Kelvin Ramnath has responded to a charge by Jack Warner that Ramnath invited him and Ramesh L. Maharaj to his home for a "wife-cooked" dinner to plot against United National Congress leader Basdeo Panday.
Warner made the charge Wednesday night at a meeting of his Platform for Change in El Dorado.
He said Ramnath "called Ramesh, Sylvester Ramquar and I , for a wife-cooked dinner in his home, to plot the demise of Panday" as he told his audience about an alleged plot by the Couva South MP, who is a close ally of Panday.
Read the story: Jack challenges Bas...
Ramnath confirmed to the Trinidad Express Thursday that he has entertained Warner and Maharaj at his home on "several occasions" but he insisted that he never discussed with them any plan for Panday's removal as UNC political leader.
"No. Absolutely not. There was no discussion with me about removing Mr Panday," he declared.
He said such a move would have likely led to Panday's removal as leader of the opposition.
Ramnath called Warner's story a concoction, which he said is a part of a strategy to intimidate him. But he said he won't stay quiet.
Ramnath said while he disagrees with the manner in which Warner and Maharaj are seeking to address their concerns about the leadership of the UNC, he has nothing personal against either of them.
And he said he would never use the term "swine" to describe Warner as Warner alleged On Wednesday.
Former Chaguanas mayor Suruj Rambachan said Thursday he has nothing to hide and nothing to fear about a proposed audit of the borough's books for the six-year period that he served as mayor.
Rambachan's successor, Natasha Navas, announced at a political meeting on Wednesday that one of her first priorities is to ask for a forensic audit.
Speaking with the Trinidad Express Thursday Rambachan said that's not necessary since he always operated within the law.
"We have always operated with accountability and transparency, so the mayor needs to say why she believes this audit is necessary," Rambachan told the paper.
He said the last audit was done at end of the financial period in 2007 and the corporation had appeared before an internal committee to answer queries made by members of the public.
He said that turned out "satisfactory", adding that "the mayor is free to conduct whatever audit she thinks is necessary."
However, Rambachan is taking allegations of attempted inappropriate behaviour while he was in office, made against him by Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner, more seriously.
He told the paper his lawyers are looking into the "lies", which he said "are all part of his (Warner's) politics."
Warner's allegations against Rambachan were made Wednesday in a public meeting that was broadcast live on radio.
Rambachan said his lawyers have requested recordings of the meeting.
Warner has made no apologies for engineering the move to kick out Rambachan and replace him with Navas, a political rookie who has come under fire from the UNC, which claims that she lacks the skills to do the job.
Keith Rowley wants the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to act on public evidence presented at the UFF enquiry in Port of Spain to prosecute executive chairman of the Urban Development Corporation of T&T (UDeCOTT) Calder Hart.
The former planning and development minister and MP for Diego Martin West made the call at a news conference at his office Thursday.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning fired Rowley from cabinet for allegedly behaving like a "wajang" at a cabinet committee meeting at which he questioned a project being handled by UDeCOTT. But Rowley has insisted that he did not behave in a disorderly manner and was fired only because he challenged the UDeCOTT boss.
The matter caused a national uproar and Manning reluctantly appointed a commission of enquiry into the construction sector and UDeCOTT.
Related: Opposition UNC-A calls for public enquiry of UDeCOTT
Rowley said there is enough evidence for the police and the DPP to take immediate steps to initiate action based on the "the evidence, the sworn testimony that is already in the public domain with respect to possible criminal activities at UDeCOTT as such activities fall under the Prevention of Corruption Act.”
He said the Commissioner of Police and the DPP don't need anyone's permission to act. “All they need is information with respect to the possible breach of the laws to initiate the relevant investigations and to bring persons to account,” he said.
Rowley also told reporters Manning must remove Hart from any activity at UDeCOTT "so that the commission of enquiry can proceed without his interference or obstruction."
UDeCOTT recently filed a pre-action protocol letter to the members of the commission of enquiry threatening legal action against the commissioners if they refuse to step down on the claims of bias.
On Thursday, a High Court judge granted UDeCOTT leave to apply for judicial review in a matter involving the commission. The matter is set for hearing on October 21.
Hearings of the commission are scheduled to resume on September 7.
Rowley called UDeCOTT's legal move "scandalous" and said it is meant to derail the commission of enquiry so that no report will be prepared.
He charged further that "persons who may have questions to answer with respect to their own conduct and the conduct of this enterprise will escape the scrutiny of the Parliament and the public.”
He called it "an outrage that should not be tolerated by the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” adding that what is most worrisome is that UDeCOTT has been receiving all along, "the support and protection of the Prime Minister and certain members of the Cabinet."
The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) says it did not agree during a meeting with Prime Minister Patrick Manning that the media should be accountable to an independent body.
A release from the Office of the Prime Minister Thursday stated that MATT had agreed to that.
But in a release refuting that, MATT said the media's accountability to an independent body was part of the discussion between Manning and MATT but the media group did not agree to have any body police the media.
Manning met Tuesday with a MATT delegation comprising president Marlan Hopkinson and executive members, Sterling Henderson and Marcia Braveboy, at his office in St Clair, Port of Spain.
The meeting was arranged to discuss the issue Manning himself raised when he addressed a PNM political meeting on July 13 at which he said the media are not fulfilling their role to inform and educate the public.
The PM's office stated Thursday that "a significant agreement was reached by the participants, that the media should be accountable to an independent body" during the meeting.
The release also said the Ministries of Information and Public Administration and MATT would meet again "in order to formulate suggestions about how such an entity would operate".
But MATT's president insisted in a news release that there is no agreement about any such body. "The Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago distances itself from any reported agreement to the setting up of an independent body to which media practitioners would be accountable," Hopkinson said.
In a media release on the issue, the Congress of the People (COP) said it views with growing alarm attempts by the Manning Administration to influence and control the media in Trinidad and Tobago.
"Recent events point to a growing encroachment by the Government on the freedoms of the people of this nation and statements by the Prime Minister that the media has not been supporting his administration sends a chilling signal of willful intimidation of the free press", the party said.
It noted that the scope of the government’s advertising budget could allow the state to use that to "leverage favorable reports on their activities".
COP reaffirmed its commitment to a free press and said it "condemns any attempt to compromise and muzzle the fourth estate and further views any such efforts as an attack on our democracy."
