WHY WE NEED CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

 I have often wondered: are we in T&T really a practicing democracy? Last time I looked a democracy was defined as being 'of the people, by the people and for the people'. But it seems that what we are getting is a 'party-led' democracy as opposed to a 'people-led' one. In other words, if you want to rule this country, you don't need to worry too much about what the people think, you only have to worry about what the people in YOUR party think. Take control of your political party and you can end up as the prime minister. And you don't have to be a genius to realize that I am talking about both sides of the political divide. Most people vote 'party' and very few vote for individuals - no matter how incompetent the party nominee might be or how competent the individual might be.

If ever there was a case for constitutional reform this is probably the most telling argument. What exists now could never have been the intention of the framers of the Constitution; the idea was always let the people have the power - one man/woman, one vote! But it isn't like that. The peoples' needs and wants are always secondary to what the party thinks and wants. And by 'party' I mean BOTH of the two main political parties in T&T. Can we fix this? Maybe. But it would mean putting in place a system of government that would reduce the power of the two parties - something that both sides would resist tooth and nail because it is always easier to preach to a small number than it is to preach to a large one. And any system that reduces the power of the political parties is obviously a big 'no-no'.

I do have some ideas on how to do this, but I won't give them now. I'll wait until you have digested what I have said here. If you agree then read my next blog. If you don't agree that we need to change our Constitution then don't bother reading it for you won't agree with any of my ideas. But pay attention to to my central point: we need to transition away from a party-led democracy to a people-led one.

I have always been taught that the first step towards fixing a problem is to define it.  You might need a paragraph, a chapter or even a whole book to explain the sentence. But if you can't define it in one sentence then you really don't understand the problem- or you may not have one at all.