MNT wants executive president

The MNT suggested replacing the current Westminster electoral system with an executive president (and vice president) who shall be directly elected by the population every five years up to a maximum of two terms. Under the executive president, said the MNT in its draft constitution, will be a unicameral Parliament consisting solely of the elected House of Representatives. The Parliament would consist of 100 elected members representing 100 constituencies.

The MNT would limit the number of non-elected members of the cabinet to 12 persons and mandate that at least four members be women. Local government elections would be non-partisan. The highest court of the land, under the MNT, would be a Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago in lieu of the existing Privy Council or the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice. The MNT would like to see an elected commissioner of police. Under an MNT government, police officers would have the right to strike. In a statement distributed to media houses, the MNT said it would tackle crime not by the “lock up” law enforcement solution used in places like New York City but by devolving responsibility for governance to each of 100 municipalities in a community responsibility programme.

“Draconian government action can contain crime but it clearly cannot address the underlying social inequities that create and fuel criminal activity in Trinidad and Tobago, New York, or Paris.”

Fighting crime, said the MNT, must include the issue of social transformation.