Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says sacked housing and urban development minister Marlene Mc Donald should be reinstated as a Cabinet minister if she is cleared of allegations of wrongdoing by the Integrity Commission.
He confirmed that during yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.
Asked if he could put to rest speculation of the inclusion of Mc Donald as part of a soon to be remodelled Cabinet, Rowley said bluntly: “No!”
Asked if his one word answer was an indication of the possibility of her return, Rowley said: “That depends on what happens in the future.”
It was an obvious reference to the incomplete investigations being conducted by the Integrity Commission into allegations filed against her by the group Fixin’ T&T. Rowley said he did not have a crystal ball and there were developments to take place in the future but in the meantime “we just have to get on with our jobs and see what happens.”
Asked again if Mc Donald could be included in the remodelled Cabinet, Rowley said the former minister’s “conduct was called into question and she was removed from the Cabinet awaiting an adjudication on the allegations made against her.”
He said he was aware if that could take place within the next month, adding if she was subsequently made to answer a charge that would be another consideration.
Rowley said if her innocence was proven and found not to have committed a crime “then she has every right to be re-instated to her (Cabinet) position and to function without the allegations over her head.”
He repeated a claim made last weekend that the completion of those investigations “takes too long and it will be really unfair if because their future is dependent on the conclusion of the inquiry, that, like the Las Alturas enquiry, they can let the clock run out and five years can pass and we had no determination.”
He said his claim was not only related to Mc Donald but all others which seem to be never-ending in this country.
Rowley said that development was “an indication of the perpetuation of the ongoing failure of some of our key institutions.”
He said those institutions included the police and the Integrity Commission.
Asked if the Government was considering amendments to the law governing the Integrity Commission, Rowley said that was not before the Government at this time.
He said: “What was before us is we have allegations which require to be dispensed with. We have people under investigation... investigations ought to be done with dispatch.”
Mc Donald was removed from the Cabinet six months after she was appointed in September last year for allegedly breaching parliamentary rules when she hired her common-law spouse and his brother to work in her Port-of-Spain South constituency office at salaries in excess of $10,000 each.
It allegedly took place during the 10th Parliament which ended last year.
Mc Donald is a deputy political leader of the PNM.
The Integrity Commission is still to complete its probe on the matter.
Rowley told reporters to ask Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre questions during the post Cabinet briefing as she may not be here tomorrow.
She is among the ministers being speculated for realignment. Another is Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.