Rowley calls Jack's statement "vulgar", demands apology

File: PNM leader Keith Rowley: "Mr Warner has slandered the PNM...I object to his vulgar statements...and call on him to retract that statement." 

The leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) leader has demanded an immediate apology from National Security Minister Jack Warner for statements Warner made Tuesday linking the PNM to a murder in Laventille.

"I simply want to say that once again Mr Warner has slandered the PNM," the Express newspaper quoted Keith Rowley as saying. "I object to his vulgar statements. It is damaging to the country, it is an insult to the PNM and I am demanding an apology," he said.

"This slander of the PNM must not go unnoticed and I call on him to retract that statement," Rowley said.

"This is just a continuation of what Mr Warner was saying in Parliament and it is in keeping with the conduct of the minister," he said.

Rowley claimed Warner the Prime Minister is encouraging Warner to take this approach, which he said is hurting then country's international image.

"The Minister's statements reverberate around the world. How is it going to play out internationally that a government minister is saying that the killing of a man was sponsored by the Opposition in order to make the Government look bad?" he asked.

Rowley said Warner's statement proves again that he is not suitable for the position he hold. The opposition leader also took issues with Warner's decision to ask the police to stop giving out daily crime statistics.

"Their intent is not to give information and that is to benefit who? Not the citizens. They are laying the groundwork to lie to the people," he said.