ttgapers.com

Former finance minister Gerald Yetming said has no intentions of apologising to business tycoon Michael Lee Chin by midday today. "I am not responding to that. Ignore that," he added. Lee Chin gave Yetming the ultimatum on Sunday, 48 hours after he (Yetming) told Parliament that an undisclosed sum of money was paid to an unnamed Minister as part payment for 20 per cent of First Citizens Bank.

Lee Chin said no such money was ever paid and demanded that Yetming "clear up the mess that you created, and to do so by midday Tuesday". Yetming said he "would be considering between today and tomorrow how I will respond".

Asked if he felt he acted improperly by making the disclosure in Parliament, Yetming said he acted "properly and responsibly. Furthermore what I said in Parliament and what was reported aren't entirely the same. A lot of what is being reported is not what I said".

Yetming said that Lee Chin may have been responding to "what was reported and not to what I had said". Attorney, and Independent Senator Dana Seetahal said Lee Chin has no case against Yetming because the comment was made in Trinidad and Tobago Parliament. She said this means Yetming "has absolute privilege".

She said if Lee Chin has intentions of taking the matter to a court outside of this country it would have no jurisdiction to hear the matter. Seetahal said Lee Chin had no legal recourse at this time, adding that he would have that recourse if Yetming's statement was repeated outside the Parliament.

"He (Lee Chin) has no basis," Seetahal said. "I think is just a question of PR," she added. And the UNC yesterday said it was giving "serious consideration to having Mr Lee Chin referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament".

The UNC called on Prime Minister Patrick Manning to initiate an investigation on a claim that one of his Ministers received a bribe. The Opposition said it viewed Lee Chin's threats as an attempt to "molest and bully" a Member of Parliament.