Political commentator Rhoda Bharath last night said President Anthony Carmona had left many unanswered questions following his press conference yesterday on issues raised about spending at President’s House.
“The President did not address the issue of nepotism coming out of his office. He did not address whether or not he has family members working at his office, while he stayed clear of the housing allowance issue. There are still lots of unanswered questions,” Bharath said.
Instead, Bharath said Carmona skirted around all the matters he spoke about, leaving the population puzzled.
“He pussyfooted. The President still has not explained why accounting is the way it is at the Office of the President. Why are there all these discrepancies with accounting?” she asked.
Determined to get answers, Bharath promised to put another blog on Facebook last night.
“This is not a one-off thing. I am going full steam ahead. Me dealing with accountability and citizens’ rights, that is not something I now started doing. I will continue to use social media to engage the people on political and governance issues. That is not going to change,” she added.
In responding to the President’s household expenditure, Bharath said Carmona’s statement was misleading.
“He made a point of incorrect classification. He asked the population to go through the Auditor General’s report because there are many instances of incorrect classification. I want to say that the President was again disingenuous... because the term incorrect classification appears all of twice in the report.”
In her view, Bharath said she did her homework before posting the blog about the wine purchase on Facebook last Sunday.
“I spoke to many people who deal up in accounting, procurement and processes. I spoke to people who would have worked under previous presidents querying how this is supposed to work. I did my homework,” she said.
She said she was taken aback when Carmona spoke about he and his wife procuring wine from Italy.
“I am not aware that the President and his wife procure anything for the household. Why is he part of the procurement process for his household? He has staff to do that.”
Asked if she was prepared to face legal action over her posts, Bharath said if the President or anyone else thought there was need for legal action they were well within their rights to do so.
Kamla: PM must come clean over breach
In a press release issued last night, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to tell the nation what he knew about a breach of confidentiality in communication between his office and the President.
“Dr Rowley must waste no time in advising a concerned populace about how details of classified correspondence between the two top offices in the country were reported in the national media,” Persad-Bissessar said.
She also called on Rowley to state whether or not Carmona had briefed him about the proposed meeting between the President, National Security Minister and his advisers.
She asked: “If Dr Rowley did, indeed, approve such a discussion, what was his justification for seeking legal advice on the constitutionality of the meeting?
“What led to the selection of Martin Daly, SC, to provide such legal opinion? Was Daly informed of His Excellency’s prior consultation with the Prime Minister on the matter? How much did Daly’s professional services cost taxpayers of Trinidad and Tobago? How did details of Daly’s confidential advice also get into the national media?”
Persad-Bissessar said Rowley has a critical responsibility to address this matter, since it impacts the integrity and credibility of the Office of Prime Minister.
“Rowley must immediately address this potentially scandalous issue,” she said.
Rowley did not respond to a text message last evening about the issued raised by Carmona.