Nah Leaving Says Max
Resignation holds no terror for the President. I have not brought the office into disrepute.
I apologise….again.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea ultima culpa.
Resignation holds no terrors but, no, I am not resigning.
I have not brought the office of President into disrepute.
President Max Richards, looking dapper in dark suit and striped tie, broke his silence and addressed the nation on Friday night and made it quite clear there was “no constitutional crisis” as suggested by some; that he was misunderstood; that he had in fact expressed regret and had not apportioned blame.
The tall 76-year-old “Trini to the bone” faced his tormentors or detractors, which includes the lofty Law Association which claimed he had brought his office into disrepute and suggested he should pack his bags and head back to Valley Vue in lush Maracas Valley, St Joseph.
The President, who earlier in the day, swore in controversial former Attorney General John Jeremie to the same cabinet post, spoke in his measured monotone.
He wasn’t about to go public with private conversations he held with those he invited to serve on the Integrity Commission.
He wasn’t about to put up a defence on the Integrity Commission fiasco also. As far as he was concerned, he made an error of judgment and to err is not to act disreputably.
Whether or not his statement will mollify his critics, who have been calling for his head, is left to be seen.
This is the text of the President’s 12-minute address:
“It appears that the statement that I made on the 15th of May 2009 has been misunderstood.
Let me emphasise, therefore, that any lack of clarity was unintentional. It is being said that I did not offer an apology to the nation. May I say that my expression of regret was intended to convey just that-an apology. I have noted the word “is used in polite formulas to express apology or sadness”. But it would give comfort to those who have a different interpretation of the word that I say now that I apologise.
The reiteration by me of concerns as conveyed in questions which did not originate with me but which were raised in the media by the public acknowledge the questions raised but was not intended to absolve me from responsibility or to cast blame.
On the matter of confirmation of appointments the Integrity In Public Life 2000 in Part 2, Section 4, Subsection 4 is clear. That is to say that the President appoints after consulting both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. After consultation, the President may decide that his choices stand or he may choose to take a different course based on consultation or for any other reason.
Confirming an invitation to serve does not mean that someone else was party to the confirmation or directed it.
I maintain that there never was and there is no constitutional crisis based on vacancies on the Integrity Commission or because of my absence from Trinidad and Tobago.
The absence from the country of the President does not in itself create a constitutional crisis as provision is made in Chapter 3, Section 27 (1) of the constitution for the duties of President to be carried out in his absence by the President of the Senate as has happened in the past.
In the face of the resignation of Justice Hosein and, subsequently, those of Mr McFarlane and Father Charles, there have been calls for me to explain what could have led to those resignations and, therefore, to reveal what might or might not have been said between myself and those nominees prior to their appointments.
By the demands being made for answers and explanations, I am being required, in effect, to enter into debate regarding statements made by persons who were invited to become members of the Integrity Commission in order for us to establish, inter alia, the veracity of what had been said by them. Put another way, I am being encouraged by these demands to put up a defence by these demands which is the very interpretation of my statement that has provoked the ire.
May I say that as President, I will not put in the public domain the conversations of a confidential nature that I held with anyone concerning the invitation to serve. That, in my view, is unseemly and not befitting the office.
I wish to make it abundantly clear that resignation from office holds no terror for me.
The central consideration in any step I take in this matter must be the welfare of the country. Resignation gives no guarantee of that and I will not allow the situation to be so manipulated as to result in yielding to pressure fuelled by lack of deep consideration of all the issues pertinent to resignation.
I have already apologised for error of judgment. To err is not to act disreputably. I have noted and listened carefully to comments expressed by members of the public and I have given the matter due consideration. I do not share the opinion held by some that I have brought the office of the President of the Republic into disrepute and accordingly see no reason to resign or to engage in further debate on the matter.
I wish to thank the many individuals who have written or spoken in measured support of me. It is my hope that we as a nation will move on.
The matter surrounding the Integrity Commission which has occasioned negative fallout has given us the opportunity to see that democracy is alive in Trinidad and Tobago. This should give pause for serious thought and reinforce our determination to guard it and improve on it.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Good night and may God bless Trinidad and Tobago.”