Twenty years ago, on July 31, 1989, I had the honour and privilege of producing and editing the newscast that launched Canada's 24-hour cable news network, Newsworld.
The service, which was headed by CBC Journalist Joan Donaldson, was launched from Halifax, Nova Scotia at 7 AM. Donaldson, who died in 2006, called it "a new chapter in what is a very proud tradition of news and current affairs in Canada."
She added, "From every province across this country CBC Newsworld will begin this morning to tell the stories, to talk to the newsmakers, to cover the events that shape our lives. From our foreign bureaus around the world we'll bring you Canadian perspective to the international scene."
Donaldson said Newsworld would be available 24 hours a day. "When you need to know, come to CBC Newsworld; we'll be your eyes on Canada and the rest of the world," she promised.
Watch the CBC Newsworld launch video on YOUTUBE
The formal launch was preceded by a brief on-air address by the CBC's President Pierre Juneau, who was leaving office that same day after seven years. Juneau called it a tribute to the quality of the depth of CBC's journalistic operations.
"This channel will give Canadians every hour of the day an opportunity to see our news as it unfolds, an opportunity also to share more stories from every part of the country and an opportunity to an increased amount of international news to see the world both as others see it and also through Canadian eyes," Juneau said.
"I trust CBC Newsworld will became a vital part of your day world. It is for me one of the joyful legacies of seven great years."
Watch the CBC news report on the launch of NEWSWORLD
In the two decades that we have been on the air we have indeed become a part of the daily lives of Canadians and we have not failed those whose vision created the network.
Behind the familiar on-air faces that launched the service were a much larger number of support staff who worked tirelessly to make it happen.
It was Paul Griffin in Halifax who said the first words to mark our birth: "Good Morning and welcome to Newsworld Morning from Halifax."
Beth Gaines joined Paul to offer some of the inaugural show's menu and introduced Jane Gilbert who greeted everyone with the news that: "...An American hostage in Lebanon faces execution in two hours time. His captors say they will kill him unless Israel releases a top Muslim leader they kidnapped last Friday."
Steve Knifton wrote the story.
George Boyd, the award-winning Halifax journalist, later presented the morning's sports package. It was a historic moment for Newsworld and for George, who became the first black journalist to host a segment of a national television news program.
Watch the opening minute on YOUTUBE
That lead story turned out to be the international story of the day. By the time we signed off from Halifax at noon, Col. William Higgins had been killed and there was no sign that Israel was about to release Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid, a captured Lebanese Shia Muslim cleric with the Pro-Iranian Party of God.
Over the years, I edited thousands of other newscasts for CBC Newsworld, and produced dozens of current affairs magazine shows, including AGENDA with Joanne Stefanyck. But I didn't do any of it alone.
Our team included journalists, producers, editors, technicians and others in Halifax, other Canadian cities and our international bureaus.
We were witness to the fall the Berlin Wall and the end of the cold war, we brought home to the nation's living rooms the first Gulf War and led the way in the coverage of "lesser" stories like the Muslimeen coup in Trinidad and Tobago.
At home we were first with every breaking news event, presenting stories of people and their lives as they happened, often without editorial intervention, like the actuality of the OKA crisis.
I am thankful to all those who supported me and our network by contributing their journalistic and technical professionalism to make Newsworld the success it soon became.
And my very special thanks to Sandy McKean, Newsworld's Executive Producer in Halifax, who led the team that launched the servive. Sandy trusted me and my editorial judgment and asked me to edit the first newscast to air on our service. Sandy's faith in me gave me the opportunity to a part of Canadian journalism and broadcasting history. Thank you, Sandy!
Not many people remember this event, except people like Bob Sudeyko who was one of our anchors in Winnipeg that day and who now works for our online service cbcnews.ca, and Jane Gilbert, our dedicated news anchor in Halifax, who presented the historic first newscast on Newsworld. Thanks for remembering!
We began with a invitation to "Join the World in Progress" and we have kept our word.
Happy birthday Newsworld!
Prime Minister Tillman Thomas of Grenada has responded to a lobby from the tourism sector and removed the tourism portfolio from the ministry of foreign affairs as part of a cabinet shuffle he announced Thursday night.
The new tourism minister is Glennis Robert, who is also the Minister for Social Development, leaving Peter David to focus exclusively on Foreign Affairs.
The moves comes a year after Thomas' National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration came to office in July 2008 general elections. “It’s prudent, necessary and beneficial to reshuffle cabinet,” Thomas said in announcing the changes.
While Thomas made some important cabinet changes he did not name a replacement for his attorney general who was forced to quit last week. Jimmy Bristol handed in his resignation after admitting that he made an "error in judgment" in trying to influence a court matter in the U.S. regarding his stepson.
Read the story: Grenada AG quits...
The Prime Minister’s Ministry is now extended to include the Ministry of Culture and Information Technology.
Fresh from a meeting at which the United National Congress (UNC) failed to proceed with disciplinary charges against him, UNC Deputy Leader Jack Warner addressed supporters at a Platform for Change meeting in El Dorado telling them fear is not an option.
He also dropped a bombshell, stating that less that a year ago Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath "called Ramesh, Sylvester Ramquar and I , for a wife-cooked dinner in his home, to plot the demise of Panday."
And he put out a challenge for his leader.
"Let Bas resign his seat in Couva North and I will resign mine in Chaguanas West and let Bas and me go back up in Couva North. That is the challenge I give him tonight!"
Speaking about the party's attempt to bring 25 charges against him, Warner called it another brazen attempt by the UNC to silence the voice for change from within. "But tonight as I welcome you to this Platform for Change let me warn you that fear is not an option; together we will fight and together we will win," he promised.
He said the UNC's letter accusing him of bringing the party into disrepute seemed to have a finality about it that suggested the party has already made a decision and "judgment had been passed and an executioner appointed".
He repeated the point he made in a letter to the executive - that in his opinion the executive is not properly constituted to summon anyone before it and therefore lacks the moral legitimacy to summon him.
Read the story: Warner strikes back at UNC...
He charged that the group of “good men and women” who had conspired to summon him to an inquisition had made public the most offensive and damaging statements about his character, calling him a schemer.
He wondered how his fellow deputy leader Kamla Persad Bissessar could publicly declare war against him, a sitting UNC-A Member of Parliament, and the party failed to summon her to explain why she was bringing the party into disrepute.
