The Committee of Privileges of the House of Representatives, after eight meetings, failed to prove that Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley was guilty of contempt as was claimed by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar when she moved a matter of privilege against him on May 22. The report of the committee was presented to the House of Representatives by the Leader of Government Business, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal, yesterday.
The report said the committee found itself “in an unusual place in terms of proceedings.” The report said Rowley, in a letter to the committee on June 25, “informed the committee that he was not prepared to answer any further questions from the members of the committee on statements made by him in the House.” Rowley was referred to the committee because of statements he made while presenting a motion of no confidence in the PM for debate on May 20.
The committee said based on Rowley’s letter, it felt Rowley “indicated his unwillingness to further present himself to the Committee of Privileges to assist the committee in its deliberations.” The report further stated that on the “sole occasion” Rowley presented himself for examination, “only three members were able to question him.”
The report did not name the three members but stated that none of the other members who were prepared to ask him questions was able to do so because of time limitations. “Several members, therefore, remain unclear as to the number of issues related to the matter referred to the committee,” the report said. It said members were “desirous of seeking clarification” from Rowley “when he appeared before the committee.”
The report said based on his June 25 letter to the committee, “it was clear” that the Opposition Leader “had a conceptual difficulty in that the member was not being requested to appear before the committee to ‘launch a defence’ but merely to ‘assist’ the committee.” It ended: “In those circumstances and given the adamant views of the Leader of the Opposition, the committee wishes to report to the House on the status of its work and advise that the matter remains incomplete.”
In presenting the matter for the approval of the Speaker on May 22, Persad-Bissessar said Rowley was in contempt of the Parliament on two grounds:
• He deliberately and willfully misled the House
• He recklessly abused the privilege of freedom of speech in the House, thereby bringing the House into public ridicule and odium
Persad-Bissessar said that was based on Rowley’s presentation of 31 e-mails, which were alleged to have been conversation among the PM, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and other government officials. The e-mails spoke about alleged attempts to intimidate a T&T Guardian reporter who reported exclusively last September about the early proclamation of part of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Bill 2011.
Moments after the PM presented her motion of privilege, House Speaker Wade Mark ruled that a prima facie case had been made out and referred the matter to the committee. The matter is expected to lapse as the Parliament is to be prorogued at midnight on July 10.