{"id":3646,"date":"2010-06-05T01:37:01","date_gmt":"2010-06-05T05:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=3646"},"modified":"2010-06-19T13:03:04","modified_gmt":"2010-06-19T17:03:04","slug":"jack-must-choose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=3646","title":{"rendered":"Jack can hold Cabinet and FIFA posts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Works
Works & Transport Minister and FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner<\/figcaption><\/figure>UPDATE: Jun 18, 2010<\/em><\/p>\n

KAMLA: JACK STAYS PUT<\/a>
\nFOUR eminent legal counsels hired by the Government have advised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Cabinet that Jack Warner is not breaking any law by simultaneously holding the posts of Works and Transport Minister and vice president of the world football body, FIFA. <\/p>\n

PM: If his workload is too much, I’ll act<\/a>
\nPrime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner will remain as Minister of Works and Transport, although he holds the post of vice president of the international football body, FIFA.
\n
\nJack can hold Cabinet, FIFA posts<\/a>
\nFour legal experts, former President Sir Ellis Clarke, Sir Fenton Ramsahoye SC, Sir Michael Beloff QC and Russell Martineau SC all unanimously agree that there are no laws which prohibit Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner from serving as Works and Transport Minister and as a FIFA vice-president. The issue was raised by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley. The opinions of the four legal luminaries are published below and on Pages 18A, 20A.<\/p>\n

Experts: No law against Warner serving two posts<\/a>
\nThere are no legal obstacles to Jack Warner\u2019s carrying out the functions of Works and Transport Minister while serving as an executive at world governing body, Fifa.<\/p>\n

JACK CLEARED<\/a>
\nAG’s legal experts say Works Minister has broken no law with two jobs<\/b><\/i>
\nJack Warner can keep his two posts. His is free to pursue both his position as Works and Transport Minister in the People’s Partnership administration and Vice-President of Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). <\/p>\n

Kamla keeps Jack in Cabinet<\/a>
\nThe Government’s boss has spoken\u2014and she’s keeping Jack Warner as Works Minister, Fifa post and all.<\/p>\n

Conflict of interest unlikely<\/a>
\nFollowing is Sir Ellis Clarke’s opinion on the issue of Jack Warner being Minister of Works and Transport while simultaneously serving as vice-president of FIFA. Sir Ellis had been engaged by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan to give his opinion on the matter. <\/p>\n

Jack Warner’s dual roles<\/a>
\nThe legitimacy of Jack Warner’s appointment as Minister of Works and Transport while simultaneously holding the position of vice president of FIFA and directorship of Concacaf has raised political and constitutional issues of some magnitude. <\/p>\n

Rowley dismisses legal opinions<\/a>
\nOpposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley is dismissing the opinions of four independent attorneys on the Jack Warner controversy as irrelevant.<\/p>\n

Rowley: What about ethics?<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Jack Warner Keeps His Two Posts<\/b><\/big><\/p>\n

UPDATE: Jun 17, 2010<\/em><\/p>\n

Prime Minister Mrs. Persad-Bissessar has determined that Jack Warner is free to hold his two positions as Works and Transport Minister and Vice-President of FIFA. <\/p>\n

Legal minds concur that no laws have been broken with regards to the dual roles of Jack Warner as Works and Transport Minister and as FIFA Vice-President. Attorney General Anand Ramlogan revealed the findings at today’s Post-Cabinet Media Briefing.<\/p>\n

In addition to the services of Russell Martineau SC, Sir Fenton Ramsahoye QC, and Michael Beloff QC, the Attorney General also turned to former President Sir Ellis Clarke who is regarded as the grandfather of the Trinidad and Tobago constitution. Sir Ellis Clarke said that it is difficult to see how a conflict of interest is likely to arise as a result of a Cabinet Minister being a Vice President of FIFA. But Sir Ellis noted another issue. He says the practical question, on the other hand, is can a person give adequate attention to the duties of Cabinet Minister if he is also Vice President of FIFA?<\/p>\n

In his correspondence Sir Ellis notes that it is not a matter for the Integrity Commission to decide but rather a matter for the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Noted Privy Council jurist Michael Beloff QC, has concluded that there is nothing in the law of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago or the Ethics Code to require Mr. Warner to resign from his unpaid part time role with FIFA. He holds the opinion that Mr. Warner’s position at FIFA is beneficial to Trinidad and Tobago. He stated that Mr. Warner’s high office in the international body is calculated to bring prestige to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago rather than to damage its interest.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference, Prime Minister Mrs. Persad-Bissessar said that after careful consideration of the advice of the attorneys Mr. Warner has broken no law and it is a matter of work ethics as such. She said there is no reason why Mr. Warner can’t keep both positions. The Prime Minister said that she has weighed all the views and she was of the view that there is no reason for Mr. Warner to step down or for his appointment to be revoked.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister said she isn’t worried by those who would disagree with her position. She said that we cannot continue to live B.C.; the world has changed and there is so much more to gain from the kind of contacts that Mr. Warner has and what he can bring to Trinidad and Tobago.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Must Jack Choose Between FIFA and Cabinet?<\/b><\/big><\/p>\n

June 05, 2010<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Works
Works and Transport Minister, Jack Warner and
\nOpposition Leader, Dr Keith Rowley<\/figcaption><\/figure>Rowley Cries Foul on Warner<\/a>
\nMOMENTS after receiving his instrument of appointment at the country’s new Opposition Leader, from President George Maxwell Richards at Knowsley in Port-of-Spain, People’s National Movement (PNM) Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley jokingly remarked that he would have preferred to have been reporting to the President as the country’s Prime Minister instead. <\/p>\n

Rowley later went straight for the political jugular of the Government, disclosing he will write to the Integrity Commission to say whether it was proper for Jack Warner to serve as Works Minister while remaining as FIFA\u2019s vice-president.<\/p>\n

Fifa or T&T Cabinet!<\/a>
\nMinutes after receiving his instrument of appointment yesterday, new Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley demanded that Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner, who is also a vice-president of Fifa, give up one of the jobs.<\/p>\n

Jack must choose<\/a>
\nOpposition Leader Rowley to write Integrity Commission: Works Minister cannot also be FIFA vice president<\/p>\n

Jack: I am not as easy a bait as Manning was<\/a>
\n‘I am not an easy target,’ Jack Warner, Minister of Works and Transport, said last night in response to statements by new Opposition Leader, Dr Keith Rowley, that he would be brought before the Integrity Commission.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Related:<\/b> <\/p>\n

Warner FIFA’s Connections Beneficial to T&T<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UPDATE: Jun 18, 2010 KAMLA: JACK STAYS PUT FOUR eminent legal counsels hired by the Government have advised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Cabinet that Jack Warner is not breaking any law by simultaneously holding the posts of Works and Transport Minister and vice president of the world football body, FIFA. PM: If his … Continue reading Jack can hold Cabinet and FIFA posts<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,186,178,396,30,7,142],"tags":[147,60,1015,49,398],"class_list":["post-3646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-tt","category-law","category-media","category-peoples-partnership","category-pnm","category-politics","category-unc","tag-jack-warner","tag-keith-rowley","tag-politics","tag-tt-govt","tag-the-opposition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3646"}],"version-history":[{"count":33,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3824,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646\/revisions\/3824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}