It's part of the UNC's double standard, he said. He raised other similar points to demonstrate bias and wondered how people who have maligned him have not been brought before a disciplinary committee, including ousted Chaguanas mayor Suruj Rambachan who hosts a daily radio show to attack his opponents who have no chance to defend themselves.
He called for support for the Platform for Change, saying "the Rienzi UNC, my people, must be stopped. If it is allowed to continue along this path you the people will suffer."
He added, "For too long we have allowed the “Old” Bas to run things his way and the result is election after election the Party gets weaker and weaker and loses its ability to win any elections."
He referred the people who have been discarded by Panday including Hulsie Bhaggan, Ralph Maraj, Trevor Sudama, Winston Dookeran, Ganga Singh, Gerard Yetming, Manohar Ramsaran, Roy Augustus, Raffique Shah, Gillian Lucky and Sadiq Baksh.
"How much stronger our Party would have been" had their voices not been silenced, he asked.
"Rather than recognize the will of you the people, he rides roughshod in a dictatorial manner over decisions made and installs whomsoever he wishes to the detriment of the party," he said in reference to Panday's history of vendetta.
"His failure to recognize the leadership of Winston Dookeran resulted in the loss of 148,000 people who voted for the COP, and which would have made a difference between being in government and being in opposition," he said.
Warner charged that Panday is obsessed with power and that has "virtually ensured that the Trinidad and Tobago population will never trust another opposition alliance once he stands at the helm or at any point within it."
He wondered why the national executive is bent on judging him when it has not asked Panday to be accountable for the lack of an audited financial report of the Party’s accounts for the last 20 years.
And he had another question: "How come the Natex has not summoned the “Old” Bas to explain why he insists in holding on to office after failing to win six General Elections?"
He referred to Tim Gopeesingh's charge of "ethnic cleansing" against the government as a ploy by people whose backs are against a wall.
At the same time he admitted that the Manning administration is guilty of political, religious, cultural and racial discrimination but insisted there is no "ethnic cleansing".
Related: Panday says discrimination and racism are real in T&T
He called Panday "the most ungracious man I have ever met". adding, "We cannot afford to sit on our laurels under an ungrateful leader...because ingratitude is a crime more despicable than revenge."
He said the people who support the Platform for Change are not dissidents but the party labelled them so because of what they represent.
And he had a message for the people. "Do not be silent for, if you are, by your silence you will be abdicating your right and your authority to speak up against wrongdoing."
He said he will in the court of public opinion and the the High Court. And he promised that he won't end up in Panday's political cemetery.
Jack Warner went to Wednesday's United National Congress (UNC) national executive meeting at Rienzi complex ready to deal with charges against him but there was no inquisition and the meeting was adjourned because it lacked a quorum.
Warner presented the party with a letter outlining his contention that he considered the executive to have no legal standing under the party's constitution and therefore it had no authority to judge him.
The lengthy letter also suggested that there was bias in the allegations against him since the party had failed to investigate the political leader who he alleged brought disrepute to the party by virtue of the criminal convictions against him and his expulsion from Parliament.
He also told the party that he plans to be represented at any hearing by legal counsel who would have the right to cross examine his accusers.
Read the story: Warner strikes back at UNC
The meeting had to be adjourned because it required at least 12 members to get a quorum. Only seven members showed up: political leader Basdeo Panday, Opposition chief whip Dr Hamza Rafeeq, former Chaguanas mayor Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, Ramlochan Panchoo, Senator Adesh Nanan, MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh and Senator Jennifer Kernahan-Jones.
In a one-line letter to Warner dated July 29, 2009, UNC acting general secretary Glen Ramadharsingh said, "The National Executive has acknowledged receipt of your letter dated July 29th, 2009 and having considered the contents thereof, has decided to adjourn the enquiry into your conduct to Thursday August 6th, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. at Rienzi Complex."
Warner has advised the party that he would be out of the country on Thursday, August 6, 2009 but would be be available on August 15 and 16 or from August 25 to 31, 2009. On Wednesday evening Warner addressed his supporters at a Platform for Change meeting in El Dorado, telling them fear is not an option.
The leader of the United National Congress (UNC) is not bothered by Jack Warner's threat to take legal action against the party.
Basdeo Panday told the Trinidad Express Wednesday night that is his right, if he wishes to proceed in that direction, but at the same time he suggested that Warner and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj have a deal to damage the party.
"The fact that they wish to take legal action before anything has happened indicates their plan I think, which is to keep the party in a state of turmoil. If they want to go to court then that is their right," said Panday.
He said he hopes Warner is not using party funds to pay for his legal counsel. He made speciific reference again to $30 million which he says Warner received on behalf of the party and has still not accounted for it despite several requests from the party to do so.
Panday said the executive would decide next week Thursday whether Warner and Maharaj would be referred to the party's disciplinary committee.
Both men have asked the executive to provide detailed documents and particulars of the allegations, as well a list of the party's financial membership.
Panday invited them to examine the records. "If they wish to come and inspect our records on the computer they are free to do so," he said.
The woman who succeeded Suruaj Rambachan as mayor of Chaguanas made her debut political speech Wednesday night at a meeting in El Dorado.
Natasha Navas said it is a privilege to stand on the Platform for Change "which has a shared vision of making the Chaguanas Borough the admiration of all and the envy of many."
And she promised that one of her first priorities will be to initiate an audit of the Borough, its finances, its assets, its liabilities as well as its issuing of contracts over the last six years.
She said her presence on the platform signalled her intention to use every platform to ensure that no community is left behind.
"There are times I feel burdened, stifled and even abused by a government that has become too bureaucratic, too centralized, too wasteful, too uncaring, and too unresponsive to us about the problems we face," she said.
Navas noted that there are all manner of problems to be solved in every community in the country and assured her audience of her commitment to build a better Trinidad and Tobago.
She said he wants to do her job "in peace and harmony with all men and women and to avoid personal feuds...with those who wish to distract me from achieving my goal."
She admitted that she will make mistakes but "one thing you can be assured of is that whenever I am knocked down I will rise again. Even though I may falter, with God’s help I will not fail; and when I stumble I will not fall for I am focused on delivering a better Chaguanas today and I stand so committed."
She invited everyone to work together. "Let us abandon the paths of divisiveness and confusion and unite to build better and stronger communities. Let us even love those who refuse to wish us well."
