Goodbye Independents

Manning yesterday said the Senate would be “enlargened and essentially elected.” The draft suggests the Senate be comprised of 49 members up from the 31 Senators. Rather than the current constitution’s fixed ratio of Senators - 16 Government, six Opposition and nine Independents who are appointed by the non-political President, the draft proposes that the composition of the Senate would totally depend on the outcome of electoral politics.

The draft proposes that 28 Senators be elected from current 14 local government bodies, three Senators be elected by the Tobago House of Assembly, and 18 Senators be assigned seats on the recommendations of their political parties after a general election and based on a system of proportional representation. Independent Senator Dr Eastlyn McKenzie said it was important to have Independent Senators.

“You don’t have a party line to toe and you bring a totally independent view to the situation, even independent of the other Independent Senators.” She said that after Government and Opposition Senators are appointed, their abilities are complemented by the choice of Independent Senators, in specific areas like energy, law, and economics. “You have that kind of mix that strengthens debate in the Upper House and reduces the glossing-over that may occur in the Lower House.”