Phipps thwarted!
Published:Saturday | February 19, 2011 | 12:00 AM
FRANK PHIPPS, the attorney representing the Jamaica Labour Party, came out holding the short end of the stick yesterday as he failed to convince Chairman of the Manatt-Dudus commission, Emil George, that he should introduce into the deliberations the subject of lobbyists engaged by political parties in the past.
Documents presented by Phipps were disposed of as former minister of national security, Dr Peter Phillips, and his attorney, Patrick Atkinson, attacked just about every question on the issue of lobbyists which was unrelated to the extradition issue.
It was a day when Phillips was asked only a few questions.
Atkinson accused Phipps of engaging in stalling tactics.
Long gaps in the proceedings were the order of the day as the commissioners took extended breaks before ruling on each matter.
Phipps sought to introduce the issue of past lobbyists, but was stopped short by Atkinson and K.D. Knight.
Phipps, who attracted a series of controversies throughout the day, made reference to the People's National Party's engagement of a United States-based company called Fenton Communications Limited in the 1970s, but that was as far as he got.
Atkinson countered that Fenton Communications Limited was a public-relations organisation.