Panday calls for one man, one vote to elect a President

Elect the President of the Republic directly by the one-man-one vote system. This is the recommendation proposed yesterday by Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday. It would mean the abolition of the Electoral College of Parliament, the body which currently selects the President. Panday also proposed making the action of the President questionable in a court of law. Currently the action of the President is immune from legal challenge. Panday was speaking in the debate on the Police Service Reform Bills in the House of Representatives when he proposed these fundamental constitutional changes. These are some of the pre-conditions for support of the Police Bills, which require a special majority.

Panday also recommended that the Parliamentary Committee which has oversight authority over the Police Management Authority, be given quorum status in the event that Government members don’t come to meetings. He said experience had showed that Governments tended to frustrate the work of parliamentary committees by ensuring that there was no quorum. This was accomplished by Government members who constitute a majority on these committees absenting themselves. The Opposition Leader repeated his claim that the President was beholden to the Government because of the way he is elected.  Changing his manner of election would mean that he is beholden to the people, Panday argued. He said until this was achieved, one could not repose confidence in the appointments made by the President,  (including the members of the Police Management Authority).
 
“If the President can influence as to who is appointed (on the Police Management Authority), then surely how the  Authority conducts its business can also be influenced by the Prime Minister, the Government and the ruling party,” Panday said. On the President’s immunity from judicial review proceedings, Panday stated: “What if the President’s actions are tainted with, say, race, bias, patronage, cronyism...What is the redress? Where is the remedy?” he asked. Told by Prime Minister Patrick Manning that the President can be impeached, Panday said: “Impeach him where? Before a body (Electoral College)  over which they have the majority? That does not make sense my brother (Manning). The time has come for us to move beyond these archaic and ancient and outdated methods of doing things.” Panday stressed that he was not dealing with the personality (of the President), but the office and what naturally flowed from it. Panday got into some trouble however, when in speaking about his difficulties with the system of appointment to Commissions, he cited the Integrity Commission.

“Suppose they decide to pack it with PNM hacks...Indeed as they (the President) has done with the Integrity Commission. Why you think all the information from the Integrity Commission is splashed over the pages (of the newspapers)?” he asked. “Ooooooh! That is what it is all about! That is what you have a problem with,” were the collective cries from the PNM. Panday ignored the picong, and instead asked where the provisions for meritocracy in the operations of public institutions were. He said the Police Management Authority, which is being given the power to hire people, would be answerable to nobody if it is packed with PNM hacks. Panday then revealed his third proposal — “Amend the constitution to ensure that all public bodies that appoint persons must be based on merit and not race, religion and any so irrelevant considerations.”