Panday: CCJ not a priority for TT

Addressing a meeting bet-ween Caricom leaders and their opposition counterparts in St Lucia on Saturday, Panday said while the UNC was all for the establishment of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) it still did not believe that the Government of TT should be placing great emphasis on replacing the Privy Council as this nation’s final appellate court.

In a telephone interview from St Lucia yesterday, Panday told Newsday that the UNC believes issues such as racism, discrimination, crime and alleged political manipulation of the police were the burning issues in TT at this time. He said the UNC holds fast to its position that constitutional reform in TT would go a long way towards addressing those issues and the CCJ should be placed "on a back burner."

Legislation has been passed in Parliament to approve the CCJ only in its original jurisdiction (to handle trade matters related to the CSME) but not in its appellate jurisdiction. Manning and Panday have held exploratory talks about constitutional reform in TT but to date there has been no serious dialogue between Government and the Opposition on this matter.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning has slammed the UNC for supporting the CCJ while in government but backtracking on that commitment after the October 2002 general elections.

Panday agreed with the prime minister that TT should not commit itself to joining the Petro Caribe initiative until it has a clearer understanding of its implications for this country. At an energy conference meeting in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela last week, TT and Barbados refused to sign the agreement to establish Petro Caribe — an entity to sell crude oil to the region at cheaper prices.

Manning indicated that TT needed time to study the proposal in detail because it could put TT at a competitive disadvantage. Panday said he was unaware of claims that the US government had been pressuring TT and Barbados not to sign the Petro Caribe agreement.

The UNC leader also said Saturday’s meeting between regional leaders and their opposition counterparts prior to yesterday’s Caricom Heads of Government summit in St Lucia was the first of its kind and a committee had been set up to organise future meetings ahead of major Caricom governmental summits.