(file photo)Jack Warner said Monday he was not surprised that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar appointed him to act as the country's leader while she was away on government business.
He said Persad-Bissessar is an independent thinker and an innovative leader who thinks carefully about the decisions she makes.
The Works Minister, who is also chairman of the United National Congress (UNC) added that Persad Bissessar is a "shrewd political veteran" whose qualities were brought out during her meetings with CARICOM leaders last week in Jamaica.
Warner with speaking with Ken Ali on morning television.
He described the prime minister as a person who brings "an unprecedented level of emotional intelligence to the management of the diverse interests and attitudes she has to manage every day".
He dismissed suggestions that Congress of the People (COP) Leader Winston Dookeran should have been handed the job. Warner said such suggestions have come from people who want to second-guess the Prime Minister.
"There are also those who will continue to attempt to usurp and pre-empt the Prime Minister’s right to exercise her considered judgment wherever it is required," he noted.
Warner told Ali one of the most significant things about Persad-Bissessar's decision to appoint an elected member to act as Prime Minister is that it is the first time since 2001 that it has happened.
Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning's preference was to appoint Senator Lenny Saith to act as the head of government whenever he had to leave the country.
He said Persad-Bissessar's decision "speaks volumes about the Prime Minister’s respect for our Parliament, and for the people of our nation who elected the persons they wanted to represent them and to govern our country. It also speaks volumes about the Prime Minister’s grounding in the highest standards of the Westminster system," he said.
He said one of the things that the Prime Minister expected of him was that he would not just put the government on pause while she was away, stating she is not "that kind of Head of Government".
He said his assignment was to carry on in his post as Works and Transport Minister and to conduct the business of the People’s Government in the best interests of the people.
Warner also spoke about the political strategy of attacking People's National Movement leader Keith Rowley in the campaign for the July 26 Local Government election.
"I said at the opening of the People’s Partnership’s Local Government campaign... the PNM Leader has no respect for the good sense of the people of this country. I also said that he has made mistake of allowing failure to go to his head," Warner stated.
He added, "Imagine Dr. Rowley telling his convention that the PNM has nothing to be ashamed of. Every day, there is new evidence of crimes against the people and wanton squandermania with the people’s patrimony.
"Evidently, the PNM leader does not understand that people vote for their own interests, not the interests of any political party," he said.
Warner said what is wrong with the PNM is that its leader's only focus is the domination of the country by the PNM.
"He ends every political speech by declaring the greatness of the PNM; not a pledge to serve the people or the nation," he said.
He said Rowley prefers to pose for pictures when he visits depressed areas of the country instead of addressing the plight of the people.
Read the story: Rowley blames people for making a "labasse" of their living area
Related reading: Time to fire Manning from the PNM
Warner also defended Attorney General Anand Ramlogan for his tough stand against the acting police commissioner with respect to the Church at Guanapo heights.
Ramlogan had suggested that James Philbert should be asked to answer why he did not act to stop looting of the premises. Philbert claimed that he was unable to act because the police was unable to determine the identity of the owner.
Warner found that excuse unbelievable. "The Acting Commissioner of Police is perhaps the only person in Trinidad and Tobago who did know that," he said.
"After I confronted former Prime Minister Manning in Parliament on the issue, he confessed that he had given the land to his Spiritual Advisor, one Mrs. Pena, for the construction of her church."
He said he considers Philbert's statement an insult to the nation, adding that the police chief was "disrespecting his office when he said that the owner of the property that looters were dismantling and carting off was unknown and that he was therefore not in a position to act."
He said he fully understand Ramlogan's impatience with such behaviour. Warner said while people have talked about Ramlogan's stand they seem to have forgotten what Philbert had to say on the matter.
"Certain people have criticised the Attorney general for the opinions he expressed on Mr. Philbert’s performance. Mr. Philbert went public with his outspoken response to the Attorney General. I have heard no voices criticizing that," Warner declared.
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