ttgapers.com

Trinidad and Tobago political leaders, Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday have agreed in principle that Trinidad and Tobago needs a new constitution. Both leaders met yesterday at the newly constructed Diplomatic Centre in St. Ann’s, Trinidad. One stumbling block is in regards to the post of Executive President, with Panday and Manning at odds on the election process.

After the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago, Manning and Panday will meet again to continue discussions on the ground breaking meeting yesterday. They both agreed the constitution reform be completed during the existing parliamentary term which ends in December 2012. Further, the Opposition has agreed to study six pieces of anti-crime legislation, including wiretapping proposals and ones to outlaw gangs, to see if it will support Government to pass the special majority bills.

Also attending were Attorney General John Jeremie and UNC vice-chairman Vasant Bharath. Standing alongside Panday and addressing reporters after the meeting, Manning said the constitutional issues and Government’s latest working document on the issue comprised the bulk of the leaders’ discussions.

Panday elaborated on disagreements proposed by Manning thus far, “We have fundamental disagreements between us. The basic one, I think, being proportional representation, but the idea is to go to the population and explain what it is all about. I’m sure the Government will put forward their views, and we will put forward (ours) and in the end, hopefully popular opinion will prevail.” Panday said constitutional reform could not occur without the Opposition’s support but neither can other pieces of legislation such as what Government is proposing for the Special Anti-Crime Unit, criminal gang suppression, wire-tapping and money laundering that were discussed yesterday.

Basdeo Panday later had a press conference at his office where he summarized the meeting’s talking points, “We’ll try to advance the process of constitutional reform. There are fundamental differences between us—the basic one being Proportional Representation, but the idea is to go the population and explain. “I’m sure Government will put forward its view and we will also and in the end the population will prevail.” At a subsequent news conference, Panday said both leaders agreed there should be an executive president, but there were fundamental differences on the election of this office.