Opposition leader Keith Rowley and Sport Minister Anil Roberts have escaped censure of Parliament because their matter cannot be concluded before the end of the first session of the Parliament, which ends on Friday.
Both men were referred to the Privileges Committee for allegedly misleading Parliament. However according to the rules of the legislature all matters before the committee die when the session ends.
The committee was only able to conclude one of three matters before it - the one involving former Prime Minister Patrick Manning, which led to Manning's suspension from the House of Representatives. His suspension ends on Friday.
Roberts was sent to the Committee over his statements in Parliament that no obscene language was uttered at a concert by American rap artiste Nicki Minaj. Diego Martin Central MP Amery Browne raised the matter, claiming that he could prove that Roberts misled the Parliament.
In the Rowley matter the opposition leader was accused of deliberately misleading the legislature by claiming that Attorney General Anand Ramlogan went to the T&T diplomatic mission in New York and complained about the ethnic composition of staff.
However Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner and House leader Roodal Moonilal claimed that Ramlogan had not visited New York in the past two years, provided evidence to support their claim and demanded an apology from Rowley.
The opposition leader stood by his story. An investigation by JYOTI showed that while Rowley claimed that he visited the mission on November 5, 2010 the office was closed for the Divali holiday.
Both cases would have involved preparation and witnesses, which would have caused a delay beyond Friday. As a result the committee decided to let both matters die.
The second session of Parliament begins on June 27.
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