00:00Professor Ghani says the attitude of the United States toward Venezuela is very concerning.
00:07However, he notes that no specific mention was made of the Dragon gas deal with Trinidad and Tobago
00:14and the OFAC licenses that expire in October of this year.
00:19The Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, is part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
00:25OFAC licenses for Trinidad and Tobago will allow us to explore, produce and export natural gas from Venezuela.
00:34Today, the political analyst says the government must move with haste.
00:40I think that there has got to be some kind of engagement on the part of the government of Trinidad and Tobago
00:47to find out exactly where it stands in relation to these licenses that were granted.
00:53No definitive statement has been made.
00:56Generic statements have been made, but nothing definitive.
00:59And that is where I come back to the question that was asked by Anna Ramdas of Minister of Energy Stuart Young.
01:05Has the government of Trinidad and Tobago made any attempt to secure a meeting with President Trump
01:10to which the answer was no?
01:12He notes also that the opposition holds a very different position from the government
01:18as it relates to dealing with Venezuela and on the sale of the Petrotrin refinery to a Nigerian energy solution company.
01:26It's going to be a question of political communication, political strategy and the handling of the process going forward.
01:33And I think that that is obviously going to be a major part of the election campaign
01:39because the Petrotrin refinery is a matter that has engaged our attention for some years now
01:45and continues to engage our attention.
01:48And there has been no final determination by the government with regard to a final bidder.
01:54Professor Ghani also gave his perspective on the resignation of Dr Keith Rowley as prime minister on March 16th
02:02while maintaining his position as political leader of the People's National Movement.
02:07Professor Ghani says, under the Westminster system,
02:11one must be political leader of the party before you can be the prime minister
02:16while this country's constitution has no specific rule.
02:20That is a matter for the president but of course it does raise certain issues
02:26that a new way is found to change a prime minister
02:29other than a party leader being removed or a motion of no confidence.
02:35Now you may have the change of a leader by a letter signed by a majority of MPs.
02:41Following a general council meeting at Balize House in January,
02:46it was announced Energy Minister Stewart Young received unanimous endorsement
02:51from all 21 government MPs to succeed Dr Keith Rowley as prime minister upon his resignation.
02:59Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.
03:05For more information visit www.fema.gov
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