Jack Warner has replied to a letter from the United National Congress (UNC) sent to him last week outlining disciplinary charges against him.
Read the story: UNC summons Warner to explain actions
The Chagaunas West MP and UNC deputy leader presented the letter Wednesday to a meeting of the UNC caucus and national executive at the party's Rienzi headquarters at which he challenged the legality of the executive and accused it of bias.
He also served notice that he will have legal representation at any disciplinary hearings and that his attorney will have the right to cross examine any or all of his accusers.
He accused the party of acting maliciously and in bad faith in invoking a disciplinary process against him, stating that it is clearly an attempt by the political leader and those in the national executive "who are opposed to change to misuse and abuse the constitutional provisions of the Party’s constitution to suspend me pending the determination of a disciplinary charge in order to prevent me from contesting the internal elections of the Party."
He said it is a sign that the party's proposed internal elections are not likely to be fair and is likely to be engineered in order for the Political Leader to get his way.
He contended that the current national executive is not legally constituted and the proposed disciplinary action against him is ultra vires the constitution of the UNC and is an attempt to frustrate, subvert and undermines the aims and objectives of the constitution of the Party.
He made it clear that any reference to the national executive means the persons who claim to be the national executive because in his view the party does not have a duly elected national executive and as such it does not have any powers of discipline over him or to enforce any sanctions against him.
The Chaguanas West MP said only a properly called National Congress in which there is openness and transparency in verifying the financial list of members "can make any decision against me to either suspend or to expel me from the Party."
The deputy leader said he was not allowed to carry out his administrative functions within the party, charging that the political leader usurped that function and took full control of the secretariat and the administration of the party.
He added that since the units and organs of the party have not been functioning, the delegates to constitute the National Congress cannot be legally chosen in accordance with the UNC constitution.
Warner noted that at the last National Congress members of the national executive prevented about 1,500 members and supporters of the party from entering the meeting place although they were entitled to participate and to express their views although they did not have a right to vote.
He said in that context the appointment of the disciplinary committee by that congress was unlawful, null and void and of no effect.
Warner said even if the persons who claim to constitute the national executive have jurisdiction to invoke a disciplinary procedure against him on the grounds of bringing the party into disrepute, "the question of unequal treatment against me by the National Executive arise."
He said UNC leader Basdeo Panday was convicted for serious criminal offences in contravention of the Integrity Act and is also facing committal proceedings in which it is alleged that he committed serious criminal offences of corruption in public office.
"The country heard the evidence in the Integrity trial but no similar action was taken against him. The National Elective did not investigate the allegations of criminal conduct against the Political Leader in order for it to determine whether he brought the Party into disrepute and therefore whether it ought to have taken steps to have him suspended or expelled," Warner stated.
He said Panday was also disqualified from sitting in the Parliament, yet the executive did not investigate him.
"The National Executive showed and continues to show favouritism in favour of the Political Leader against his alleged misconduct and misbehavior in office as Prime Minister.
"He, as Political Leader, publicly attacked me in the media. He made the most condemnatory remarks against me and called me all sorts of nasty names. The National Executive has taken no action against him although the Political Leader made public statements which reflected on my character, my credibility and my professional reputation," Warner stated.
He accused the executive of promoting discrimination and acting contrary to the aims and objectives of the constitution by promoting "nepotism, dictatorship and undemocratic behavior".
He challenged the executive's legality to consider suspending or taking any action to expel him and demanded that the party provide particulars of who made the allegations against him. He asked the party to provide him with a copy of the statements and other relevant details that led to the charges against him.
With respect of to his votes with the PNM Warner asked the party to provide the dates of the executive's alleged decision to begin the disciplinary process against him.
He also asked the executive if it is aware that immediately before the vote on the Emergency Ambulance Personnel and Staff Bill the Chief Whip, Dr. Hamza Rafeeq informed him that the Party’s position was to vote with the government in support of the Bill.
On the question of allegedly receiving large sums of money on behalf of the party for which he has not provided an account Warner asked for specific particulars.
He stated categorically that he is not guilty of any disciplinary offence against the party and said he intends to call witnesses to show that "nothing that I have said or done has been considered or perceived by Party members as inimical to the interest of the Party."
He also served notice that he plans to have legal representation at the National Executive and that he will exercise his right through his attorney to cross examine his accusers.
"In order to make the right of explanation to the National Executive meaningful I must have the particulars requested and must enjoy my procedural rights so that fairness and the rules of Natural Justice would be observed," he said.
He made it clear that he is participating "in these proceedings without prejudice to my rights to approach the High Court to claim relief including punitive damages against each member of the National Executive who has taken illegal action against me and has committed serious breaches of the Contract which the Party made with me when I became a member of this Party".
Basdeo Panday is ready for Wednesday's inquisition at which the United National Congress (UNC) is planning to expel deputy leader Jack Warner. But Warner has served notice that he will fight the party and it is expected that he will carry the legal ammunition when he faces the UNC disciplinary team.
In a letter summoning Warner to Wednesday's meeting the party outlined more than 20 instances, which it says prove that Warner has acted in a manner that is inimical to the party's interests.
Most of the incidents in the UNC's detailed dossier are true and Warner will not dispute them. That will give the party its chance to hold them up as evidence that Warner is not fit to be a member of the UNC by virtue of breaking party rules on multiple occasions.
Read the story: UNC summons Warner to explain actions
Warner has explained in the media, in public meetings and interviews that all his actions are justified and legal because as a deputy leader of the UNC he is only trying to improve the party's organization and get it ready to face the governing People's National Movement (PNM) in a national election and win.
But when the political daggers come out on Wednesday that fundamental issue will be buried as would the fact that other UNC members, including the political leader and the two other deputy leaders, have also committed some of the same "crimes".
The party's focus is to sink Warner and move on with its business. It will try to do it by saying the Chaguanas West MP is in collusion with the People's National Movement (PNM), a charge that Warner has rejected as rubbish.
But the party will argue that the Chaguanas West MP betrayed the party on three occasions, voting twice with the PNM in Parliament while the UNC abstained and then ousting the mayor of Chaguanas in a well-planned operation that involved the support of two PNM councillors.
For now, it looks like the Chaguanas West MP has either just painted himself in a corner or worse, that he is standing in political quicksand.
Panday is famous for discarding those who oppose him. But in Warner he has come across an adversary who is not giving up or planning to roll over and die. It's a battle between two men, each with his own point of view of what's best for the party and there's no sign of a winner in the squabble.
Warner is adamant that unlike Winston Dookeran and Ramesh L. Maharaj he will not form any new political movement because he is at home in the UNC and that is where he plans to stay.
The tragedy of Wednesday's Rienzi showdown is that no one wins unless the UNC changes its approach and instead of going down the familiar road of fighting its own neither Panday nor Warner will win. It's even more tragic that in each side there is talent and a united and re-branded UNC can beat Manning and his PNM because it would offer a real alternative.
The point about all this is not whether Warner is right or wrong, whether his campaign for change has mass support or whether he can lead the party to Whitehall. Or whether Panday is right and whether the people are with him on this.
All that is irrelevant when you look at the full political canvas.
Warner is a self-made success story. He never needed politics for fame and fortune. In his role as Vice President of FIFA he has travelled the world and met the leaders of scores of countries, who have welcomed him with open arms. Only this week he was a guest of U.S. President Barack Obama.
He has more wealth than he can use in a lifetime. So he doesn't need political power and he has said on many occasions he needs no office. However, he feels a commitment to end Manning's reign and wants to do it by uniting his party. And many others want the same thing.
He is convinced that the UNC cannot win another election unless it reforms itself and embraces the changes that are vital to appeal to a wide national audience. In 2000 the party was heading in that direction but today it is being pushed back into sectoral politics.
Warner offered a bridge in 2007 when he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Panday and brought the party out of its comatose state to win 15 seats, shocking the critics who had already written the UNC's epitaph.
But he knew then and he does today that times have changed and people are no longer content to live in the past. The shift of 100,000 UNC supporters to the Congress of the People (COP) was the clearest signal ever that it cannot be business as usual if the UNC ever hopes to get back to Whitehall.
That is the message Warner has been spreading and that is why he is saying he is not leaving the UNC.
Wednesday could mark a significant turning point in the politics of opposition. Panday could have his victory and lose the war as he has done in previous battles. Or he could consider the bigger picture and work with Warner to unite the party and the opposition to challenge Manning and the PNM.
Panday is showing every sign of following a well-known script. He is out to get Warner.
And when the shouting is over, the only winner will be Manning, who might capitalize on the divisions, call a snap election and get the constitutional majority that would make him a supreme ruler.
That is not to suggest that there is collusion between Panday and Manning. It's only to acknowledge that once again it appears that Panday and his colleagues prefer to remain politically shortsighted.
And once more the UNC would have disappointed the citizens who seek deliverance from the oppressive PNM regime.
Jai Parasram | Toronto, July 29. 2009
The Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) has confirmed it is dropping plans to make a bid to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Last year Trinidad and Tobago announced that it would make a bid to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) for the 2018 Games but TTOC president Larry Romany now says that's no longer an option.
Romany said the abandoned Caribbean Games, which was scheduled for July 12-19, delivered a huge blow to plans for the Commonwealth event. He said Caribbean Games was expected to be a “litmus test” as to the readiness of the country to make an official Commonwealth bid.
Trinidad and Tobago pulled out of Caribbean Games last month due to concerns about Swine Flu.
“As valid and legitimate as the reason for withdrawing may have been, the international and regional fall out from T&T’s failure to deliver the Games is negative," Romany said, adding that there is no credible way the country could have made a Commonwealth Games bid.
In a news release, Romany said, “It simply would not get the required local, Caribbean and international support. It would have been an exercise in futility, ego and irresponsibility.”
The next 2010 Commonwealth Games are being held in India and Scotland will host the 2014 Games.
Opposition leader Basdeo Panday has described as "irresponsible" Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s advice for citizens to loosen their spending, saying recent economic data shows that Trinidad and Tobago is in a recession and inflation will start climbing again soon.
He was referring to statements Manning made Tuesday during an address to a gathering of business people Tuesday, in which Manning advised that after months of economic restraint, it's time to relax.
"I would like to suggest to you that whereas we had called on you to tighten your belts at the first sight of the downturn in the United States, I must now say the time has come for you to release your belts."
Manning said it is time to increase economic activity, noting that the country's Heritage and Stabilisation Fund has reached US$2.9 billion and continues to grow.
“Whereas so many countries around the world are experiencing a shortage of cash, we have a surplus of cash that is now available to utilise as we seek to increase the level of economic activity,” he said.
He revealed that he has asked a cabinet team to devise a plan to stimulate economic activity. He said the 2010 budget would show greater economic, declaring that he is an optimist who is "very excited about the future" of the country.
But Panday doesn't share Manning's view of the economic situation.
"Economic data released by the Central Bank during the last week show two consecutive financial quarters of negative growth in 2008 and 2009. That means the country has been in a recession for some time," Panday said.
He said it is the view of economists that the second Quarter of 2009 would also show negative growth based on all economic indices and trends.
He added that the current third quarter is also not looking good partly because of "the contraction in the manufacturing sector, reduction in demand caused by our CARICOM neighbours tightening their own belts and increased unemployment due to lack of business confidence and pressure on the foreign exchange system."
The former prime minister also noted that while the inflation rate has gone down, food inflation remains high at more than 16 per cent.
It is therefore foolhardy advice from the Prime Minister, he said, for people to spend away the little they may have while the country is tossing around in a recession and as things get increasingly worse every day.
“I don’t think the population should pattern the irresponsible, reckless and wasteful habits of the Prime Minister of spending away every cent in sight when they should be saving and preparing for tough times,” Panday said.
He said even if people wish to loosen their belts, he doesn't think they can afford it. “The cost of living has been so high over the past few years that people have been up to their necks in meeting their financial commitments”.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning is not taking questions about his statement Monday night that there was a plot to assassinate him. But Manning's claim of a plot that he never reported to police is raising questions from several quarters, including politicians.
Read the story: Manning reveals plot to assassinate him
The leader of the Congress of the People feels Manning failed in his duty to report the matter to the police.
Winston Dookeran said, "This story is looking inexplicable. The Prime Minister is guilty of not reporting a matter of national security to the police. He is further guilty of raising alarms in this nation by saying there would have been bloodshed.
"This is my view is not believable and I think the Prime Minister owes it to this nation to come clean with the full facts as to what organisation he is talking about, why he did not report it to the police and what action was taken, if any," Dookeran said.
Opposition leader Basdeo Panday told Newsday Manning's story lacks credibility and suggested that the prime minister take a polygraph test.
“What’s the connection between that person stopping the convoy and the threat? He said he never reported it to the police. Why? He spoke of blood. Whose blood?” Panday asked. “What’s the point of making that statement now? It can only be a red herring?”
He wondered why Manning won't reveal the name of the organisation involved in the alleged plot and the person who revealed the plot his Manning's wife.
“Is he saying that if he had reported it to the police, the police would have gone and killed all these people in this group? Is that the kind of police force he has created in this country?”
The police are also in the dark about any plot.
Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert told the media Manning has never lodged a complaint about any plot to assassinate him. However, Philbert said based on Manning's claims he would investigate the case, adding that "an investigator (is) assigned to it already.”
Former President Arthur N.R. Robinson didn't have all the details about the story but he told the Trinidad Express he found Manning's disclosure "abnormal". He said he would like to hear what the police have to say on the matter.
Read the editorial: PM needs to explain why assassination plot was never investigated
Prime Minister Patrick Manning told a delegation of the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) Tuesday he is convinced that sections of the media are biased against his Government.
The meeting was at the request of MATT, which had asked for the discussions based on statements Manning made at a public meeting on July 13, accusing the media of not fulfilling its role to inform and educate the public.
MATT president Marlan Hopkinson told the Trinidad Express Manning told the MATT delegation that some media houses "are dead set against his Government."
He said the Association defended the media's coverage of the government, refuting the Prime Minister's claims of clear bias against him and other ministers of Government.
Hopkinson also defended MATT's decision to meet with the Prime Minister following several incidents of public criticism of local journalists by Government officials. He told the Express doing that did not compromise media freedom.
"We felt as a responsible association, we had to find out what the Prime Minister and other government ministers were speaking about...The independence of the media remains strong and the meeting had no impact on that," Hopkinson said.
The Prime Minister and MATT agreed that media standards need improvements.
Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson told reporters Tuesday night he meant no insult to anyone by statements he made concerning his country's immigration policy.
Speaking in a televised news conference Thomson said Barbados remains committed to the regional CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) but
it cannot commit itself to "full and unfettered movement" of people.
He explained that to do it would put the country’s social services under excessive strain.
“That was my position. It was not meant to be an insult, what it essentially means is that when the conditions are appropriate in Barbados and the resources are there for us to accommodate more Caribbean nationals beyond the categories that are already agreed, we will do so. But we’re not ready right now,” he told reporters.
He said Barbados was ready at the CARICOM summit to admit two new categories and if there are others over time they will be welcomed "when we make that call at the level of Heads.”
The last summit in Guyana agreed to allow higglers and qualified household domestics to move freely effective January 2010.
The Prime Minister had earlier revealed that his government is reviewing applications for about 6,000 undocumented non-nationals.
Free movement of CARICOM nationals is seen as an important plank of the CSME, which also makes provision for the trade in goods and services between participating member states. Critics of the Barbadian immigration position have argued that it goes against the spirit of the regional integration movement.
United National Congress (UNC) leader Basdeo Panday launched a scathing attack on the Manning administration Monday as he defended his Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh for exposing what Gopeesingh called "ethnic cleansing" at the Port of Spain General Hospital.
And he said had Gopeesingh not used such strong and emotive language the whole issue of discrimination would have been swept under the carpet "as they have always done in the past, but they cannot do that now."
Addressing supporters attending the UNC Monday Night Forum in the Pointe-a-Pierre constituency Panday said, "Let them use their own words to describe what is taking place... And having purified their vocabulary I invite them to join with us in removing this scourge that has plagued our society for so long."
The "them" included the government, the media and his political opponent, Congress of the People (COP) Leader, Winston Dookeran. He said he expected racism and discrimination from the People's National Movement (PNM) because the party "was built on racial division, starting with Eric Williams in 1956," adding, "I would expect that kind of reaction from all those who have benefited and continue to benefit corruptly from racism and racist practices."
But he said he did not expect it from the COP. He quoted from a media statement attributed to Dookeran on July 21, 2009, three days after Gopeesingh raised the issue.
“In my view Dr Gopeesingh’s use of the term ‘ethnic cleansing’ was intended to be inflammatory and is unfortunate. It was also irresponsible, since he has caused widespread public alarm over his seemingly extremist statement”.
Panday challenged Dookeran to explain what he meant by those words. "Winston Dookeran, and by extension the COP, seem to be concerned not with racism and racial discrimination but with how you describe it. He says that Gopeesingh’s statement was irresponsible because it has caused widespread public alarm," Panday said.
He had no apology for Gopeesingh raising it because that's how it should be. "Did not Nelson Mandela cause widespread public alarm among the white racists of South Africa when he launched a violent attack on apartheid. Did Martin Luther King Jr not spread public alarm when he called for a boycott and the great march from Selma to Montgomery?" he asked.
He wondered why anyone should be afraid to cause public alarm if that is what it takes to defend the victims of discrimination. He said Dookeran was offended by Gopeesingh's words but didn't understand what Gopeesingh was talking about: racial discrimination against Indians in Trinidad and Tobago.
An angry Panday asked: "Why are you afraid to say that? Isn’t that clear? Are you trying to hide from the issue? If so, why? Is it because you are ashamed to be associated with a struggle against racism and racial discrimination in this country? Is that the new politics? Or is it because you are afraid of Roy Augustus, Robert Mayers and Vernon DeLima?"
Panday said Gopeesingh was talking about the politico-racism that pervades the Public Service and he denounced government minister Colm Imbert who described Gopeesingh's charges as "disgusting" and Manning’s comment that the MP "should not speak about such things in Parliament even if they were true."
Panday gave examples, which he said, show that the PNM's racism has caused division and hatred in the society. "For them the practice of racism and racial discrimination is not wrong, it is talking about it and standing up for the victims of racism that is wrong."
He said, "The PNM could practice racism in the most obscene way but you must not talk about it. No matter how much pressure they inflict upon you, you must not scream... If there was ever an opportune moment to raise once more the struggle against racial discrimination it is now."
The former prime minister said racism is the most significant factor "debilitating our struggle for national unity and, consequently, the task of nation-building."
