Panday supports PR, executive president elected by people

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday is in full support of an executive president for Trinidad and Tobago. But he wants that person to be elected by the people in a national election where every vote counts.

That proposal is consistent with what he has always said but differs from the one that the constitutional drafts have outlined. So far the model proposed is to have a president elected similar to the United States with an electoral college based on the number of votes from different region.

"The president must be elected by the rank and file of the people on the basis of one man, one vote," Panday said as he addressed a meeting of the United National Congress (UNC) in Aranjuez.

Panday also made a strong appeal for a change from the first-past-the-post system to one of proportional representation (PR) and for the abolition of the senate. He said a new Parliament should have a single chamber of between 90 and 100 elected members to have better representation of the people.

He said PR is a better system since it allocates seats on the basis of votes cast. In the 2007 general election, for example, PR would have given the two opposition parties more seats in the House of Representative since they polled more votes than the People's National Movement (PNM).

The system would have given the Congress of the People a voice in Parliament. Panday noted that in that election the COP won 148,000 votes "but they ain't get ah seat...That is wrong. Under proportional representation, they would have had members in Parliament," Panday said.

In the 2001 general election, which led to a tie and the appointment of Patrick Manning as prime minister, the UNC would have been returned to power since the party had the higher popular vote although both the PNM and UNC won 18 seats.

Panday said PR is a fairer system and offers greater transparency because it would ensure that the executive president has no majority in the Parliament since each party will get seats depending on the number of votes it wins.

PR has always been rejected by the PNM. It first came up during the Wooding Constitution Commission but the idea was rejected outright by the then prime minister, Dr Eric Williams.

Manning has also rejected the idea, saying it is not good for the country since it presents the danger of splitting the country along along racial, religious and other lines.

He has asked his party to reject it because the idea is coming from "some people in Trinidad and Tobago" who are pushing the idea "have a sinister intent".

Speaking in Tobago last week, Manning said: "I urge you, my dear friends, when they come to you with that, you must reject it."

Read the commentary on PR: Democracy in Portions? - by Ajay Parasram