PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -Former President Sir Ellis Clarke Monday presented a new draft constitution to Prime Minister Patrick Manning, saying it would not repeat the “error” of having the Chief Justice appointed by the Prime Minister alone.
Speaking with reporters just after handing over the document to Manning, Sir Ellis, the main framer of the existing Republican Constitution, said that the “oversight” in the current document had given “occasion for someone to impute political motives where they may have been none”.
“It is unfortunate that this slip occurred, and I do not think it will ever occur again, at least in a new (draft) constitution,” he said.
Under the existing system, the chief justice is appointed by the President after consultation with the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader and his removal is done only after it is initiated by the Prime Minister, and the President appoints a Tribunal to look into the allegations against the sitting chief justice.
The new draft constitution was commissioned by the Government, which plans to use it as a position paper to discuss the issue of constitutional reform.
It comes amidst the current imbroglio surrounding the legal battles of current Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma.
Sir Ellis told reporters that the draft constitution was operating on the principle that whoever hires, should fire.
He admitted that “human error” led to an anomaly in the Constitution whereby the President appoints the chief justice, but the Prime Minister triggers the process for his removal from office.
He said that under the Independence Constitution, the Chief Justice was appointed by the Governor-General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister- a provision which made the Prime Minister the de facto appointer of the chief justice.
Sir Ellis said the key recommendations of the draft constitution include an Executive President and a bicameral legislature with the essential retention of the House of Representatives in its present form.
The draft recommends one election- for both the Executive Presidency and the legislature.
Sir Ellis said the Executive President would replace the Prime Minister “so that there would be one person performing the functions of President and Prime Minister. But that would not mean that there would be an excess of power”.
“You can impose whatever restrictions you like on the Executive President.
You do not simply give him a totality of the powers possessed at the moment by the President and the Prime Minister,” Sir Ellis said.
He said “an Executive President would have no more power than that to which you assign him, and he will be subject to whatever restrictions you impose on him”.
“Therefore, an executive President might not have as much power as the President now has,” he said.