Should the Minister of Finance resign? Click link and read my views in the Trinidad Express.

The Root of Karen's problems Published in the Trinidad Express Monday, March 30th 2009

I am absolutely surprised by the lack of understanding of the law and underestimation of the public the Minister of Finance has demonstrated in her statement on the CL Financial matter. It's the same as saying that there is no obligation to disclose an interest in a contract because you will incur a loss on the project. That, the Minister knows well, is not acceptable in law. I make two points. The first is that the Minister fails to recognise that, at the heart of the public outrage and her breach of the law is her failure to inform the public that, more than being a client of CL Financial's subsidiaries, she was actually an owner. There is a significant difference in law, fact and in the approach to dealing with the issue of conflict that the Minister, in whatever capacity and for whatever value, is a shareholder of CL Financial. My second point is that the Minister ought to know that it is immaterial, except where the law fixes minimum dollar values for a declaration of interest, that the value of her interest in CL Financial was diminished because of the conglomerate's troubles. Again, the Minister's problems flow from the fact that she failed to share the information with the Parliament, public and the Integrity Commission and that failure is not cured by the fact that the Minister believes that she is left poorer. The issue of resignation does not arise for me: only a handful of persons in public office have ever felt the need to resign on matters of integrity and that culture is unlikely to change. The Minister's bigger problem is that, having refused to admit that she erred, she has now become more of a spin doctor and a terrible one at that. Clarence Rambharat