THE people of this country have not lost trust and confidence in Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and there will be no early elections despite calls by several organisations for an early general election.

This, according to two government ministers who said that Persad-Bissessar's firing of former justice minister Herbert Volney was justified.

Sport Minister Anil Roberts said the Prime Minister "put politics behind governance and the country", when she fired a government minister who was also a Member of Parliament and he was proud of her.

He told the media yesterday at a pre-budget function held at Persad-Bissessar's home in Phillipine, South Trinidad, that citizens had more confidence in Persad-Bissessar because of the way she handled the issue of the proclamation of Section 34 of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings)Act 2011.

Roberts said, "I commend the media for bringing to the forefront the loophole which allowed the Prime Minister to immediately call Parliament and deal with the situation. Then she conducted her detailed investigation which was very sensitive. None of us as Cabinet ministers were aware of it, of what she was doing in terms of being involved in the discussions and gathering information from the Chief Justice (Ivor Archie) and from the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) and other ministers from the inter-ministerial committee and then making a conclusion."

Local government minister Dr Surujrattan Rambachan said before they came into governance, the government promised citizens that they would listen to the public and they were doing just that.

He said, "The Prime Minister is very firm and very committed in terms of her leadership style to deal with any issues and any one of her ministers who may not have followed the rules as much as the rules ought to be followed or who have deviated from policy. She has demonstrated that on several occasions."

Rambachan also said he accepted Volney's word that he made an error and accepted responsibility for his actions.

Roberts also commented on Opposition Leader Keith Rowley's call for a premature general election.

He said, "There is no polls till whenever it is due at the end of November into December into February 2015, so let Rowley cool himself."

Rowley should focus on maintaining his position as leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) and "on being a lawful citizen", Roberts said.

He said he would expect criticism about the Prime Minister from the PNM because the PNM do not like her and "would never like anything she does."