Firing the Prime Minister... (What we need as Constitutional Reform)

Listening to the Constitutional Reform Series being piloted by the Congress of the People and referring to every other version of this done since nineteen eighty six it is clear that the main issue that the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago omitted to address and the one that sticks in most people's craw is the inability of the people to fire non-performing or abusive public officials, especially members of Parliament and the Prime Minister.

And as every election since 1986 has been an election to accomplish firing the then sitting Prime Minister it is clear that this one thing needs urgent addressing if the people are to ever feel like these highly paid civil servants are ever going to give them and their jobs the respect they deserve.

Imagine if you could for a minute the difference in the performance of the government, the cabinet and the Parliament if the Prime Minister could be fired? Wouldn't whoever is elected Prime Minister have a very serious interest in keeping the people happy with his or her performance in government? The tone of national governance would change dramatically, away from the arrogance and haughtiness displayed by every single pretender who, after scaling to the lofty heights realized that there is nothing any one can do to remove them regardless of what they do, to public servants very interested in delivering on their promises made and more.

This one thing could have such a dramatic effect on the delivery of services that we should drop all other distractions and focus on making this law now. Also and as we're at it, we should make it easier for the constituents of an area to fire their Member of Parliament for failing to deliver on promises that they made to get elected. Elections should be re-engineered to be more like job interviews rather than the beauty queen shows they are now, with each and every candidate signing a contract of deliverables with the people showing timelines where possible so as to allow actions to guide rather than all the double speak, misdirection and PR that we're subjected to now. And as we're on this I would also like to suggest that to qualify as a candidate for Member of Parliament one should have one's primary residence within the constituency and must have been living there a full twenty four months prior to submitting nomination papers. This would almost guarantee that MP's would be clinically aware of the needs and shortcomings of the constituency and may be far more motivated to deliver restitution than someone who lives outside of the area and is clueless to the problems that the people experience on a daily basis. Mosquitoes, flooding, lack of sidewalks, crime, jobs, access to health care, traffic, recreation facilities, road maintenance, market facilities, small and micro business zones, these are all issues that matter most to the people and the candidates at election time, yet quickly become sidelined for Ministries, mega projects, make work schemes and magic. We need to flip the script so that the elected Member of Parliament will have to answer continuously to their constituents as to progress, upgrades and other issues that directly affect their quality of life and value of their properties so as to remain in the people's employ. This ONE thing would change this country overnight from the ground up and put the power back in the hands of a people so desperate for representation they're throwing their support behind comedians and clowns.

As the Senate is a function of the Prime Minister it could be left as is because the Prime Minister could be fired so all his or her appointments could be rendered null and void. All government Senators (the majority) like the Cabinet, would then have a vested interest in performance over posing and would start delivering to the people. As an aside and a further incentive to please their employers and deserve their jobs, Senators should have a 'probation' period of twelve months and not be able to enjoy tax free status and other benefits until such time has elapsed.

Clearly it is time to put the power back in the hands of the people and these changes, if done as suggested, would create a space for 'representation of the people' to be true to intent. The mechanism for removal must be simple and based on the failure of the Prime Minister to deliver on promises made to be initiated. This will force many to think twice about pie in the sky grand empty promises when campaigning and to focus on what they know CAN be delivered in the time frame and utilizing existing resources. Beyond that, the other changes being discussed at present will no longer seem as important.