5 Senator’s Appointment Thursday, November 28, 1996 SENATE Thursday, November 28, 1996 The Senate met at 1.32 p.m. PRAYERS [MR. PRESIDENT in the Chair] SEN. ORVILLE LONDON (RESIGNATION) Mr. President: Hon. Senators, I have received communication from His Excellency the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago as follows: "By His Excellency NOOR MOHAMED HASSANALI, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Noor M. Hassanali President. TO: SENATOR ORVILLE LONDON WHEREAS by the provisions of paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section 43 of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the President acting in accordance with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition, is empowered to declare the seat of a Senator to be vacant: NOW, THEREFORE, I, NOOR MOHAMED HASSANALI, President as aforesaid, acting in accordance with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition, in exercise of the power vested in me by the said paragraph (e) of subsection (2) of section 43 of the Constitution, do hereby declare the seat of you, Senator Orville London, to be vacant. Given under my Hand and the Seal of the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at the Office of the President, St. Ann's, this 22nd day of November, 1996." 6 Senator’s Appointment Thursday, November 28, 1996 Mr. President: I have also received the following communication: "By His Excellency NOOR MOHAMED HASSANALI, President and Commander- in-Chief of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. TO: DR. DHANAYSHAR MAHABIR WHEREAS Senator Philip A.F. Marshall is incapable of performing his functions as a Senator by reason of his absence from Trinidad and Tobago: NOW, THEREFORE, I, NOOR MOHAMED HASSANALI, President as aforesaid, in exercise of the power vested in me by section 40(2)(c) and section 44 of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, do hereby appoint you, DHANAYSHAR MAHABIR, to be temporarily a member of the Senate, with immediate effect and continuing during the absence from Trinidad and Tobago of the said Senator Philip A.F. Marshal. Given under my Hand and the Seal of the President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at the Office of the President, St. Ann's, this 26th day of November, 1996." OATH OF ALLEGIANCE Sen. Dhanayshar Mahabir took and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance as required by law. TOBAGO HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY BILL Bill to repeal and replace the Tobago House of Assembly Act, Chap. 25:03, to provide for the membership, powers and functions of the Tobago House of Assembly and its Executive Council and matters incidental thereto; brought from the House of Representatives, [The Attorney General]; read the first time. Motion made, That the next stage of the Bill be taken at a later stage of the proceedings. [Hon. W. Mark] Question put and agreed to. 7 Constitution (Amdt.) Bill Thursday, November 28, 1996 CONSTITUTION (AMDT.) BILL Bill to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, brought from the House of Representatives [The Attorney General]; read the first time. Motion made, That the next stage of the Bill be taken forthwith. [Hon. W. Mark]. Question put and agreed to. The Attorney General (Hon. Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj): Mr. President, I beg to move, That a Bill to amend the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago be now read a second time. The Bill under reference has been circulated and I think its content is well- known. The purpose of this Bill is to include in the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, the existence of the Tobago House of Assembly with powers and functions to be prescribed by law. Also, to include the Executive Council of the Assembly and the establishment of a fund known as the Tobago House of Assembly Fund in the Constitution. 1.40 p.m. Mr. President, this Bill is the forerunner to another Bill, and it is all part and parcel of a package to give greater autonomy to the people of Tobago. As Members of this Senate know, the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago provides for the alteration of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; and that in certain cases, the Constitution requires that those alterations cannot be effected without prescribed or specified majorities but, in other cases, the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago can effect those alterations or amendments without a specified majority. This alteration of the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago does not require a prescribed or a specified majority. It can be passed by a simple majority but may I announce that the measure had the full support of the elected Members of Parliament. I commend this Bill to Members of this Senate and I beg to move. Question proposed. Sen. Nafeesa Mohammed: Mr. President, I am rather amused this afternoon after hearing the hon. Attorney General move this Bill in such a different tone. It 8 Constitution (Amdt.) Bill Thursday, November 28, 1996 [SEN. MOHAMMED] may have lasted less than two minutes and, certainly, there seems to have been some transformation in terms of his usual delivery of contributions in Parliament. In the past, whenever he is in our Chamber, the atmosphere, mood and tempo changes drastically. I am indeed very happy that this afternoon he came with such a different tone. Today, we are here to debate a very significant and important piece of legislation. For some time now, we in Trinidad and Tobago and, certainly, we in the PNM, have been seeking to work out a better arrangement designed to improve the relationship between Trinidad and Tobago. Over the years, we realized that this process is indeed an evolutionary one and today we heard the hon. Attorney General make mention of the fact that the Constitution (Amdt.) Bill that is before us this afternoon was unanimously passed in the Lower House. As a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago I feel very happy that there was some kind of consensus with respect to this very important piece of legislation, but when I look back at the events over the last few days I must, at the same time, express my disappointment at some comments that I have heard and read about. This afternoon on my way to the Parliament, I heard on the 12.00 o’clock news a very respectable and senior statesman of this country making the comment that it is the fault of the PNM that the Tobago House of Assembly was not entrenched in the Constitution. We heard here this afternoon that the Bill requires a simple majority, but just three days ago, that was not the case. In fact, the Bill in its original form would have required a special majority to have been passed. Our position with respect to the Bill in its original form has been that we are committed to ensuring that there is greater autonomy for Tobago, but that in working out an appropriate relationship there has been concerns that the arrangements that are put in place are such that they should maintain the unitary state of Trinidad and Tobago and, certainly it will be done within the provisions of our Constitution. When one looks at the Bill in its original form, one realizes that some of the provisions would have had some very far-reaching consequences therefore, we did express our concerns and our views. We commented on the provision designed to increase the number of Senators from 31—37. Our position has been made clear with respect to that particular provision, and we made it abundantly clear during the debate that took place on Monday and even prior to that, that we in the PNM were in support of the provisions designed to entrench the Tobago House of Assembly in the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago. 9 Constitution (Amdt.) Bill Thursday, November 28, 1996 In fact, since 1992, when the parliamentary representative for San Fernando East became the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and he visited Tobago, he addressed the Tobago House of Assembly. At that time there were certain concerns and feelings of insecurity that were being expressed. The then Prime Minister gave a commitment that steps would be taken to have the Tobago House of Assembly entrenched within the Constitution and after several years of intense discussion and dialogue with the people who really mattered in terms of working out an amenable arrangement, there was a situation that in 1995, a draft bill was in fact put forward. History will show that events intervened. It is very unfortunate for us on this side to see that while the Government claims to be so concerned about giving greater autonomy to the people of Tobago, it came on Monday last and proposed certain amendments which certainly went way below what we on this side were prepared to support. I have read the headlines about a “watered down” Bill being passed and I am certainly very concerned at the statement being made by Members opposite. Sen. Daly: Mr. President, on a point of order. I regret having to rise, but as far as I know, we are not debating a Bill which contains any provisions for the entrenching of the Tobago House of Assembly in the Constitution.. But that seems to be the measure which the present Senator is addressing. It does not seem to me to be relevant to the Bill. We seem to be debating something that was debated and determined in another place. Mr. President: I agree with Sen. Daly that the Senator should debate what is actually before us.