While Government ministers said yesterday they were saddened by the sacking of their colleague, Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, they supported Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s decision. “It was unfortunate but the Prime Minister did what she had to do,” was the one-line comment from Labour Minister Errol Mc Leod.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran said it was a political matter and after assessing the situation, Persad-Bissessar made a political judgment. He said while he supported her decision, he was saddened by the minister’s departure. “Ramadharsingh was indeed one of the most vibrant and effective ministers and I feel very sad that he is no longer discharging that function,” he added.
Vernella Alleyne-Toppin, junior minister in Ramadharsingh’s former ministry, the Ministry of the People and Social Development, said she too was saddened by his dismissal as he was a good minister to work with and she had enjoyed her working relationship with him. But she too said she supported Persad-Bissessar’s decision to fire him.
Works and Infrastructure Minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan said Ramadharsingh was “a very good minister who took a new ministry and developed it to the benefit of a lot of citizens.” Saying he did not know who was to be Ramadharsingh’s successor, Rambachan said he was sure the PM would appoint someone to ensure continuity.
Rambachan said, however, the PM showed she was an independent woman who was not being influenced by any cabal as was being claimed by opponents of the Government. He said people were subject to moral and human lapses. “In this case, Ramadharsingh has had a human lapse and he has paid the price,” Rambachan said.
Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner, who was sacked from the Cabinet last year, said he shed no tears for Ramadharsingh, as the Prime Minister had made the correct decision and his only concern was why she took so long to dismiss him. Warner added there were other ministers who were guilty of worse things than what Ramadharsingh did and they were still in the Cabinet. “Everything Persad-Bissessar does from now until May 2015 would be for a political reason,” he said.