are PNM members.

Janiere showed up in court with with list and the PNM's members and lawyer Michael Quamina, who told the judge making the list public was "an extremely serious matter". He argued that the members of the PNM have a right to their privacy.

Quamina said the court was really interested in three names - Alexander Chamberlain Alexis, John Jeremie and Ejenny Espinet - and suggested that the judge should peruse the list.

Quamina rejected a suggested that as an alternative the lawyers on the defence team could check the list. But the lawyer for Espinet objected, saying a member of that team was Mickela Panday, who is Panday's daughter, a member of the United National Congress and an MP.

In the end neither the judge nor the defence lawyers saw the document that Janiere brought to court.

One of Panday's lawyers, Anand Beharrylal, asked about names on the list and was told that the names of Espinet and her father were not on the membership roll.

Espinet's lawyer told the court his client was a member of the foundation because of her concern to make life better for people in the depressed community that nurtured her. Douglas Mendes said that was her only sin.

He added that although she was introduced to the foundation by John Jeremie, who has been a member of the PNM since 1995, "There is no evidence of the magistrate sharing any political view with the PNM.”

The judge agreed to give his decision on the matter on October 22.

Both Attorney General John Jeremie and PNM chairman Energy Minister Conrad Enill expressed concern about the request by the judge for a list of all the party’s members. And they said they are pleased with the manner in which the court handled the matter.