Online Bookstore:
Speaker:The Honourable Basdeo Panday, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Date: February 25, 2000
Occasion: Statement by the Honourable Basdeo
Panday, Prime Minister, in the House of
Representatives on a measure to reinforce the Democratic Process in Trinidad and Tobago
Mr. Speaker:
It is my duty to inform this Honourable house, the highest forum in our sovereign Republic, of a measure which I have taken that will serve to strengthen the most valuable democratic entitlement of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
As we approach the General Elections, Opposition fears that the PNM will again be rejected by the electorate have led to increasing Opposition attempts to create alarm among the citizenry.
This is manifested in declarations from members opposite that the General Elections, the date for which I have not yet announced, will be "stolen" by the United National Congress.
The principal perpetrator of this scare campaign is, not surprisingly, the Honourable Leader of the Opposition.
It is perhaps understandable that my Honourable fellow Parliamentarian, the Member for San Fernando East, should be concerned about the legitimacy of Elections in this country.
It is a well-known fact that the Leader of the Opposition would not have been sitting in this Honourable House after the 1986 Elections, if the victorious NAR had allowed the recount which that party�s candidate Mrs. Merle Stephens, had, on patently valid grounds, called for on the night of December 16, 1986.
That act of charity by the NAR was ultimately to work to my own good fortune, I now have an Opposition Leader in whom I am reasonably well pleased.
Mr. Speaker:
I well recall urging my then fellow warrior, the Leader of the NAR, to let the first count stand, since it would have appeared to be an act of avarice to claim a 34th seat after having already captured 33 of the 36 seats in the House in that memorable Election.
I cannot escape a moment of nostalgia as I revisit the spirit of �86, when One Love was more than just a Bob Marley song or a Shadow song for Trinidad and Tobago".
There may well be some of my detractors who will say that my motive in advising against that recount was my concern at the power that had fallen into the hands of the NAR Leader.
That, too, might have been the case.
History has shown that any such concern would have bordered on the prescient, Mr. Speaker.
On the subject of legitimacy, Mr. Speaker, The Honourable Member for San Fernando East, and other apologists in his camp, have had the temerity to question the legitimacy of the process which led to the formation of the administration which has governed Trinidad and Tobago since November 1995.
They must be reminded that though the PNM got only 45 per cent of the votes that were cast in the 1991 Elections, the current Leader of the PNM was asked to form the Government.
I never saw that questioning as a basis for the legitimacy of the administration which preceded mine, Mr. Speaker.
Its competence, yes; everyone questioned the competence of the administration that immediately preceded mine; everyone, Mr. Speaker.
The Opposition alarums about the Elections being stolen are obviously the result of their own recognition that every single published opinion poll conducted with any semblance of acceptable methodology, has the governing party, and its leader, well ahead of our challengers.
Moreover, when the votes were projected in the national constituency boundaries, the Local Government Poll had the governing party winning 19 of the 34 seats in Trinidad last June.
But on the matter of legitimacy in the electoral process, Trinidad and Tobago has been without serious blemish, Mr. Speaker.
When there were legitimate grounds for concern, sustained crusade, by groups defending democracy, forced the Party now in opposition to withdraw the voting machines that had been introduced by the PNM.
It is entirely possible that members opposite will always be sensitive to the colonial gerrymandering that gave the party now in opposition its first term in Government.
Mr. Speaker:
The records will show that in the 1956 General Elections, the PNM got only 40 per cent of the votes, forty per cent.
Apart from getting a minority of the total number of votes cast in the 1956 Elections, the PNM got only 13 seats in the 31 member unicameral Legislative Council which looked after the affairs of the country in those days.
The Legislative Council, the "Legco" as it was called, was made up of 24 Elected Members, 2 Official Members and 5 Nominated Members.
This meant that the PNM was 3 members short of a majority in the 31 member Legislative Council in 1956.
The PNM Leader thereupon submitted a memorandum which proposed that any Nominated Member of the Legislative Council who had any identification with the well-established Opposition to the PNM should be rejected by the Governor.
That proposition bears repeating, Mr. Speaker, since it may well explain the PNM�s perennial refusal to recognise any other Government in this country.
