Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley wants the name of Nizam Mohammed dropped from the list of persons recommended for appointment to the Police Service Commission (PSC).Mohammed is a lawyer, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives and is a former MP as well.
Rowley's main objection is that he considers Mohammed to be a politician.
"As you will no doubt agree, the appointment of a politician to the Police Service Commission would be a matter of serious concern for the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and given the Government's majority and its ability to confirm your notification, it now falls to Your Excellency's good office to deny the Government such an option by removing from the notification list the option of Mr. Nizam Mohammed," Rowley said in a letter to President Max Richards.
Rowley added, "It is of grave concern that Mr. Nizam Mohammed, a person who has a well-known partisan political profile, is featured as a nominee of the President.
"Equally disturbing is that a spokesman for the Government has indicated publicly that Mr. Mohammed is to be the chairman of the Police Service Commission, a prerogative which Section 122 (6) reserves for the sole discretion of Your Excellency."
Section 6 states: "The President may in his own discretion appoint a chairman of the Police Service Commission from among its members."
Rowley also complained that the president did not consult him on Mohammed's nomination.
He said he and the president had a meeting following a June 8 letter about the proposal to re-appoint Christopher Thomas, Jeewan Singh, Clive Dottin, Jacqueline Cheeseman and Seunath Jairam to the PSC.
President Max Richards sent a new list of names to Parliament this week. However the matter has not yet been tabled for debate, which means that the President may still make changes if he wishes to do so.
Government House leader Roodal Moonilal isn't buying into Rowley's argument. He told the media there is precedent for a former politician to serve on the PSC.
He noted that Mohammed has been out of the political process for several years a former chairman, Kenneth Lalla, "was indeed a candidate and a member of Parliament." He said there was no objection to Lalla being on the commission.
No comments:
Post a Comment