Warner appointed Minister of National Security in Trinidad and Tobago

By Andrew Warshaw

June 25 – The cash-for-votes scandal that led to former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner resigning in disgrace from all footballing activities is clearly having no effect on his political career after he was appointed Minister of National Security in his native Trinidad and Tobago.

Warner’s (pictured above) promotion from Minister of Works was announced as part of a major Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Warner was alleged to have organised last year’s Port-of-Spain meeting of Caribbean officials, ostensibly a FIFA Presidential campaign platform for Mohamed Bin Hammam but where a raft of cash payments were distributed.

While Warner walked away rather than face the glare of a full-scale inquiry, Bin Hammam – at the time head of Asian football – was banned for life on bribery charges pending an ongoing appeal.

Warner, who dominated Caribbean football for three decades, decided to concentrate fully on his political career, despite facing a police investigation at home into how the bundles of cash entered the country.

Remarkably, a year after the scandal, he has now been handed one of the most sensitive positions in local politics, with the emphasis on lowering crime.

“It is my respectful view that Mr Warner is a person of action, and he will be very useful in the Ministry of National Security and, indeed, as I said, I listened to many persons in coming to conclusions in making decisions, and so based on conversations I had with various persons, both against the Government and for the Government, we were able to ask Mr Warner to serve in that position,” Persad-Bissessar (pictured below, left with Warner) was quoted as saying.

However, Warner’s appointment instantly brought a stinging rebuke from opposition leader Keith Rowley who said it “should be a matter of concern for all the right-thinking citizens of Trinidad and Tobago”.

“It is public knowledge that in the conduct of his private affairs in the various FIFA scandals he has found it necessary to engage in unseemly and embarrassing verbal wars with offices of the United Kingdom and the United States of America,” Rowley explained.

“These are not only our two major international partners, but their enthusiastic cooperation in the fight against the international drug trade is absolutely essential to succeed in our fight against crime.

“The Prime Minister’s choice of Mr Warner for this particular post borders on irresponsibility and once again confirms her misguided view that Trinidad and Tobago’s international image counts for nothing.”

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