CRF: Relationship between PM and President unworkable

This is the view of Constitution Reform Forum president Olabisi Kuboni.

Kuboni reminded of a similar conflict situation in 2001, which gave birth to the CRF, of the former prime minister Basdeo Panday’s decision to advise the then President to appoint several losing candidates in the 2000 elections as government senators.

“The President refused to act on this advice for a long time but eventually had to give in since there was no constitutional basis for his refusal.

“Towards the end of 2001, there was another stand-off. Prime Minister Panday was forced to call an election when his government collapsed after three of its members walked out. That election yielded the now infamous 18-18 tie between the UNC and the PNM. President Robinson’s decision to appoint the PNM leader, Patrick Manning, as the new Prime Minister, brought loud protests from a large segment of the population and in particular, from supporters of the UNC. In their view, Panday, the UNC leader, should have been re-appointed since his party had not lost the election,” Kuboni reminded.

He said these instances pointed to apparent presidential overreach and a need to revisit the constitutional arrangements that dictate the role and function of the President, particularly those of the Prime Minister.

“While not discounting the need to assess the actions of the individuals involved in these disputes, the CRF is of the view that the fundamental problem resides in how power is shared between these two office holders. In the current arrangements, it is very clear that a vast amount of executive power rests in the hands of the Prime Minister and that the office of the President is largely ceremonial with only limited constitutional authority to impact the overall governance of the country,” he said.

The CRF head also noted that the current stand-off between President Carmona and Prime Minister Rowley provided a good opportunity for the population to engage in a national conversation about the whole issue of power-sharing between and among the highest institutions of state and the checks and balances that should be put in place to militate against abuse of power. “The CRF also maintains that such a conversation must form part of a wider review of the entire Republican Constitution with a view to addressing the matter of the distribution of power at all levels of the governance structure of the country,” Kuboni said.