Chief Secretary: ‘I cannot be President’

Orville London for President?

Not so, said the outgoing Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary, who has been an active politician for 20 years. London was commenting on a question raised on television last Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at Wednesday’s weekly post Executive Council media briefing at the Administrative Complex, Calder Hall London said: “I want to put an end to that speculation. I want to make the point that that invitation is unlikely to be made because I know the people who are involved and if it is made it will not be accepted.

“I am one of those who believe that the role of a president is so important and critical to the democracy that politicians like me, partisan politicians like me are disqualified from consideration because I feel that a president has to be someone who is not only impartial but is perceived to be impartial.

“I am PNM, I am partial to the PNM; I cannot be a president. I just want to put an end to that speculation,” London stressed.