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| File: PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar chairs a cabinet meeting |
The report said on Monday Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar summoned all her ministers to the meeting scheduled for 2.30 pm Wednesday at the Diplomatic Centre at La Fantasie, St Ann’s.
There are no details on the agenda. There are two pressing issues currently facing the People's Partnership.
One is the continuing demand from the leader of the Congress of the People (COP) for the removal of Marlene Coudray as mayor of San Fernando and COP's decision to vote independently on matters before the Parliament.
COP is also demanding a national referendum on the government's proposal to make the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) the country's final court of appeal in criminal matters.
The other issue is the demand from the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) for a number of issues to be settled by May 24, the second anniversary of the partnership victory in the general election.
While COP has representation in the cabinet through four senior positions - Finance, Planning, Legal Affairs and Public Administration - the MSJ has none. The former MSJ leader, Labour Minister Errol McLeod, was elected as a member of the United National Congress (UNC).
COP's threat not to vote with the government means that the legislation for the change from the Privy Council to the CCJ would not pass in the form proposed by the Prime Minister last month. She said the government is making the move only on criminal matters in the first instance.
Such a bill requires a special majority in Parliament. While the opposition supports the measure in principle, its leader, Dr Keith Rowley stated on Monday that his party would vote for it if only the government makes a complete change, dropping the Privy Council entirely. He also dismissed the idea of a referendum proposed by COP and added that the best form of a referendum is a general election.
The UNC has 21 members in the House of Representatives, which gives it just a simple majority. Even if COP's Anil Roberts votes with the UNC along with the two members of the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) the tally would only be 24, which is not sufficient to pass the legislation.
The other issue is the demand from the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) for a number of issues to be settled by May 24, the second anniversary of the partnership victory in the general election.
While COP has representation in the cabinet through four senior positions - Finance, Planning, Legal Affairs and Public Administration - the MSJ has none. The former MSJ leader, Labour Minister Errol McLeod, was elected as a member of the United National Congress (UNC).
COP's threat not to vote with the government means that the legislation for the change from the Privy Council to the CCJ would not pass in the form proposed by the Prime Minister last month. She said the government is making the move only on criminal matters in the first instance.
Such a bill requires a special majority in Parliament. While the opposition supports the measure in principle, its leader, Dr Keith Rowley stated on Monday that his party would vote for it if only the government makes a complete change, dropping the Privy Council entirely. He also dismissed the idea of a referendum proposed by COP and added that the best form of a referendum is a general election.
The UNC has 21 members in the House of Representatives, which gives it just a simple majority. Even if COP's Anil Roberts votes with the UNC along with the two members of the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) the tally would only be 24, which is not sufficient to pass the legislation.
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