Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar says Finance Minister Colm Imbert is encouraging citizens to break the law by advising that they can still voluntarily file their Valuation Return Forms as the Government seeks to reimpose the Property Tax.
Imbert gave the advisory in a news release issued yesterday, in which he indicated that there was nothing preventing citizens from still filing the forms voluntarily.
But Persad-Bissessar condemned the minister’s advice, noting that the recent injunction granted by High Court Judge Frank Seepersad clearly meant the process had to be halted until it was decided upon by the courts.
“It is totally out of place for the Minister of Finance to be encouraging and abusing public servants to assist in the breaking of the law, to commit contempt of court,” she said during yesterday’s news conference at her Charles Street, Port-of-Spain office.
Persad-Bissessar said even if a citizen volunteered to carry out the process, he/she would be breaking the law. She insisted the spirit and letter of the law was being breached if Imbert’s advice was followed.
“When they take the form, by receipt of that form and in anyway recording that form you are engaging in a process of implementing the tax,” the former prime minister noted.
She said Imbert’s advisory “shows the lawlessness of this Government, their (its) failure to deal with those who are lawless in the country and we strongly condemn the minister, who is waiting for a riot before he could listen.”
Persad-Bissessar said public servants should also not allow themselves “to be used as political pawns to commit contempt of court.”
She also Persad-Bissessar issued a call to Chief Justice Ivor Archie to initiate an investigation into the circumstances that led to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s announcement in Parliament on Friday of a date for a sitting the Court of Appeal to hear the Government’s appeal to Seepersad’s ruling on the tax. She said that announcement was made before the Registrars of the High Court or the Court of Appeal were aware of the action.
Al-Rawi had told the House of Representatives that a hearing was scheduled for last Monday at 9 am.
Persad-Bissessar said the UNC’s legal team, which filed the original matter in the High Court, was also not aware of the 9 am sitting as was announced by Al-Rawi.
“Al-Rawi has tainted the administration of justice in relation to this matter,” Persad-Bissessar said, adding he must explain “how he was able to predict, or worse yet, dictate, appeals in the property tax case.”
She told reporters Al-Rawi’s attempt to say that this was in accordance with the usual court protocol was “incredible and embarrassing.”
“These events have all the hallmarks of a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and we demand a full and immediate investigation into this matter.”
She said Archie should “take immediate action in this regard and make the findings public before the appeal is heard on June 6th.”
Persad-Bissessar also said the Opposition will move a motion of privilege against Al-Rawi in the House of Representatives when it meets tomorrow.