In a Memorandum of September 30, 1956, which Dr. Williams submitted to the Governor for onward transmission to the Secretary of State for the Colonies in England, he proposed that anybody identified with the established Opposition to the PNM should be rejected by the Governor.
The Governor was furious at that proposal.
The Secretary of State for the Colonies however, said, in effect, "No Big Thing, Run With It".
The Secretary of State for the Colonies ruled that the PNM should have 2 Nominated Members and that Dr. Williams should be consulted by the Governor in his selection of the other 3 Nominated Members, and that the PNM should have the support of the 2 official members.
Thus, by Colonial Office fiat, did the PNM come to office in this country.
What about the 60 per cent who voted against the PNM?
And the 11 other Elected Members of the Legco?
It was a case of crapaud smoke their pipe, Mr. Speaker.
It is done very differently now Mr. Speaker.
If you don�t have a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives, you put together a coalition, if you can.
You go into Opposition alone if you cannot.
Once the President is satisfied that you command the support of a majority of the Members of the House of Representatives, the Constitution mandates that, as leader of the Government you nominate 16 Senators, the Leader of the Opposition nominates 6 Senators and the President appoints 9 Senators of his own choosing.
No ambiguity in this.
The Constitution is clear, as it is in other matters, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker:
Since 1995, my administration has introduced legislation to reinforce our democratic institutions, to encourage transparency, and to mandate accountability.
We have been meticulous in our respect for the Constitution and the Law.
We have called 2 Local Government Elections and 2 Bye Elections at Local Government level right on schedule.
We have the utmost confidence in the competence and the integrity of the Elections and Boundaries Commission, and we have taken no action, made no utterance, that could have in any way compromised the reputation of the Elections and Boundaries Commission.
Mr. Speaker:
I have taken an unprecedented step to preserve the reputation of the Elections and Boundaries Commission and the reputation of our democratic system, overall.
I have called upon the Commonwealth Secretariat to send a Commonwealth Observer Group to monitor the conduct of the imminent General Elections.
I have written to the Commonwealth Secretary General as follows, Mr. Speaker:
"February 24, 2000
His Excellency Chief Emeka Anyaoku
Secretary General
Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House
Pall Mall
LONDON SW1Y 5HX
Your Excellency,
General Elections in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago are due to be held this year.
Elections in this country are conducted by an independent Elections and Boundaries Commission which is headed by a former Chief Justice who is of unblemished reputation.
Though there have been no complaints about the conduct of the electoral process in Trinidad and Tobago, the parliamentary Opposition has, nonetheless, been expressing fears that the imminent Elections may not be conducted fairly.
I have therefore proposed to the Leader of the Opposition that an invitation should go out for a Commonwealth Observer Group to be present during our forthcoming General Elections, and to report to you thereon.
The Leader of the Opposition has committed his support for this proposal directly to me.
The Elections and Boundaries Commission fully supports this recommendation.
We are confident that the presence of a Commonwealth Observer Team during our General Elections would be valuable in reinforcing Trinidad and Tobago�s reputation as a model democracy in which General Elections, free and fair, and free from fear, are held on time, as scheduled by this country�s Constitution.
Trinidad and Tobago values the contribution that Commonwealth Observer Groups have made in strengthening democracy in the Commonwealth.
The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago would be obliged, Sir, if arrangements can be made for an Observer Group to be readily available for our Elections, which are Constitutionally due at this time.
Kindly advise what arrangements will be necessary to facilitate the work of an Observer Group.
I look forward to your confirmation that a Commonwealth Observer Group will be available.
I thank you for your kind attention.
I take this opportunity to extend best wishes to you and your establishment.
Sincerely
Basdeo Panday"
Mr. Speaker:
I trust that the Opposition will now desist from remarks which could impugn the integrity of our Electoral Processes.
More importantly, Mr. Speaker, I sincerely trust that the presence of a Commonwealth Observer Group for our General Elections will protect us from the possibility of the Honourable Leader of the Opposition again having to implore his supporters to "go home peacefully" should he be replaced as the Member for San Fernando East and, if he crosses that hurdle, should he retain his position of Leader of the Opposition after the coming General Elections.
I thank you Sir.