Highway Re-route Movement (HRM) leader Dr Wayne Kublalsingh says he is tired of opposing governments and is willing to partner with any political party that is interested in reforming the Parliament system in T&T.
Speaking at a press conference at the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU) Paramount building in San Fernando yesterday, Kublalsingh said he is preparing a manifesto for Parliamentary reform.
While addressing the Point Fortin to San Fernando and Mon Desir to Debe Highway projects, he said the current parliamentary system needed to be removed.
“I am beginning to be driven to the conclusion that our Parliament just does not have it. They need to be removed and reformulated,” he said. “We need to reconfigure Parliament and we need to make a new Parliament for T&T, I am currently working on a manifesto, a basic aspect of that manifesto is to change the Westminster parliamentary model. That model seems to have become irrelevant and defunct and lazy.”
He is proposing a system of constituency assemblies, which he said is loosely based on the Tobago House of Assembly model.
“I have counted 28 localities, it is somewhat based on the Tobago House of Assembly model and each of these being taken care of by a governor or a chief or a mayor but where you will have direct influence, in cooperation with the police, the NGOs, schools, churches, institutions of the ground to look after the business of the people.”
He said the new model would have two cabinets as he lamented the current systems sees ministers and others in public office forgetting their constituents once they are elected.
“When you in that twin tower there you forget about the people on the ground. We need managers on the ground with hands on authority and power deal with the people and that will constitute one arm of the cabinet’s power. The other arm will be represented by ministers who would facilitate technically, financially and administratively this process so the Prime Minister will have basically two cabinets….the Cabinet of ministers and the cabinet of mayors on the ground and those two systems will constitute the Cabinet.”
Promising to release his manifesto soon for public comment, Kublalsingh said he will try to lobby for political parties to adopt the changes he is proposing.
“I will try to lobby the political parties. I want to let the people in the political parties know that their government and leaders and cabals are failing them. So I will be taking this to the political leaders and I want to assure you that any political leader and party that works with us to adopt some of these measures, to investigate it, to get clarity to bring about consensus, I will support them.”
Kublalsingh said although he has small victories in the past through his fight against governments, he is now tired and wants to partner with a government for the advancement of T&T.
“I am tired of fighting against governments. I am looking for a government who would support these proposals and act in the interest of the people and this kind of model I am trying to develop any party to adopt that model I will support.”
Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj supported Kublalsingh’s call for reform, saying the people of T&T are becoming prejudiced against the false promises of politicians.
“I want to tell you the people of T&T are becoming intolerant, because when you are in opposition you play a tune and when you get into government you play a different tune,” Maharaj said.
“Over the years, this has happened too often, in opposition, the opposition party condemns the government and says if you put me into government I am going to do X, Y and Z and when the people put the government in office, the government then continues with the same policy and in effect the same problem remains.” He said if the current system prevails, the people of T&T will intervene.
“This cannot continue in T&T, the people are not going to tolerate this, the people will have to intervene if it is seen that the governments are not acting in their interests and that is why the laws have to be changed. So the people of T&T would have power everyday to recall a government. This system of government cannot work.”