Dear Editor,
Regarding your news item about the T&T Prime Minister dismissing Junior Minister of National Security Colin Partap (SN Aug 28), most Trinis I spoke with in New York and in Trinidad feel the PM did the right thing to discipline her Minister, although some feel she acted in haste not waiting for a report on the entire episode. In my view, the PM had to send an unambiguous message on drunk driving and on her ministers not obeying the law. The Minister broke the law. Thus, the PM acted properly while the Minister acted immaturely in resisting the breathalyzer especially when it appeared that he did not break the DUI law. Hopefully, Trinis, Guyanese and others will get the message that drinking and driving and resisting DUI police instructions will not be tolerated.
The country has not heard from the Minister on why he refused a breathalyzer test to determine whether he was above the legally allowed limit.
The Minister has chosen to be silent and has refused requests to speak with reporters to present his side of the matter.
I know the Minister very well and spoke with him several times over the years on issues.
We met in India when we attended Pravasi conferences. He is known to be a very quiet, reserved person and I was surprised he was at a bar in the wee hours of a morning. Also, l know of the Minister’s likeability as I conducted opinion polls on his popularity in his constituency of Cumuto Manzanilla that was previously represented by his father Harry Partap, a former news reporter of the Express. Colin Partap’s popularity in his constituency has been falling ever since he was elected in May 2010 with several activists breaking from him in recent months. In fact, apart from Jack Warner (Minister of National Security) and the PM, the MPs are becoming increasingly unpopular though it does not mean they will not be re-elected. People vote ‘race‘ and not on performance, in much the same way people vote in Guyana, thereby guaranteeing a certain number of ethnic seats to the ruling and opposition parties.
Colin, as we call him, is not known to be a drinker and in fact, after he agreed to take the breathalyzer at the police station, his alcohol measurement was found to be within the legal limit. Nevertheless, according to legal experts, the Junior Minister broke the law and had to pay the price for his violation. PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar thought she had no other choice but to relieve him of his post. The ministry he served is responsible for enforcing the law on drinking and driving. He should not have violated the law by resisting the request of a police officer to determine if he were DUI. The issue was not whether he was inebriated or DUI but that he refused the test. According to TT law and also the laws in most countries, a person cannot resist a test. In New York, a judge can (and in the past did) order a blood test of a person who refuses a breathalyzer test. And the person who refuses a test can also be arrested. TT’s law calls for the arrest of anyone who refuses a DUI test.
Partap’s run-in with the law and his sacking as a Minister will not help him or the government in Trinidad. Guyanese ministers, MPs and other officials should take an important message from this incident – do not drink and drive and no one, including a minister is above the law. Ministers or officials who violate laws in Guyana should be made examples of as happened in Trinidad.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
