By SEAN DOUGLAS Saturday, October 27 2012

HOUSING Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal said Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley had brought no fresh evidence to try to make his case to censure Attorney General Anand Ramlogan over the Section 34 scandal, leading off the Government’s response to Rowley’s motion yesterday in the Lower House.

“There’s a political motivation. This is about politics,” he said. “When they’ve finished with the AG, it’ll be someone else. They’ll never be satisfied.”

Moonilal likened Rowley to a “Play Whe” gambler, whom he said was “minding” the Section 34 “mark” until it produces results. “If you think you will mind this mark until 2015 and get into power, you have another thing coming!”

Moonilal accused Rowley of seeking to use the House to launch the PNM’s campaign for the upcoming elections for the just-dissolved Tobago House of Assembly (THA), due by late January. “If you want to start your campaign you could wait until Sunday at the Queen’s Park Savannah,” taunted Moonilal, referring to the PNM’s Annual Convention tomorrow.

Moonilal accused Rowley in his earlier speech of adopting a scattergun approach, of firing and hoping to hit something, in his claims against Ramlogan.

Rejecting any notion of a conspiracy to free anyone using Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Bill 2011, Moonilal said it was in fact Ramlogan who had signed an extradition document regarding UNC financiers Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson.

Moonilal refuted Opposition claims that Ramlogan had undermined that extradition case by changing the State’s attorneys, saying that the particular matter had ended and the fresh legal team was dealing with another matter in the case.

Referring to the firing of Justice Minister, Herbert Volney, Moonilal said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had taken the strongest action in the matter. “This is the only government in the history of Trinidad and Tobago that has taken corrective action.”

Moonilal said the Opposition had first drafted Rowley’s censure motion with another Minister’s name on it — an allusion to Volney — but has had to scratch off his name and replace it with Ramlogan’s.