Opposition:

UNC deputy political leader Dr Roodal Moonilal says just as nothing changed with Local Government reform which the PNM offered in the 2023 Local Government elections, nothing will change with constitutional reform ahead of the general elections.

“Expect nothing! Nothing will happen! It’s a con job they intend to use as a PNM manifesto for the elections that’s soon before us,” Moonilal added at yesterday’s UNC media briefing.

Speaking before the PNM’s Special Convention began at NAPA, Moonilal said the PNM would come with their “gimmick” on constitutional reform.

“They’ll come to tell you this is reform, but this is for the election. ‘We want to change the way things are done in T&T.’ But they’ve undermined every independent institution and now they’re talking about constitutional reform. Gimmick!”

Moonilal said, “That entire matter of the constitutional reform is an election gimmick. It’s the same tried and tested method of the PNM – gimmickry as it was used before. They had ‘Local Government reform’ as the flag flying for election… promoting LG reform as the key in 2023 LG elections…”

“But nothing happened in nine years…and now they talking constitutional reform. The last time it had LG reform was under the PP Government with a form of proportional representation that gave electors opportunity to have aldermen depending on the amount of votes a party had….”

Moonilal added, “They cannot go to the people and say ‘we created jobs, provided infrastructure, enhanced the quality of your life, built schools, gave better health care or fixed a pothole’ . So they go to the people with this nebulous, amorphous vague type of document and say ‘we’ll give you constitutional reform and the election is about this.”

Moonilal said, “You all saw in the many sessions they had – the halls were empty …Not even PNM supporters bothered to go to constitutional reform consultations, they couldn’t muster a party group to attend…they had no interest.”

He noted Constitutional Review Committee chairman Barendra Sinanan, SC said people weren’t attending the consultations.

“Now they come with a big report saying do away with the Privy Council – do away with the what?! They must be crazy!”

Moonilal said UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar had said Sinanan couldn’t chair the committee as he’d pronounced on the Privy Council in his private capacity.

“He refused and today the CR report says the Privy Council must go. That’s Mr Sinanan talking, that’s no ‘report’. That’s the PNM talking as the PNM wants to remove the Privy Council as it’s the Privy Council that stands against them on critical issues in national life,” Moonilal claimed.

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