Ministers on hanging issue: We'll go with cabinet

Jack Warner's petition is called "A Fisherman's Cry". It aims to raise the issue of the brutal murder of three fishermen at sea.

“Whatever Cabinet agrees to do, that’s what we’re gonna do—that’s what I’m prepared to do."

That's the final word from Multicultural Minister Winston Peters on the issue of capital punishment. He and his cabinet colleagues Bhoe Tewarie and Vernella Alleyne-Toppin share the same sentiments.

They spoke about the hanging issue at the post cabinet media briefing Thursday when reporters asked them if they support Jack Warner’s death penalty petition, which the Chaguanas West MP launched on Wednesday. 

Warner has called on all MPs and senators to sign the petition, which calls for the enforcement of the death penalty. Warner decided to launch the campaign - A Fisherman's Cry - in memory of three fishermen from his constituency who were murdered at sea.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said on Wednesday the petition is a private initiative by Warner and not government policy. 

However at the same time she reiterated the government's determination to reintroduce the hanging bill, which the opposition refused to support last year. The bill was killed because it required opposition support to get the special majority required.

Reporters asked Tewarie, Peters and Allyene-Toppin if they would sign the petition and how they will deal with the contentious issue.

Peters stated: “My personal view has nothing to do with the collective responsibility I have in Cabinet. Whatever my colleagues in Cabinet do, we’ll all have to take responsibility for it.

"...I don’t know how to divorce myself from being a private citizen from a public figure. People forget you have a private life. I’m a public figure and whatever I do I think it has to be done in that context. 

Tewarie: “Minister Warner is both a minister and a constituency representative so I suppose to the extent that he is an MP of the people, he’s taken an initiative. 

“But any decision we take on the death penalty will be from the point of view of Cabinet and we’ll have to carry collective responsibility on that.

Alleyne-Toppin: “I could express my personal view but it’s not appropriate at this time. 

"I concur with my colleagues, we’re responsible to the nation as a Cabinet and Government and we have a position that we’ll agree on when the time is necessary."