- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 23/Jul 06:13

True conspiracy

CONSPIRACIES are easy to allege. They are harder to disprove. There is a way in which they morph and absorb all contradictory evidence. “Facts,” John Adams said, and Colm Imbert once reminded us, “are stubborn things.” But so, too, are fictions. Which is why we express reservations over the way former prime minister Dr Keith Rowley on July 21 brought to the national community a sequence of events that not only raises alarming implications about high-ranking local officials but also can place further strain on this country’s bilateral relationship with Antigua and Barbuda and our co-operation with international law enforcement. Alleging “dastardly defamation,” Dr Rowley claimed he had been placed “on Interpol’s list” and set this purported development “squarely in the lap” of the Prime Minister, Attorney General John Jeremie and Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro. The basis for all this was the fact of his being twice delayed, yet cleared for onward egress, by immigration officials in Antigua during a Montserrat trip from July 13-20. The former PM informed media workers gathered at a press conference in his Glencoe home that he was initially told he was “on some list,” before officials said it was a case of mistaken identity. But hours after all these statements, Mr Guevarro said Dr Rowley was not subject to any Interpol list or notice; Ms Persad-Bissessar called on the former PNM leader to apologise and said he had been reckless. It’s hard to disagree. Shown here by the former prime minister was poor judgement. His insinuation of political victimisation is a serious allegation. A high-level conspiracy like the one implied by his narrative would be an extraordinary abuse of power. But if such a plot were true, coming forward would have only one main result: it would provoke denials, while if the plot were untrue, the damage to others and to institutions like the police would be significant, more so amid a state of emergency. Given the implications of getting it wrong, the judicious course of conduct might have involved far more rigorous steps than just consulting Caricom contacts – presumably supplying hearsay – then going public. Dr Rowley looked to Port of Spain for answers; he could have also looked to St John’s. Security officials there on July 22 confirmed he had been stopped and said he did not misspeak. But even so, tense has been the relationship between Antigua and this country in recent times, particularly over the issues of nationals who have gone missing there and Clico. Indeed, as PM, Dr Rowley often did not see eye to eye with Gaston Browne, that country’s current leader. The former PNM leader might have anticipated any prematurely aired allegations could stoke the fire of mutual suspicion. This was not something to rush. The post True conspiracy appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.