peanut
10-18-2007, 07:27 AM
This is just some of what is written in the DRAFT CONSTITUTION that will become Law if Manning gets his special majority. I hope the Guardian publishes the draft in its entirety.
DICTATORIAL TENDENCIES MY FOOT! Now tell me Manning is not a Dictator allbeit restricted by the present Constitution!
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news10.html
BY PRIOR BEHARRY
A DOCUMENT purporting to be the secret draft constitution that Prime Minister Patrick Manning allegedly wants to implement if he gets a special majority in Parliament after the next general election is now in circulation.
A copy was sent anonymously to the Guardian yesterday.
The 162-page document begins with a covering page that reads: Draft Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. June 2007.”
The sudden leak of the document came days after Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar claimed to have received a copy of the draft constitution from an unknown source, and brandished a document on the platform during a campaign meeting at Debe, last week Wednesday.
She has claimed the draft is what PM Manning will implement if he gets a constitutional majority in the November 5 general election.
She said if implemented, this “secret constitution” would give Manning control over the DPP since he would have to seek the approval of the Attorney General before he proceeds with a criminal case.
Yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said she had sent a copy the document to the Law Association “for their analysis and requisite action.”
WHAT’S INSIDE
The document appears to have many of the clauses as the draft constitution prepared by Sir Ellis Clarke and laid in the Parliament on August 18, last year, and also the Constitution of T&T.
It has the usual arrangements of sections in the front and contains 14 chapters. At the back there are four schedules dealing with the Forms of the Oath (or Affirmation) of Allegiance and of Office, Boundaries of Constituencies, Matters Not Subject to Investigation by the Ombudsman and Local Government Bodies, similar to the current Constitution.
Some clauses in the document are highlighted in bold.
Clause 117 of the document states that the DPP must consult with the Attorney General in relation to criminal proceedings.
Executive President
Clause 42 in the unconfirmed document refers to the creation of the office of an Executive President.
It says the President has to first win his seat in the House of Representatives and becomes Executive President once his party wins the majority of seat, according to Clause 49 (1).
The document also allows for a person who was not elected to the House of Representatives to become an MP. That person, according to the document, would be the person who was nominated as an alternate to stand with the MP who is to become President.
When the candidate wins his seat and takes up office as president the “alternate candidate shall automatically assume the vacant seat in the House of Representatives.”
The Senate
The document proposes to increase the number of senators from the current 31 to 47.
Currently 16 are appointed by the Prime Minister. But Clause 60 gives the President the appointment of 16 senators in his sole discretion and he would also appoint nine more after consultation with groups or organisations in business, labour, the environment, the village council movement, the energy sector and finance.
Six senators would be appointed by the Minority Leader (the Opposition Leader) acting in his sole discretion while 14 would be elected by the local government bodies and two senators are also proposed to be appointed by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).
The Chief Justice
Clause 133 allows the President to appoint a Chief Justice after consultation with the Minority Leader and the president of the Law Association.
The President, under Clause 133(2) issues a notification of the person nominated as Chief Justice and this shall be subject to negative resolution of Parliament.
This means that once the notification is laid in Parliament, it could only be debated if a member brings a motion on it.
Clause 131, according to the document, gives the Parliament the power “from time to time to prescribe which matters shall not be subject to judicial review.”
DICTATORIAL TENDENCIES MY FOOT! Now tell me Manning is not a Dictator allbeit restricted by the present Constitution!
http://www.guardian.co.tt/news10.html
BY PRIOR BEHARRY
A DOCUMENT purporting to be the secret draft constitution that Prime Minister Patrick Manning allegedly wants to implement if he gets a special majority in Parliament after the next general election is now in circulation.
A copy was sent anonymously to the Guardian yesterday.
The 162-page document begins with a covering page that reads: Draft Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. June 2007.”
The sudden leak of the document came days after Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar claimed to have received a copy of the draft constitution from an unknown source, and brandished a document on the platform during a campaign meeting at Debe, last week Wednesday.
She has claimed the draft is what PM Manning will implement if he gets a constitutional majority in the November 5 general election.
She said if implemented, this “secret constitution” would give Manning control over the DPP since he would have to seek the approval of the Attorney General before he proceeds with a criminal case.
Yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said she had sent a copy the document to the Law Association “for their analysis and requisite action.”
WHAT’S INSIDE
The document appears to have many of the clauses as the draft constitution prepared by Sir Ellis Clarke and laid in the Parliament on August 18, last year, and also the Constitution of T&T.
It has the usual arrangements of sections in the front and contains 14 chapters. At the back there are four schedules dealing with the Forms of the Oath (or Affirmation) of Allegiance and of Office, Boundaries of Constituencies, Matters Not Subject to Investigation by the Ombudsman and Local Government Bodies, similar to the current Constitution.
Some clauses in the document are highlighted in bold.
Clause 117 of the document states that the DPP must consult with the Attorney General in relation to criminal proceedings.
Executive President
Clause 42 in the unconfirmed document refers to the creation of the office of an Executive President.
It says the President has to first win his seat in the House of Representatives and becomes Executive President once his party wins the majority of seat, according to Clause 49 (1).
The document also allows for a person who was not elected to the House of Representatives to become an MP. That person, according to the document, would be the person who was nominated as an alternate to stand with the MP who is to become President.
When the candidate wins his seat and takes up office as president the “alternate candidate shall automatically assume the vacant seat in the House of Representatives.”
The Senate
The document proposes to increase the number of senators from the current 31 to 47.
Currently 16 are appointed by the Prime Minister. But Clause 60 gives the President the appointment of 16 senators in his sole discretion and he would also appoint nine more after consultation with groups or organisations in business, labour, the environment, the village council movement, the energy sector and finance.
Six senators would be appointed by the Minority Leader (the Opposition Leader) acting in his sole discretion while 14 would be elected by the local government bodies and two senators are also proposed to be appointed by the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).
The Chief Justice
Clause 133 allows the President to appoint a Chief Justice after consultation with the Minority Leader and the president of the Law Association.
The President, under Clause 133(2) issues a notification of the person nominated as Chief Justice and this shall be subject to negative resolution of Parliament.
This means that once the notification is laid in Parliament, it could only be debated if a member brings a motion on it.
Clause 131, according to the document, gives the Parliament the power “from time to time to prescribe which matters shall not be subject to judicial review.”