President to hear Opposition’s views on racial remarks by Police Commission head

Port-of-Spain: President George Maxwell Richards has summoned the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Keith Rowley to a meeting to discuss a controversy surrounding the chairman of the Police Service Commisison Nizam Mohammed, following racial statements on Friday as he appeared before a joint-select committee of the Parliament.

Mohammed had told the meeting that there were too many senior people of African descent at the top level of the police service and that he would be seeking to correct the imbalance. Other commissioners present and several government ministers have called for his dismissal.

The meeting between the president and the opposition leader will take place tomorrow. It comes after Dr Rowley sent a letter to the president raising concerns about the Mr Mohammed, who was appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister.

Dr Rowley had criticsed the appointment of Mr Mohammed as PSC chairman, citing that as a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mohammed was still an active politician.

Meanwhile, political scientist Dr Hamid Ghany is calling on the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to make a statement on the controversial remarks.