He explained that it takes many forms, from the failure to provide running water, to bad roads and inadequate facilities at the nation's hospitals. He called it politico-racism when "they do not appoint the best persons to the jobs, but rather their friends, cronies and Party hacks who do not know one damn thing about providing water, fixing roads, and running hospitals or running government."
In an obvious reference to past statements by some supporters and officials of the PNM, Panday said they "will deny that there is any racism at all even if you fling it their faces; they will tell you that what you see happening is not racism but the redressing of an historical imbalance".
He said the PNM practises discrimination in the distribution of government housing, in approving small business funds and in its treatment of individuals, pointing out the names of at least a dozen people who have brought discrimination suits against the government and won.
He spoke about what he said was "vicious PNM racism at Petrotrin" and the historical racism he said that existed in the Robinson. Robinson, he said, expelled him and some of his former ULF colleagues "for insisting on putting an end to the discrimination against the appointment of Indians on the State Boards".
The newspapers described that act, he said, in a headline that read: "ULF grab for power." That was never the issue, he said.
Panday described institutionalized racism as a national scourge. "I have always argued that this country cannot solve the people’s problems despite its enormous wealth because it has failed to mobilise its most valuable resource and that is its human resource.
"And it has failed to mobilise its human resource because of the politico-racism and discrimination of the PNM. That policy has divided the people," he said.
The Prime Ministers of Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have reached a deal with pilots of the regional airline LIAT to send their protracted industrial dispute to arbitration for settlement by September 30.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves told reporters, “I think we are seeing the commencement of a fresh start, a partnership between LIAT’s management and all the stakeholders including the pilots association.”
Retired Barbadian jurist Leroy Inniss would chair the arbitration panel with management and the pilots each appointing a representative.
Gonsalves said the panel would devise its own program within the framework of the laws of Antigua and Barbuda, where the airline has its headquarters. A final report is expected “on or before September 30", he said.
While the panel is adjudicating on the matter, the two sides would revert to the situation that existed before the airline was granted an injunction by the Industrial Court in Antigua that prevented the pilots from taking any industrial action.
Gonsalves also disclosed that a forensic financial audit would be conducted of the company, adding “it would be very good as we are moving forward with this fresh start to put our markers down”.
LIAT Chairman Jean Holder noted that without the airline “there is really no single market and economy” in the region, noting that "a sense of patriotism emerged” emerged during the talks.
He said the airline has lost US$534,000 in July because of the the industrial battle that "does no one any good."
Captain Michael Blackburn, chairman of the pilots' association (LIAPA) agreed that the talks have been positive. He said he had pressed for arbitration so now that it is happening LIAT can move forward.
Blackburn agreed that it is a victory for the workers in the Caribbean and is optimistic that the arbitration will resolve the problems.
“It’s been a long time in coming, the pilots have felt we have been at the bottom of the barrel for a long time and we will clearly hope we can adjust the situation,” he said, adding that the pilots’ contract is a “social contract for the Caribbean people”.
The Chief Executive Officer of Caribbean Airlines has quit. But Briton Phillip Saunders will stay on the job until the airline finds his successor, to ensure a smooth transition.
A news release announcing Saunders departure said leaving for "personal reasons".
Saunders gave up his job as a Vice President of Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance, and joined Caribbean Airlines in October 2007.
In the statement from the airline, Saunders said he is "proud of the tremendous progress we have made....We continue to face many challenges and opportunities, and it's business as usual for all of us as we move forward."
Saunders is planning his exit as Caribbean Airlines is bidding to buy the struggling Air Jamaica. The Trinidad Express reported Tuesday that the deal would see a cash injection to start operating a new entity.
In order to complete the transaction, the paper said, the Jamaican government would have to close Air Jamaica and pay staff severance because Caribbean Airlines has no interest in taking on that excess baggage.
Prime Minister Patrick Manning has made a serious charge about a plot to assassinate him.
If there was such a plot, then a full scale investigation should have been launched a long time ago to find out more about it and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Read the story: Manning reveals plot to assassinate him
The amazing part of this story is that one year after the alleged plot there is still no investigation. That is downright irresponsible, and borders on public mischief.
We are not dealing with a man and his wife getting cut off by would-be assassins on the way to the gym; we are talking about the prime minister and his wife.
Any other country would have pulled out all the stops to get to the bottom of this, which is why Manning's casual anecdotal account of the alleged incident leaves many questions unanswered.
When "someone" walked into his wife's office and announced that there was a plot by an organization to kill Manning why was that person not arrested immediately?
Who was that person and how did she/he reach the minister's office?
And if that person knew of such a serious plot, why didn't he/she name the organization that was plotting the assassination? Why didn't someone ask?
Manning himself admitted in Arima Monday night that he and his wife didn't report the matter. Why? Did they dismiss it as a hoax? If so, why did Manning bring it up now, stating that there was indeed a plot to kill him?
He said it's a good thing they didn't report it because if they had done so there would have been bloodshed on the night of the alleged assassination attempt. That defies logic.
A report to the police would have meant an investigation would have been launched and the Mannings would not have to face the traumatic experience he so flippantly described.
There's something fishy about Manning's story.
Why is he telling it now? What purpose would it serve if he never had any intention of investigating the plot then or now? Or is this a publicity stunt to inject a new bit of intrigue in our bachannal society?
Let's get serious, Prime Minister. If there was a plot, let's get an investigation going to find the plotters and bring them before the courts.
You must explain this to citizens and you must do it now!
Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Patrick Manning said Monday night an unnamed organisation is involved in a plot to assassinate him.
Speaking at a meeting in Arima Manning said the plot was revealed to his wife on the eve of last year's anniversary of the 1990 attempted coup by the Jamaat al-Muslimeen, led by Imam Abu Bakr.
“One year ago, on the morning of Saturday July 26, when the Minister of Local Government (Hazel Manning) and myself were on the way to our gym at 3.30 in the morning, a marked police vehicle sought to peel off the final vehicle in our (security) detail.
"We had one unmarked car in which we were travelling and there were two jeeps behind us, so everybody knew it was the Prime Minister’s detail,” Manning told his audience.
He said in the confusion, "all kinds of scuffles ensued, which caused us to abort our mission that morning and to return home very quickly.”
He explained that two days before that incident, "someone walked into the office of the Minister of Local Government and told her that a certain organisation in this country was about to make an attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister."
