OF POLITICS, PRIME MINISTERS AND DECISIONS

There are a lot of people, it seems, that don't really understand the TT Constitution nor how much power  a Prime Minister wields under our system of Government - the Westminster system. Most people think, for example, that an American type President is more powerful than a TT Prime Minister.

And they are both right and wrong at the same time.

An American President is obviously a million times more powerful than a TT Prime Minister because he is the head of the most powerful country in the world. However, the constitutional checks and balances in the American system severely constrain him in a way that a TT Prime Minister isn't. He needs to get Congressional approval for just about every thing he does, and even when his Party controls one or both Houses of Congress an American President cannot be guaranteed that he will get his way. Powerful and influential Senators can (and often do) oppose a sitting President from their own Party. Of course, the President is there for a fixed term and cannot lose his job simply because he loses a vote either in the Senate or in the House of Representatives, or both.

Compare a TT Prime Minister:

In theory he and his Government are subject to the control of Parliament.  But, (and it is a big "but") Parliament can only really control the Prime Minister by passing a vote of no confidence in him. If that happens then the Prime Minister falls. But the Prime Minister has a seven day grace period in which he can call new elections. If he does that then you'd better believe that none of those who combined with the Opposition to boot him out will ever be chosen as their Party's candidate for a particular seat as the Prime Minister is always the leader of the political Party that garnered the most votes in the last election (or at least, in the President's opinion can command a majority of votes in TT's Lower House). He (or she) who controls the Party controls everything.

But there has never been any Government M.P.'s in this country in the past willing to bring down their Government and face the polls. It just ain't gonna happen - ever!

So, the reality is that once a person becomes Prime Minister the only check on his power is the court of public opinion. Prime Ministers will bend when it becomes clear to them that a proposed course of action is opposed by a sizable and/or influential (read "money") majority in the country.

Even then, a lot depends on when the particular controversial proposal is brought up. If the proposal comes early in the term a Prime Minister might be tempted to ignore public opinion and ride the storm of protest out. If it comes late in the term then he is more susceptible to pressure. A classic example of this was the controversy over (the infamous) clause 33 and Mrs. Persad Bissessar backing down and withdrawing it. Too much political capital was being lost and there are many who felt that that particular issue was a major reason for her Party's defeat in 2015

  

But Mrs. Persad Bissessar is not the only Prime Minister who has backed down on a controversial issue, or who can be accused of acting autocratically. The same can be said of each and every one of her predecessors and of her successor, Dr. Rowley. The system creates and allows it. Winston Churchill once defined  a Westminster type democracy (which is what we have here) as "a dictatorship punctuated by 3 weeks of democracy every 5 years."

That is why our general elections are much more "Presidential" than they might seem at first blush. Whoever we elect as Prime Minister in the next general election is going to have almost complete

power - no different from what now exists, but it is important to understand this. Further, for the second time in our history we will be dealing with 2 known entities: Mrs. Persad Bissessar and Dr. Rowley. (The first time was Messrs. Manning and Panday in 2007). Mrs. Persad Bissessar has been Prime Minister once before. We have her track record to look at and we know exactly how she she is going to behave and act.  Those who think we will get something different are indulging in wishful thinking. And as for Dr. Rowley, because he is of "more recent vintage" it would be absolutely mind boggling to believe that this particular "leopard" will "change his spots".

So, in the upcoming elections (which are constitutionally 2 years away) as the dust of battle begins to settle, we will know exactly what to expect from whichever side wins. Think about it!

DEALING WITH RISING PRICES

 If you ever want to understand a problem go back to basics. With this in mind I have been wondering why prices seem to be rising so quickly. Finally, a business friend explained it to me in simple terms. He said let's take dog food for example. You are selling 10 packs of dog food a week for $10 per pack. At the end of the week you therefore have an income of $100. However, you want to cut costs so you lay off 2 workers and save $1 per worker (i.e., $2 as the salary of each worker is $1 a week.) But it takes 7 workers to make 10 bags of dog food and now you are 2 down from the 7 that you had. So? What to do? You want to still make the $100 a week and 5 workers can only produce 7 bags a week. There will be an obvious shortfall.

So you raise the price of the dog food to $15 a pack. The 5 remaining workers are able to produce 7 packs a week. As it is, 3 buyers will not be able to afford the increased price so you will now be selling 7 bags a week at $15 a pack instead of 10 packs at $10 each. But when you were producing the 10 packs your gross income was then $100 a week. Now you are producing 7 packs but your gross income is now $105 a week So you are now $5 a week better off. 

But it doesn't stop there. Because you laid off 2 workers you are now $2 a week better off by saving on the salaries. And this has to be added on to the extra $5 a week that you are making from the price hike.

It is admittedly a little confusing, but if you do the maths from this very, very simple example, you will get the point.

Putting it simply, we are clearly being ripped off by highly unethical business practises and by the Government aiding and abetting them by not doing anything and allowing the argument that the inflation that we are all seeing is imported and therefore there is nothing that can be done about it. Like all arguments this has a little bit of truth in it. Frankly, this is happening not just here but around the world. But that doesn't mean that we can't do anything or shouldn't even try to do something about it.