PORT OF SPAIN – “This court action was filed to muzzle me,” Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner charged yesterday.
The lawsuit was filed to stop debate on the motion of no confidence which would have questioned the actions of Finance Minister Larry Howai, then First Citizens CEO in the Carlton Savannah issue, Warner told reporters as he left the Parliament.
He was referring to a lawsuit filed by Howai against an article which dealt with the very issues raised in his motion of censure and which caused House Speaker Wade Mark to caution him about breaching the sub judice rule.
“Normally before you file an action in the court, you send a pre-action protocol letter. None was sent. And therefore this was done to muzzle me.
“But I have other forum. And the fact is that the Speaker was a willing partner in this,” Warner added.
In a statement, Warner said the “debate on a motion of censure which sought to challenge the professional competence of Larry Howai to be the Minister of Finance in this difficult time, came to a premature end as the substance of the motion could not be debated based on the unprecedented guidelines laid down by the Honourable Speaker as it pertained to a court matter.
“As a result, the details of the motion which ought to have examined transactions of FCB where depositors and taxpayers’ money are invested and where a loan of over half a billion dollars of taxpayers money were not paid back to the Bank was barred by the Speaker’s opening instructions.
“The facts are that the debate could not proceed because it was blocked by a court matter according to the Speaker,” Warner stated.
“The Government and Senator Howai can continue to hide behind thin fig leaves such as this one but they will not be able to hide from the glare of public opinion for much longer,” he added. (Express)