DESPITE concerns over the eligibility of President-nominee Justice Anthony Carmona, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she is satisfied with him as the choice for Trinidad and Tobago's next President.

Persad-Bissessar made the statement to reporters on Carnival Tuesday in Penal, while attending Carnival celebrations in her constituency.

It is expected that at tomorrow's sitting of Parliament, House Speaker Wade Mark will declare Carmona the country's fifth President, succeeding George Maxwell Richards.

The nomination papers were submitted to Mark, chairman of the electoral college, on February 5, ahead of the deadline.

Of the impending announcement, the Prime Minister said: "I see no difficulty on Friday. It's a very important appointment and we are very satisfied with the legal opinions."

Carmona's nomination came under scrutiny over the question of whether he fulfilled the constitutional requirement of having been an "ordinarily resident" of Trinidad and Tobago ten years immediately preceding his nomination.

Carmona, who grew up in Santa Flora, lived with his wife and children at Flagstaff, St James, while he worked as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.

He resigned from that post and accepted a position as Appeals Counsel of the International War Crimes Tribunal, from 2001 to 2004.

The issue of his residency was raised by the People's National Movement the day after Carmona's nomination papers were signed by 12 members of Parliament from the Government.

Last week, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan issued a press release in which he stated that the relevant law on the issue was independently researched and considered by three eminent international jurists who agreed unanimously that Carmona satisfied the constitutional criterion to be President.

Carmona spent his final day on the Bench last Friday in the San Fernando Supreme Court.