Rowley not satisfied; still calls for removal of AG

Keith Rowley and political associates at media conference Friday (Express photo)

Keith Rowley told reporters Friday that notwithstanding the ruling by Justice Mira Dean-Armorer in favour of the state in the Section 34 case brought by businessmen Ish Galbaransingh, Steve Ferguson and Ameer Edoo, the Section 34 issue is "alive, well and unanswered".

The opposition leader said the People’s National Movement (PNM) is going to continue to aggressively try tofind out "who did what, when where and how".

He is keeping hisn conspiracy theory alive and stated that the "Round Table" remains concerned about role played by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan in the Section 34 issue, adding that Ramlogan is unsuitable to represent the State in any appeal on the matter.

“Therefore we once again call for the removal of the AG from office,” he declared at a news conference shortly after the ruling was handed down.

He sidestepped the ruling itself, stating that he had not read it. Instead he went back to concerns raised last year. He said what remains unresolved is "the bigger issue of the behaviour of the Cabinet in creating the law, establishing Section 34 in the law, selectively pulling out Section 34 and causing the pulling out of Section 34 to be proclaimed and create benefits for selected persons."

AT his own news conference Friday Ramlogan addressed that issue: 

"To all those who felt that Section 34 was the Government’s way of trying to create a loophole that can be exploited to benefit particular persons, I think this judgment gives a resounding answer to them because what it demonstrates is far from it, the Government has been committed to the rule of law and it was in fact a parliamentary oversight and Section 34 was passed through the collective inadvertence of the entire Parliament and I am pleased to say that we were able to rectify that matter with this judgment,” Ramlogan said.

Rowley and his allies mounted protests over the Section 34 issue, distancing himself and his party from the matter although the Bill received unanimous support in Parliament.

He said the PNM intends to take up issue of what he called "a conspiracy to create and use Section 34...to the aggravation of the national population." 

The leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) agreed with Rowley. He said the Round Table would continue its programme of "public education and mobilisation" regarding Section 34.