Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley says he does not know why Independent Liberal Party (ILP) interim leader Jack Warner would feel his party is any different from other parties the People’s National Movement (PNM) has fought. That was Rowley’s response to questions on Warner’s statements last Saturday that the Opposition and the Government were coming together because the ILP was a threat to them. Warner made the comment during a walkabout in Laventille. He was referring to the Opposition and the Government’s collaboration on finding a solution to the crime problem.
Asked to comment on that at a press conference at the Opposition Leader’s Office, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, Rowley was dismissive. “The PNM is a political party that has been here for 50 years. I don’t know why Warner would feel the ILP is different to other parties the PNM has fought.” Rowley said while the collaboration between the Opposition and the Government was being done in a “deeper” way this time, there had been collaboration before. He said under the Patrick Manning PNM regime, the government went to Parliament with a package of crime legislation.
The UNC, which was in Opposition at the time, said it would not support it unless the government agreed to review the arrangements for appointing a Commissioner of Police.
The process then was that the commissioner was appointed by the Police Service Commission but the prime minister had the power to veto it. Rowley said the Manning administration eventually agreed with the UNC to change the process. Also, the present Opposition has collaborated with the Government on several pieces of legislation, more than in previous times, Rowley said. The Opposition Leader made it clear, however, that he saw a distinction between collaborating at the level of Parliament and “getting involved in the day-to-day activities of the executive,” particularly in relation to east Port-of-Spain.