Parliament kicks off with a bang

GOVERNMENT will kick off tomorrow’s ceremonial opening of the Third Session of the Eighth Parliament at the Red House with the presentation of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Bill 2003, Constitutional Amendment Bill 2003 and the Caroni (1975) Ltd and Orange Grove National Company Ltd (Divestment and Business Development) Bill 2004 in the Senate. All three Bills are certain to evoke strong criticism from the Opposition UNC, and kick off the parliamentary session with a bang. Before the adjournment of Parliament in July, Attorney-General John Jeremie said legislation to provide for the jurisdiction of the CCJ to replace the Privy Council as the region’s final appellate court will be high on Government’s agenda in the new parliamentary session.

The AG said the legislation was being geared to approve the court in its original jurisdiction and not its appellate jurisdiction, the latter of which requires a special parliamentary majority for passage. Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the CCJ cannot be approved in its original jurisdiction without also being approved in its appellate jurisdiction. The UNC has refused to support passage of the CCJ legislation until there is constitutional reform in Trinidad and Tobago. Prime Minister Patrick Manning has criticised the UNC for supporting the CCJ while in government but doing a political about-face in Opposition. The CCJ Bill 2003, and the attached Constitutional Amendment Bill 2003, were laid in the Senate on November 11, 2003.

Given the Opposition’s longstanding allegations of discrimination on the subject of Caroni, the Caroni land vesting legislation (laid in the House of Representatives on June 25) is certain to be another political hot potato for the Government to handle. This legislation’s purpose is to vest the real estate holdings of Caroni 1975 Ltd and Orange Grove National Company in the State, and “to provide for the management thereof and for the development of business thereon, particularly in the area of industrial light and heavy manufacturing, housing, commerce and agriculture.”