Ramesh says PM did not act properly in revealing plot; Panday disagrees

Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj believes the government should have kept a lid on the plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and some of her senior ministers instead of making a public statement about it.

However the National security minister, and a former minister, do not share the views of Maharaj, who is a former Attorney General.

John Sandy told reporters Monday it was the right thing to do because there were all kinds of rumours circulating about an imminent coup.

Maharaj said the public announcement of the alleged plot has caused some people to doubt if there really was such a plot. 

"If there were such evidence, every effort must be put in place for them to be caught in the act of trying to carry out the plot," Maharaj told the state television service, CNMG. 

"Why, if there was such a plot, the perpetrators were allowed to get away? That is why, I think, there may be a lot of disbelief among sections of the community as to whether there was a plot or not," he added.

Maharaj suggested that the Government should adopt a more strategic approach to national security matters.

"If they had information about a plot, then obviously it is a serious matter and it should not be a public relations exercise at that time. It should be a law enforcement operation and that is how, I think, Government operates and should operate," he stated.

However, Subhas Panday, who served as a minister in the national security minister with Sandy said on CNMG's morning program First Up that it would be premature to judge the Prime Minister's decision without knowing all the facts.

"My view is the Prime Minister was right in sensitizing the public on the matter. It is open Government, it is transparent Government. They are not hiding it and the Prime Minister made the point, if you don't like it, then you have a time in 2015," he said.

Panday said it is obvious that the choice to alert the nation was a political issue and that it was done in the best interest of citizens.

"If you have information, but it cannot be used as evidence and that information is about the assassination of the Prime Minister, action should be taken immediately.

"The Prime Minister in her wisdom probably thought it was an occasion to alert the public so you don't wait until the matter happens for example like Benazir Bhutto, or, in our own situation in 1990 when we had the information, we sat on it and we lost Leo Des Vignes," Panday said.