Manning said it was "fortunate" that the matter was not reported because, "I assure you, there would have been bloodshed that morning and certain people would have been killed, there is no question about it.”
He expressed confidence in his security personnel who he said have worked hard to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago remains a democratic and progressive country. "We subscribe to the ballot not the bullet,” he said.
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
The letter below received by email has not been edited and is the opinion of the writer.
At least three leading political figures of the era surrounding the 1990 attempted coup attempt (not to mention the leader of same) are still alive and, to the best of everyone's knowledge, of sound mind.
Whilst Mr. Panday may have slept undisturbed through the entire sordid episode and Mr. Manning, leader of the then Opposition, blithely continued to work on the project he claims he was working on as his excuse for being absent from Parliament on that fateful day, and neither have anything salient to report to a commission, there are many who are still of sound mind who were involved who can recall in detail the traumatic events.
One, a key figure in the drama, the PM of the time, and now a past President, has at this late stage added his voice, as a private citizen, in a call for an Enquiry into that awful, and shameful, episode in our history.
One might well ask "why today and not when it was within his power to do so?" but at least he has endorsed the citizens call for the same. Both Mr. Panday and Mr. Manning want to know what useful purpose will be served by an enquiry at this late stage.
Shame on you gentlemen, one of you is a lawyer and the other a university degree holder and both key figures and leaders of our nation.
That event, sordid though it may be, was a part of our history and we owe it to future generations to try to get things into their right perspective.
Let us write history accurately, not with nancy stories as though it were local folklore. It happened and at least twenty nine people lost their lives, many in the line of duty.
Come on gentlemen, what are you afraid of? The truth?
Rumour upon rumour abounds about that era - let's clear the dust please. Let us honour those whom we should in a fitting manner and deal with recalcitrants accordingly. It is not yet too late, but it soon will be.
If one does not investigate a crime it cannot be solved. No wonder our police detection rate is so low, with leaders like that! If for no other reason, a full scale enquiry is necessary to avoid a recurrence.
The nation was caught with its pants down, so to speak. That must never happen again. Nor must terrorism (because that is what it was) be countenanced.
I defy anyone to name one other place in the world where such an event would have been glossed over in such a disgraceful manner. Heaven and earth would have been moved, so to speak, to make them pay.
What form of punishment has been meted out to the perpetrators of that dastardly period in our history? Small wonder that our criminals have scant regard for THE LAW today.
Virginia Verity - via e/mail
Former MP for San Juan/Barataria Dr Fuad Khan is offering to be a mediator in the row in the United National Congress (UNC) and unite the party.
Khan made headlines last week when he announced that he had informed Caroni East MP of discrimination at the Port of Spain General Hospital. He said he was a victim of discrimination.
Read the story: Fuad Khan backs Gopeesingh, says he's a victim
Khan returns to the Parliament Tuesday as a temporary UNC Senator and plans to speak on the Medical Amendment Bill.
Khan told the Trinidad Express he is distressed over the bickering in the UNC and wants to use his skills and experience to help end it.
"I would love to be a mediator. I have done mediation and conflict management so I would love to be a mediator with the main players," Khan told the paper.
In 2005 Khan ran into trouble with UNC leader Basdeo Panday when he supported his colleague Gillian Lucky, who walked out on the party after a disagreement with party leader, Basdeo Panday.
Lucky and Panday's brother, Subhas Panday, were members of a parliamentary privileges team that investigated a tearoom brawl involving Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma and PNM MP Dr Keith Rowley. Sharma accused Rowley of throwing a teacup at him.
Lucky refused the sign the report, claiming it was inaccurate.
She and Khan later cut ties with the UNC and continued to sit as independent MPs. Lucky later joined the Congress of the People (COP) and ran as the candidate for St Joseph and lost to the PNM's Kennedy Swaratsingh in 2007. She later quit as a COP member.
Khan told the Express he had always said he would return to the UNC once Panday called him, and he did. He got that call and the offer to be a temporary senator.
(U.S. President Barack Obama and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner in the Oval Office Monday)
The FIFA delegation included Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA and FIFA’s General Secretary Jerome Valcke. Their discussions with Obama focused on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup tournaments.
In April, Obama wrote to FIFA expressing interest in the U.S. hosting the World Cup tournaments in either 2018 or 2022. The 2010 FIFA tournament in being held in South Africa.
Warner described the meeting as “very fruitful". In a media release he said, "We discussed the possibility of the U.S. hosting the 2018/2022 World Cup as well as the President’s availability to attend the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.”
At last month’s G-8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, Obama said it was his “goal” to travel to South Africa next June to attend the World Cup.
Warner, who continues to battle for the growth and development of the sport in all countries especially the poorer nations, also proposed the possibility of setting up a special fund.
“It is impossible to win the race unless you venture to run, impossible to win the victory unless you dare to battle, and it is impossible to know the true winner unless there is fair play," Warner said.
He added, "It is no secret that the richer countries can afford better training facilities, better coaches and sometimes better opportunities for their players. I am sure if the playing field were leveled things would be different."
He said he discussed with Obama the possibility of setting up a global fund where football can be used as a tool for education and development. Warner and Obama also discussed the development of women’s football.
"The future of football is feminine, we must invest in our women. They are pillars which hold any society up. If we are to progress we must invest in our women,” Warner noted.
President Obama’s both daughters play football and Warner said that subject formed a lighter side of Monday’s meeting.
Warner's next FIFA assignment begins Friday when he leaves for Nigeria to meet with President Umaru Yar'Adua for discussions on the FIFA under 17 World Cup. Warner heads the FIFA Youth Committee and is overseeing tournament, which Nigeria is hosting.
The Chaguanas West MP returns home Tuesday morning to attend a function in his constituency. The next day he heads to the Rienzi complex for a meeting at which he will deal with disciplinary charges levelled against him by his party.
That same evening Warner will be the main speaker at a public meeting at El Dorado community centre. The meeting would be broadcast locally and internationally on the Internet on Power102.fm and Sangeet106.1fm.
Watch Barack Obama on YOUTUBE in 2008: Yes We Can
Kelvin Ramnath has responded to a charge by Jack Warner that Ramnath invited him and Ramesh L. Maharaj to his home for a "wife-cooked" dinner to plot against United National Congress leader Basdeo Panday.
