AG Responds to Dr Rowley’s Election Date Comments
It is important that I correct the reckless and irresponsible statements made by Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley regarding the provisions in Constitution that govern the General Elections process.
Speaking at the annual PNM Convention last night, Dr. Rowley declared that the current five (5) year term of People’s Partnership government ends on 17 June 2015 and that the subsequent ninety-day provision for calling elections can only be used in cases of emergencies.
Rowley demonstrates an astonishing and disturbing failure to grasp the basic rules of the Constitution. It is yet another display of his constant disregard for the law. That a Prime Ministerial aspirant could so easily misrepresent the Constitution for selfish political gain is troublesome.
The Constitution is quite clear on the timelines for calling a General Election. Section 68(2) states that Parliament, stands dissolved five years after its first sitting, which in this case is on 17th June 2015. General elections must be held within 90 days thereafter.
This means that the next General Elections can and must be held at any time prior to 17th September 2015.
This 90-day provision has nothing to with ‘emergencies’ as erroneously claimed by the Opposition Leader. This period was designed to allow the Prime Minister a degree of political flexibility in setting the date. It also permits the EBC and political parties time to put the necessary administrative arrangements in place to facilitate the election.
This provision has been a part of our elections process since Independence and was retained in our Republican Constitution.
Dr. Rowley appears to suffer from political amnesia as he conveniently ignores the fact that almost every single past Prime Minister has utilized this 90-day provision to call general elections including Dr. Eric Williams and George Chambers (1981, 1986) to Basdeo Panday (2000) and Patrick Manning (2007).
If Dr. Rowley applies his flawed logic to his own election as a Member of Parliament, the following questions arise:
1. Did he also question the nature of the ‘emergencies’ in the General Elections of 2000 and 2007, both of which occurred within the 90-day period and in which he was twice elected as an MP?
2. If indeed there were no such ‘emergencies’, does this mean that his own election as a Member of Parliament was null, void and unconstitutional, twice?
According to our Constitution, emergency sittings of Parliament can occur on a needs basis, during this 90-provision after Parliament has dissolved, but it does not affect the actual date of the impending General Election.
In his usual haste to exert unnecessary political pressure on the government to call elections, Dr. Rowley again traps himself in yet another embarrassing and humiliating intellectual quagmire from which it is becoming increasingly difficult to extricate himself.
Dr. Rowley’s inability to understand and interpret even the basic structures of the Constitution, acts as a truly powerful and frightening reminder that he is simply not fit to lead in any capacity.
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Dated: Monday 17th November,2014
MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO