The Opposition United National Congress is assuring that it is “actively considering” pieces of legislation sent to it by acting Attorney General Stuart Young and will respond “in due course,” but said because the legislation intrudes significantly on the fundamental rights of citizens they require “careful consideration.”
The party is now accusing Young of making “political statements about the consultative process between the Government and Opposition which does not engender the right atmosphere for co-operation.”
Speaking at the post-Cabinet news briefing on Thursday, Young lamented that two separate packages containing draft legislation dealing with Anti-Gang Legislation and Zones of Special Operations and Community Development were sent to UNC Senator Gerald Ramdeen on August 4, which he said included statistical data with respect to gangs.
But he said to date the Government had received no response from the Opposition.
Young was at the time giving an update on what he said were the commitments made by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar during their recent meeting.
In addition to the packages sent to Ramdeen, he said the Prime Minister had on Thursday provided the Opposition Leader with a seven-page document detailing Government’s non-legislative anti-crime operational initiatives.
Ramdeen confirmed that he had received the packages of legislation from the Office of the Attorney General under the hand of Young, who is the acting AG.
He said he was “surprised” that the draft pieces of legislation were delivered to his office, since “proper Parliamentary protocol would have dictated that they ought to have been sent to the Chief Whip.”
But he said in keeping with the commitment by the Opposition to support the passage of law in the best interest of citizens, the Opposition had been “actively considering” what had been sent to them “to determine whether they are constitutional to begin with and whether they strike the right balance between the citizen and the state.”
Ramdeen said the criticism levelled by Young was unfair. He said in the past Parliamentary sessions “the Opposition literally carried the legislative agenda of the Parliament” and had spent “very long hours assisting the Government on fixing the pieces of legislation that they brought to the Parliament.”
The Opposition Senator said the pieces of legislation “intrude significantly into the fundamental rights of the citizen and therefore they require careful and mature consideration by the Opposition.”
He assured that once they have studied the pieces of legislation the Opposition intends to present its views to the Government, together with its suggestions “with respect to its legality and whether the enactment of those pieces of legislation will be in the best interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”
Ramdeen added, however, that “the record of the Government in passing legislation has not been one which shows that they have due regard for the rights of citizens.” As a result, he said “it is not a matter that the Opposition intends to rush, but will “carefully consider” before responding.