Public Intrigue Over Recent Arrests


The arrests and subsequent charging of at-the-time Senator Gerald Ramdeen and former Attorney General Anand Ramlogan have garnered much concern and speculation over the past week or so. Given their political positions past and present, the public has become gravely concerned and curious as to why they were arrested and which incident exactly it centred around. There will be talk aplenty of political mischief, but that is all speculation, at least for now.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar was quoted as saying that there has been a history of pre-election arrests of members of the UNC, reminding us of the Sadiq Baksh water tank debacle, among others. She went on to state that wrongdoing of anytype should not be tolerated, and that justice should take its natural course. We couldn’t agree more.

What we find concerning though, is the fact that the Opposition Leader is admirably stating that thejustice system should not be interfered with, yet inferring that it is political propaganda on the part of their rival. With local government and general elections on the horizon, we do expect a lot of political missiles to be launched. And while this incident has not been proven to be fueled by political mischief, it has definitely fanned the flames of speculation.

With Mr. Ramdeen being charged for offences related to financial misdemeanor and corruption, we feel strongly that he should not have be representing the Opposition in the Senate until the legal process is completed. While Mr. Ramlogan is no longer an active representative in Parliament, Mr. Ramdeenwas, at least until his resignation last evening. But why was the onus up to the charged individual to hand in a resignation, and days after the charges were laid? Feedback from our listeners is that they were not hearing what they thought should have been said. The Opposition Leader needed to come out and say in no uncertain terms that the legal process needs to be respected, and do the necessary to rescind Mr. Ramdeen’s political involvement in the party until the process is completed.

Sadly, that was not the case. And with his eventual resignation last evening, we wait to see what happens next. Will there be added clarity to the matter over the coming days? Will the Attorney General and the National Security Minister continue to comment while the police remains silent? The population is waiting and watching.