Political Leader of the Congress of the People (COP) Prakash Ramadhar sees no issue with the Minister of Finance Larry Howai's decision to fire lawyers who were representing the Ministry in the CLICO Commission of Enquiry and replacing them with new ones.

Under current Finance Minister Larry Howai, the team of lawyers headed by Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein and Michael Quamina, who had been hired under former finance minister Winston Dookeran's watch, were axed and replaced by Seenath Jairam SC, president of the Law Association, leading Jagdeo Singh and Congress of the People chairman Joseph Toney last week.

Ramadhar yesterday told the media during an interview at the COP office at Caroni Savannah Road, Charlieville: "The People's Partnership is about fairness and you cannot have a select few in any field whether legal or otherwise getting all of the work, all of the time. I can tell you I have been a lawyer for 25-plus years and I have never received a brief from any State agency or from government. I am very happy with that but in terms of the wider fairness, we do not want it to be that a select group getting all of the work and I think we should be looking at it in that positive light."

Ramadhar added that he would like to believe that this was an attempt to allow the best talents of the country to get opportunities that they have never had and said he is sure that the fired lawyers would understand that there is a need to share the spread of government work.

Responding to questions by the media Toney said he received a junior brief to represent the Ministry of Finance at the Commission of Enquiry.

"I want to make the point I am representing the Ministry of Finance. I am not representing the present Ministry of Finance I shall be representing the Ministry of Finance which was in office at the time in office of the Clico/HCU fiascoes so it is not to say that I will be representing the government of the day."