A YEAR after Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley promised reform to the national constitution, the pledge is becoming another political failure.
Rowley’s assurance of modification to the constitution is now unlikely to take place before this year’s general election.
The Prime Minister said last September that public consultations would be held at an unspecified date in early 2025.
But there has since been no urgency in delivering on that promise.
Rowley gave his word in Parliament in laying a report by a Government-appointed team, headed by former Speaker Barendra Sinanan.
The committee produced its report last August following nationwide consultations.
Rowley set up the committee after the death of former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday in January 2024.
Several commentators said reform of the constitution was the best way to honour Panday, who had campaigned extensively for such change.
Weeks after Panday’s death, Rowley named a seven-member committee, saying that “now is an appropriate time” for reform.
The committee was mandated to put a structure for the planned revision of the constitution.
Rowley asked the committee to advise on “what the population is saying should be reformed, what the reform should be, and what should go out…
“The team will collate this national perspective.”
He stated that the public consultations would create “a basket of proposals from the people.”
This stalled attempt at restructuring the constitution is the latest such exercise.
The Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration appointed a ministerial team, headed by Prakash Ramadhar, to provide proposals for revising the 1976 constitution.
Constitution reform has been part of the national public affairs narrative for several years, with several experts saying the current document is ill-suited for the society.
Now, it appears that the exercise of the Rowley Administration would also achieve no result.
This would be a major disappointment for those who argued vigorously that a makeover of the constitution was an appropriate means of paying tribute to Panday.
The ex-Prime Minister had called for an entirely new document, one, he said, that would better serve citizens.
“The framers of the constitution must understand the hopes, fears and aspirations of the ordinary people,” he said in 2013.
He accused respective ethnic-based governments of refusing to change the status quo.
Among Panday’s proposals were that the president of the country be elected at national elections for a specific term of office.
Panday also advocated for proportional representation to replace the current first-past-the-post system.
He also wanted a unicameral system in place of the current House of Representatives and Senate.
He also urged the setting up of “potent instruments” to control “the excesses of the government.”
The parliamentary standing orders should also be revised, Panday recommended.
He called for the right of recall for parliamentarians and national commissions to be “truly independent” with representation from various interest groups.
Years ago, he proposed that there be a commitment from the major political parties of an overhaul of the constitution.
Panday said a reformed constitution should have mechanisms “that will allow the ordinary people to ensure that the government and the institutions of State serve them, and no otherwise.”
