Trinidad and Tobago’s Attorney General, Reginald Armour SC, on Friday survived two motions, including one calling for his resignation from the Keith Rowley government, as members of the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) voted against the measures.
Armour, 65, a former LATT president and acting High Court judge, had also survived a motion of no-confidence filed by some members of the association.
The motions arose from Armour’s disqualification in the State’s protracted civil asset recovery case related to fraud and corruption in the multi-million-dollar Piarco International Airport rehabilitation project that has resulted in several former government ministers and private businesses being hauled before courts both in the twin island republic and in the United States.
A LATT spokesman told reporters on Friday night that the no-confidence motion was defeated by a 317-234 margin, while the motion calling for the attorney general’s resignation was defeated by a 310-241 vote margin.
Attorney Kiel Taklalsingh, who had sought the LATT meeting on behalf of more than three dozen members, told reporters that the group was satisfied despite the defeat.
“Today, there was some success, as we were able to get the Attorney General to appear before us. That did not happen the last time a no-confidence motion was brought,” Taklalsingh said, adding that the outcome may have been a result of Armour giving a lengthy explanation at the start of the meeting.
“He (Armour) was contrite and apologized to the members. This may have swayed the vote, but we won’t know. We think by holding him to account in some form or fashion, we achieved our purpose,” Taklalsingh said.
Armour has in the past issued a lengthy statement explaining his disqualification from the case in the United States where former finance minister Brian Kuei Tung is among those accused.
Armour had represented Kuei Tung as a defense attorney in the parallel criminal proceedings in Trinidad and Tobago and was now involved in directing the US law firm representing the State against the former minister. A US judge found Armour’s limited interaction with the law firm was sufficient to disqualify them both.
Armour claimed that his initial affidavit to the court was prepared while he was abroad in Europe on vacation, and he did not have access to his office records to fully recall the extent of his involvement in the local Piarco Airport case over 14 years ago.
He also claimed that he was not allowed to rectify the error when he had an opportunity to verify his records shortly after.
However, the judge refused Kuei Tung’s other application to strike out the entire lawsuit.
The former attorney general and current Local Government Minister Faris Al-Rawi was subsequently appointed as the substitute client representative for this country in the case, which is scheduled to come up for hearing in September.
“I regret and apologize to you for the mistake in my affidavit…I made a mistake, but I did not act dishonestly,” Armour told LATT members via a video conference call.
The main opposition United National Congress (UNC), which has also been calling for Armour’s resignation, has been staging walkouts of the Parliament whenever the Attorney General gets up to make contributions to debates.
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