Ramlogan challenges Rowley to public debate on hanging

AG Ramlogan: "They (the opposition) are losing the moral authority to speak about the problem when they refuse to be part of the solution

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan on Tuesday challenged Opposition Leader Keith Rowley to a public debate on the hanging bill. He said such a forum would provide an opportunity for citizens to hear Rowley's views on the matter since the leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) did not speak on the debate on the bill in Parliament last year.

Rowley and his MPs voted down the bill, which needed their support to pass. And he has said he will do it again if the government brings back the bill to Parliament.

Speaking with reporters at during a Senate break, Ramlogan said he is also willing to meet with Rowley for talks on the issue. He said he will be available at any time to try to work out details of the legislation. 

Ramlogan had written Rowley, pointing out the opinions provided to the government by Dr Fenton Ramsahoye (SC) and former Attorney General Russell Martineau. Rowley ignored those letters.

"I ask Dr Rowley to meet and discuss his legal advice and I’ll discuss mine," Ramlogan said. 

"We can even have a public debate anywhere, anytime so we can explore why in a country where the government wants the death penalty enforced and the Opposition claims to support it, we can’t seem to have it,” he said.

“But they’re not prepared to sit and talk...They don’t want to be part of the solution, they want to be in a position to complain about the problem,” he added

Ramlogan even suggested that both sides could nominate a trusted person to provide advice on the issue. 

The AG insisted that there is no point going back to Parliament without having common ground on the issue. 

“I think the Opposition is being short-sighted and exercising the politics of inconvenience. They want to champion a problem and remain a political crusader with a cause, but they are losing the moral authority to speak about the problem when they refuse to be part of the solution,” he warned.