Tuesday, 10 September 2013 Media Release #1of 2 On the Decision of the Speaker to Declare that the Member for St. Joseph had resigned from the Party of which he was a Candidate elected to the House of Representatives Yesterday, Budget Day in the Parliament, the Speaker of the House of Representatives made a Declaration that the Member of Parliament for St. Joseph had resigned from the party for which he was a candidate when he was elected to the House. That Declaration by the Speaker has sparked a debate which some believe will overshadow the national discussion on the 2014 Budget. Issues have been raised about the appropriateness of the timing of the Declaration and about the correctness or otherwise of the Speakers’ decision to make it. The Congress of the People asks that in considering this development that the most thorough examination be made of all the salient issues and more so in the context of the ongoing national discussion on Constitutional reform in which our society is engaged. In that context, as Political Leader of the Congress of the People and having responsibility for leading the Constitutional Reform exercise, I offer the following for consideration of all on the matter of the Speaker’s Declaration: · The Speaker’s Declaration is nothing more than a declaration that the MP has resigned from the party on whose ticket he was elected as a Parliamentary Representative for St. Joseph. This is what the Speaker is required to do by section 49A of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago. · There is no issue with respect to the timing of the Declaration by the Speaker. Section 49A of the Constitution mandates when such a Declaration must be made by the Speaker, following confirmation of the Leader of the particular party that the Member has resigned from the party. · The Declaration by the Speaker does NOT make the seat of the MP vacant until a further 14 days. That is if the MP does not take legal action to prove that he has not resigned from the party whose candidate he was when he was elected as MP. · If the MP takes the legal action mentioned above, his seat shall not be declared vacant until the Court has finally determined (up to final appeal) that he has, in fact, resigned from the party. · In the meantime, following the Declaration yesterday, the MP ceases to perform the duties of a Member of the House until the final determination of his legal action. This is what section 49A(4) prescribes. · There is a view that the Speaker does not have Constitutional authority to make the Declaration he did yesterday. The question is: Does the absence of the Standing Orders required by section 49A(5) of the Constitution prevent the Speaker from making the Declaration at all? That question will have to be answered by the Court in determining all the relevant issues in the matter. That is not a matter to be decided by the Speaker, any politician or anyone else commenting on the issue. · Given the discussion on Constitutional Reform in which the issues of Proportional Representation has been raised in the national consultations already held, and, given the reality that coalition politics is now part of our reality, the whole question of the appropriateness of the present provisions of section 49 of the Constitution has to be considered and evaluated. The COP considers that it will be of great value to the development of the politics and governance of our society that this issue be fully and maturely ventilated. The COP considers also that an early determination of the legal action that is open to the MP for St. Joseph will assist the entire society in framing our new Constitution in respect of the matters of candidacy, party representation and the role of the voters in the electoral and representative processes. Hon. Prakash Ramadhar Political Leader
Posted on: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 18:32:45 +0000
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