(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she was not pressured by any Government minister into accepting the resignation of former minister Jack Warner.
The Prime Minister returned from Canada on Saturday night and said it was in fact the Concacaf findings and report by Sir David Simmons, a former chief justice and attorney general of Barbados, that cemented her decision to accept Warner’s resignation.
The Simmons report, which was made public in Panama on April 19, accused Warner, a former FIFA vice-president, of fraud and corruption during his reign as Concacaf president and also questioned his ownership of the Centre of Excellence, in Macoya, which was built by FIFA funds and donations from other international football organisations. Concacaf is the body which represents football federations from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
“You know, before they said I was controlled by Mr Warner, I don’t know if it’s because I am a woman people think that I am weak or something, so I was controlled by Mr Warner, I was his puppet and now I am controlled by some other persons,” Persad-Bissessar said. She made the statements in response to media questions at the VIP Lounge, Piarco International Airport on Saturday night on her return from her official visit to Canada. Several Government ministers were present to welcome the Prime Minister, including Errol McLeod, who acted as prime minister in her absence, Dr Roodal Moonilal, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, Vasant Bharath, Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh and Suruj Rambachan.
“I want to make it very clear, the only persons that control me are those that belong to the electorate and the citizenry of Trinidad and Tobago, no one else,” she said.
During Warner’s “Straight Talk” session in Felicity on Thursday, he said Persad-Bissessar had initially agreed to give him one week to tender his resignation, but after meeting with three Government ministers in his absence, she changed her mind and was asked him to proffer his resignation right away.
Warner resigned his ministerial post last Sunday, his chairmanship of the United National Congress last Monday and his resignation as the Member of Parliament for Chaguanas West position became effective on midnight on Friday.
“I saw where Mr Warner is saying that he voluntarily resigned but on the other hand he is saying that some ministers forced me and made me take the decision to accept the resignation. I think that is an oxymoron because you cannot have that. You voluntarily did this and then accuse ministers or persons in some way influencing my mind,” she said.
She said she also did not understand why Warner did not cooperate with the Simmons enquiry and provide to them the same documents he produced at Thursday’s meeting.
“I don’t understand why Mr Warner did not put his side of the story. That also concerned me. I read in that report that he did not cooperate, I find it a little surprising that he did not use the opportunity to put those forward,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar was absent when Warner resigned his MP position but said his resignation was a “party matter”. She said Warner’s announcement to contest the seat on a UNC ticket was also a “party matter” and will be discussed.
She said once the seat was declared vacant, a by-election would have to be called within a 90-day period.
“It is not only an issue about the seat, because we all know Mr Warner as being a very good MP. He served his constituents but there were other issues which came into the pot and into the mix and those remain not yet dealt with,” she said.
Warner’s first resignation on Sunday came just hours after the Prime Minister returned from a trip to Washington, United States and a meeting with United States Department of State officials.
She said when that report in Reuters came out two weeks ago, alleging that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service were investigating the former minister, Warner said then that he was willing to resign from all of the positions but she did not accept it then.
“What was different from two weeks ago was that last Sunday when we accepted the resignation was the report by the very eminent jurist.
So this is no longer just a newspaper report, an opinion by a journalist.
I felt in all of the circumstances that I would want to accept that offer of resignation. That is what changed in that period,” she said.