Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the infamous Section 34, “we will not let this die”, “the government needs to account”, blah blah blah blah. I guess that is what the term “people power” means to so many. What misguided poor souls, there is nothing such as people power, the people do not, never had and never will have people power, the people are too stupid to recognise what that means anyways. For twelve hours every five years, they believe that they are exercising this so called people power but the reality is that what they effectively do is transfer that power to an elite few represented by charismatic platform performers AKA politicians.
Anyways, back to the Section 34. Section 34 in my view was a cleverly orchestrated scheme, it was well designed. I say this because the containing bill, including the particular section was good legislation. Good legislation within the context of address the issues related to the justice system, clearing backlogged cases and related administrative aspects. However, having passed the bill in the Parliament with support from all involved and undertaking was given to ensure that it was not proclaimed until the relevant regulations and infrastructure was put into place. That for me is the key issue here, early proclamation. Why was this proclaimed early?
Well, from the moment the story broke the place gone mad, everyone suddenly became constitutional experts, thank god for social media allowing even my seven year old to be a political scientist and constitutional expert. Almost everything unrelated to the core issue was debated. Fast forward now to the response by the government, who decided to repeal the sections proclaimed. And this for me confirmed that this was a well orchestrated manipulation of the law making process. Never have we seen a government move so quickly to correct a wrong, there are so many wrongs that have been defended in such a short period for me to think the government suddenly grew a conscience.
Subsequent to the early proclamation and repeal, there have been several calls for answers regarding what has become the Sec34 fiasco. In addition to the opposition People’s National Movement (PNM), several other bodies have called for answers from the government. The Prime Minister made a statement in Parliament which in the government’s view, answered those questions. Being satisfied with those answers or not is another issue, the fact is that the government answered questions on the early proclamation of Sec34.
My personal view on what was given as reason for early proclamation has done nothing to change my mind on the thinking that this was done to benefit party financiers but again, the government did answer questions raised. But this is where it gets interesting, earlier I stated that this was a well orchestrated scheme. Well as it turns out, after the repeal of the section 34, which was touted as the solution to the possibility that certain persons would have walked free, news came that those very persons have asked that their matter be stayed citing that the repeal was contrary to the principle of separation of powers and deprived them of their rights filed their Section 34 application before the repeal in mid-September. This by the way was something I had alluded to from the moment news came of a repeal, whilst everyone was jumping around screaming “people power!!!”. Even experts were saying the same thing.
It is evident that this proclamation, for whatever reason, has done serious damage to the credibility of the government and nothing they say can really repair this damage. And for this reason, I am having serious difficulty in understanding why the opposition is so adamant on trying to get the government to answer questions. As I said before, the government has answered the question as to why they proclaimed section 34 early. And again, by no means I’m I suggesting that we should believe that what was told to us was the truth, in fact I think it is anything but the truth and further, I believe that I know the truth, as is being played out daily.
The latest in what many have termed a crisis is that the President has written to the Prime Minister seeking answers. What exactly is the President hoping for the PM to reveal that has not been already said on the issue? Further, is the President questioning the President? Can he do that? Is the President separating the office of the President from the individual?
The President is using Section 81 of the Constitution to seek answers from the Prime Minister. Section 81 states: “The Prime Minister shall keep the President fully informed concerning the general conduct of the government of Trinidad and Tobago and shall furnish the President with such information as he may request with respect to any particular matter relating to the government of Trinidad and Tobago.” But why now, what has caused the President to suddenly question the PM? There must be some very good reason for him to question his very own office, what is it? He will have to really come good on this one, but I doubt very much, because this is the man who once said it was no big deal to plagiarise, everybody does it. The time for the President to utilise Section 81 was at the time the bill was sent to him to be proclaimed. The fact that the section was repealed, then I see no good logic in trying to find out what happened at this stage. The President is wasting the country’s time with this nonsense. He should in his last days in office, try to utilise his powers and demand of the government to account to the people of this country on the other issues that face us. But again, I will not hold my breath, the President will not do this, he will wait as he waited on Sec34 rather than be proactive.
Lets not play games people, the time for the President to ask questions have passed, he cannot today pretend to be the guardian of democracy and a champion of the people, this is a farce as he very well know that his time is running out to create some kind of lasting legacy for himself.
FETE TO THE MAX!!!!!!!!!!!
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