President Paula-Mae Weekes has nominated another two people to staff the still defunct Police Service Commission.
In a media release yesterday, the Office of the President presented Maxine King, head of Wealth Management, Firstline Securities Limited, as a third nominee for appointment to the PSC.
The President also presented a nomination for Ian Kevin Ramdhanie, academic head of the Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety, as the fourth nominee for appointment to the PSC.
The Office of the President noted that only Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley responded to the notification of the names, despite the fact that both Rowley and Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar were notified.
Last week, the Office of the President presented Maxine Attong and retired Justice of Appeal Judith Jones, with similar results, as only the Prime Minister responded.
At that time, there was no response from Persad-Bissessar to those nominations, but she did contest the name of attorney Ernest Koylass, which was not nominated by the President but was submitted for vetting to the Prime Minister and Opposition leader.
Persad-Bissessar had said then that Koylass had known ties to the People’s National Movement (PNM).
On Thursday, when asked about her lack of response to the Office of the President on Attong and Jones, Persad-Bissessar said she was given just two days to vet the names and reply to the President.
Persad-Bissessar has since said that the President has no moral authority to nominate new names for the PSC until she clears the air on the alleged meeting between a Government official and former PSC chairman Bliss Seepersad at the Office of the President on August 12, an act she claims subsequently triggered the withdrawal of the merit list of persons selected for Police Commissioner.
Persad-Bissessar has since put forward a motion to remove the President. That debate is set for today.
On October 18, Persad-Bissessar wrote to the President calling for the process of staffing the PSC to be “paused” until this motion is settled, as she (President) has lost moral and ethical grounds to continue the process.
