New Parliament Session Begins In T&T

By Peter Richards

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad CMC – A new session of the Trinidad and Tobago parliament began, here, on Friday with the interim leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) Austin “Jack Warner being sworn in as a legislator and President Anthony Carmona urging the Inland Revenue to awake from its slumber and deal with “allegations of profligate enrichment by persons in authority”.

In his first address to the legislative chamber since becoming head of state earlier this year, Carmona, a former High Court judge also made a plea for Trinidad and Tobago to decide on whether or not it wants to join the Port of Spain-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the island’s final court.

The CCJ was established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region’s final court, but while many of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping have signed on to the court’s original jurisdiction, only Barbados, Belize and Guyana as signatories to the appellate jurisdiction.

The CCJ also functions as an international tribunal interpreting the Revised treaty of Chaguaramas that governs the regional integration movement.

Carmona, a former judge with the International Criminal Court (ICC) said that while Trinidad and Tobago has legislation that gives jurisdiction to the ICC, to the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), “we have none that recognizes the final appellate jurisdiction of the CCJ.

“Why can’t we start believing in ourselves and our competencies? Let there be a vote of conscience, by secret ballot, on whether it becomes the final Court of Appeal or, if as Parliamentarians you lack the confidence to make that change, place it before the electorate by way of public referendum on the ballot paper.”

He told legislators that the upcoming Local Government elections, in two months’ time, “affords an ideal opportunity for doing this.

“We must no longer pussyfoot on the matter.”

Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley has already filed a motion calling on Parliament to “direct the Prime Minister to take all necessary steps in the shortest reasonable time to make the Caribbean Court of Justice in  both appellate and original jurisdiction, the final court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago”.

In his wide-ranging speech, President Carmona said that he was also interested in the issue of election campaign financing which he described as “a veritable juggernaut that results in financiers arrogating political power unto themselves and thereby undermining the system of governance.

“Curiously, when political parties are in opposition they call for transparency in campaign financing; yet, when in the seat of power they conveniently neglect to address the issue. We must really get serious.

“The time has come when we must bite the bullet of campaign financing reform and introduce appropriate measures for disclosure, reporting and enforcement  laws to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of the country’s electoral system.

“This will certainly build citizen confidence and enhance our system of democratic governance. The need for legislation creating a Contractor General to address the issue of tendering procedures must be considered.”

He said additionally, for many years, there have been allegations of profligate enrichment by persons in authority.

“There have been complaints and observations for just as many years that the asset base of politicians is inconsistent with their income and tax returns and there has been a hue and cry for the intervention of the Integrity Commission or the Fraud Squad.

“Why are we taking such a divergent route when we can wake up that sleeping giant called the Board of Inland Revenue? Rise from your slumber. Do what you are empowered to do. The empire of mafia boss Al Capone was destroyed by his conviction of the crime of tax evasion.”

President Carmona said that ever since he worked at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, this has been his clarion cry to persons in authority, throughout Trinidad and Tobago.

“The rejoinder from those in authority was a jaundiced eye in my direction and deafening silence,” he said.

President Carmona said that crime continues to be the scourge of the society and if ever there was a need to cooperate and engage in realistic bipartisan methods, the time is now.

“For far too long, we have addressed the issue of crime with a focus on containment and not from a more holistic perspective. Legislation in the Parliament appears to deal, figuratively, with the bolted horse and not the horse in the stable.

“For instance, laws addressing parental responsibility must be considered to ensure that the child or the juvenile does not become a criminal because of the recalcitrant parent,” he said.

Warner, who was elected in a by-election to represent the Changuanas West constituency on Monday, took his oath of office and Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar welcomed back her former national security minister, who resigned his ministerial post following a damning report by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), an organization he once headed for nearly two decades.

“The honourable member is no stranger to this House and we on this side look forward to positive contributions and support from him as the Parliament continues its business,”: she said, adding, “we are operating under the watchful gaze of a very discerning and demanding public.

“We are representatives of the people and we are here to deal with the people’s business. We accept our responsibility as servants of the people to conduct the affairs of State without fear or favour, malice or ill will,” she added.

In his address, President Carmona also defended his decision to replace four independent senators, saying the responsibility for these choices rests entirely on his shoulders.

“In making appointments such appointments, I will always be true to my Oath of Office to conscientiously and impartially discharge the functions of President.” In respect of such appointments, “the buck stops with me.”

President Carmona said he saw a need to retool the composition of the Independent Senatorial Bench, telling legislators he had listened and also observed for years the gaps in that composition.

“Where were the detractors in the last three years, when there was no energy expert on the Independent bench, no person of disability for some 50 years and no internationally-recognised expert and academic in finance? Where were you men and women of letters?

“Constitutionally, of equal importance to my independent exercise of judgment in making the appointments, are the powers vested in the Prime Minister and other Ministers of Government to “advise” me to appoint particular persons named by them to various positions.

“Such Ministers bear the responsibility for such selections, although the actual instruments of appointment are under the hand of the President. I am simply upholding the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago and the law when I give effect to those decisions, which are lawfully to be made by others. It is important that the public understand this constitutional principle and the reason for it.”

President Carmona said he has “no authority to refuse to appoint the persons put forward by the Prime Minister or other Ministers, or in some instances the Leader of the Opposition. It would be constitutionally incorrect for me to seek to do so.

“Just as selections properly made by me in my own judgment are constitutionally required to be accepted by others, likewise, as President, I am required to accept the choices made by others in accordance with the applicable constitutional or statutory provisions.

“I will make my own decisions where I am authorized by the Constitution or other law so to do, but in respect of matters where the authority to make the decision is vested in another person, I will follow the Constitution and the law and give effect to their decision.”

President Carmona also called for constitutional reform indicating that he was raising the issue of the Constitutional provision that no person under the age of 25 can qualify to be a senator in the Upper House.

“It is a dinosaur piece of legislation lacking in vision. In every generation there comes along an exceptional human being under the age of 25 and there should be a constitutional provision for such an occurrence.

“The majority of parliamentarians here today will never get the opportunity to address the General Assembly as 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai did in her defiant response to Taliban Militants who attempted to take her life and destroy her dream of change and education.”