Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's early arrival for last Monday's opening of the parliamentary session bespoke that something more than a mere formal occasion was about to be spotlighted.The disclosure came shortly after, interrupted briefly as former MP Anil Roberts' resignation letter was circulated. Since then the wave of controversy in some quarters which followed her announcement of several constitutional-reform proposals has once again put her administration under the microscope.
Persad-Bissessar's announcement effectively converted the first sitting of the last session of Parliament into the 2015 general election launchpad, since the three aspects–prime ministerial two-term limit, right of recall and runoff poll–concern elections.She may have won Monday's first round with the element of surprise, hitting the Opposition, which expected a recess and did not expect anything like the runoff initiative among constitutional-reform offerings.
The PP's adoption of the idea may also have been a slap in the face for the PNM, which introduced it for its internal election, only to find the Government now intends to wield it against them.
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