In January 1757 on the island of Nevis, a baby boy was born out of a adulterous affair of a French woman and a Scottish man, that little boy spent his first 11 yrs of life in the Caribbean in an impoverished state. However, the Caribbean experience would shape his thinking forever. The baby boy was Alexander Hamilton credited as one of the fathers of the Constitution of the United States with James Madison. The association with Hamilton shaped the thinking of James Madison who later told the US Congress:
“First. That there be prefixed to the Constitution a declaration, that all power is originally vested in, and consequently derived from, the people.
That Government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people; which consists in the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the right of acquiring and using property, and generally of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.
That the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their Government, whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purposes of its institution.”
It is very possible that the People’s Partnership Government in Trinidad and Tobago never read Madison’s words and has embarked on a sordid display of political machinations that every right thinking Caribbean national must rise in objection.
The callous manner in proceeding to pass a Constitutional Reform Bill in a time when most parliamentarians are on leave, and one which has not been ventilated in the public fora of the society is most wrong. The legislation in part calls for a run off to ensure that the winning candidate gets more than 50% of the votes cast. So if for example there are three candidates in a constituency and the final vote is 4,000 for Candidate A, 3,000 for Candidate B and 2,900 for Candidate C, then Candidate A cannot be declared the winner. There must be a runoff between Candidate A and B.
The legislation will virtually destroy third parties, which is part of our tradition and culture in the Caribbean. In my own life I have voted for third parties because I believed in what they stood for, as a young man living in Trinidad I joined the Organization for National Reconstruction ( ONR) which was then led by Karl Hudson Phillip, and included others who are now within the bosom of the People’s Partnership government.
The ONR lost every seat in the 1981 election but emerged 2 yrs later to be quite successful in the local government elections. I fully support Madison’s comment on the purpose of Government. Government is instituted and ought to be exercised for the benefit of the people. A populace must never be fettered in the choices they make in voting.
There can be no democracy if the seeds of political change cannot be continuously planted in the valleys of elections. It is for this reason that I also lift my voice in defiance and objection to this amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Winston Dookeran stood up and spoke in the debate with a pained voice, as all he fought for in over 30 yrs in politics was being destroyed by a party he is now part of, he voted against the legislation. I would not be surprised if he now tenders his resignation from the Cabinet.
My concern however is also based on the fact that historically there have been political viruses that have travelled through the Caribbean. With the direction of our Trade winds there are possibilities of other Caribbean states becoming infected. There is need for containment, quarantine and thus isolation of this threat, and therefore we all as a Caribbean people have a responsibility to ensure that this ‘constitutional virus’ is eliminated. This is further enhanced by the statements made by David Cox who was the counsel for St. Lucia’s Constitution Reform Commission, in which he indicated that there is significant similarity in the recommendations of our Commission and what was passed in Trinidad and Tobago.
In 1789 James Madison understood the importance of vesting power into the people and that caused him to state that the people have an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform or change their Government, whenever it be found adverse or inadequate to the purposes of its institution.
The right of Caribbean people to reform of the constitution of their country must remain indubitable, unalienable and indefeasible, it cannot be abrogated by a select band of Parliamentarians. We must all rise in defense of that right.