With a vote of 10 for/22 against, Parliament yesterday formally ended Stephen Williams's dream to become the next Commissioner of Police.

"This is no reflection on Mr (Stephen) Williams, who has had an extremely distinguished career," Works Minister Colm Imbert stated as he took his seat, after spending 75 minutes detailing all of the flaws in the process that produced Williams's nomination.

In a relatively short, but fiery debate in the House of Representatives, Imbert said the process did not achieve the "desired result". The "convoluted, unworkable and impractical" procedures which the Police Service Commission was required to follow, did not "result in the best available pool of candidates from which the Commission could make the best possible selection", he said.

He also pointed out that Williams was the 26th ranked officer based "on strict seniority" in the Police Service, while James Philbert, in whose acting appointment Imbert saw "nothing wrong", was now the most senior officer in the service. (See Page 6)

As Imbert read from Williams's CV, he concluded by saying: "I don't think he has ever managed a major division in the Police Service."

Imbert, who piloted the motion, said the "first weakness in the process" was Legal notice 165, which stipulated that once a candidate did not have a university degree, but met the core criteria, the person had to come from within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, thereby excluding foreigners without degrees.

Chief Whip Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj interrupted: "When did not Government recognise that there was a weakness, after the recommendation of Stephen Williams or before?"

Imbert ignored the question and moved to "another weakness in the process". He said Legal Notice 166 introduced a constraint whereby the PSC would be unable to select a CoP in less than four months. Another "apparent weakness", he said, was that the PSC could only communicate with the consulting firm hired to do the assessment of candidates after the merit list has been submitted to the PSC, not before.

"Do you want Stephen Williams or not, just come to the point!" an impatient Subhas Panday asked.

Imbert also pointed out that the salary of TT$25,000 appeared in the first set of advertisements before the PSC requested that it be omitted.

Maharaj, however, said Imbert's reasons were "wishy washy" and "spurious". "The process had not achieved the desired objectives? Desired objectives of who?" he asked.

He accused Government subverting the Constitution by rejecting the nomination of an independent PSC, without good reason. Stating that the whole aim of the new constitutional process was to ensure that merit, not seniority, was the main criterion, Maharaj said Government had acted in a manner designed to frustrate the provisions of the Constitution.

Maharaj said he knew for a fact that "the second (ranked) person" failed the lie detector test.

"And it is not a rumour. Take me to the Committee of Privileges," he challenged, to thunderous table-thumping support.

He said his investigations also "confirmed" that the National Security Minister requested Williams to meet with Prime Minister Patrick Manning. According to Maharaj, Manning told Williams, in the presence of National Security Minister, Martin Joseph, at a Whitehall meeting: "Government has a plan which does not include you. You are a young man and Government may have a plan in the future to include you. But we would like you to decline the offer of the PSC."

Maharaj said Williams's response was: "I respect you as Prime Minister, but you must also respect me. Mr Prime Minister, I decline your offer to step down."

Stating that it was the same kind of the conversation Manning held with former CJ Sat Sharma, Maharaj asked: "Was it morally proper and ethically right for the Prime Minister to...interfere and put pressure upon the nominee?"

Noting that Manning (who is attending CARICOM meeting in Antigua) was not in the Parliament, Maharaj stated: "And that is probably why he is away from here. But he could run but he can't hide!"

Maharaj said unless Government could prove the PSC acted "fraudulently, corruptly and in bad faith" in its nomination of Williams, it (the Government) was duty bound to accept the nomination.

Noting that the Police Association was in total support of the PSC decision to nominate Williams, Maharaj warned: "The association felt that any attempt to pervert that process or reverse the decision would be taken as a clear act of manipulation...This is the national security of the country. You cannot treat police officers with contempt."

"You will have a rebellion on your hands," Kamla Persad-Bissessar added.