Mrs Persad-Bissessar and others in her party have spoken of their determination to abandon practices which, though legal and constitutional, add nothing of value to the political culture. In toying with the election date, however, Mrs Perad-Bissessar appears to be have decided to stay true to form with her predecessors.\
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's approach to revealing the election date is reminiscent of that of her predecessor, Patrick Manning, who liked to tease the electorate with constant reminders of having the election date in his back pocket to be pulled out at a time of his choosing. This approach, while it is perfectly in line with the constitution and is part of the political theatre, is unnecessary. To be fair, all the anticipation that swirled around her rally on Sunday–where it was reported that she could be about to name the date–was nothing more than speculative. Still, she could not resist playing to the gallery.
"Listen carefully... the last time a man tried that he lost when he called it before time", the Prime Minister told the faithful.
"Today, I say I will comply with the law. I give you the assurance that I will call the elections when (they) are constitutionally due under the law."
Among the most vocal objectors to Mr Manning's approach was Mrs Persad-Bissessar who promised to introduce a constitutional provision that would make Trinidad and Tobago's election date a fixed one, as is the case in the United States, and more recently in Great Britain on whose traditions our constitution is modeled. The Prime Minister apparently felt so strongly about the issue, that she had the pledge included in the manifesto of the People's Partnership.
As the Parliamentary term comes to an end, there is no sign that this constitutional change, which was a key pledge of the PP campaign, will be introduced in the Parliament. Instead, we have seen a series of constitutional provisions, such as the introduction of proportional representation in local government elections and the controversial run-off bill, neither of which was promised in the manifesto, introduced in the Parliament. There has been, however, no attempt to introduce a fixed date for elections and instead, Mrs Persad-Bissessar has been teasing the electorate in manner of her predecessor, with the vague statement that the elections will be held when they are constitutionally due.
As it stands now, the PP administration will already exceed its five year term in office since no election can be held before May 25, 2015 and the Parliament is set to dissolve automatically on June 17, 2015, which marks the fifth anniversary of its first sitting. The law specifies a 35-day notice period in advance of the holding of a general election which means that the earliest an election can be held is now June 8, 2015.
To be fair to the PM, this is not new since several Prime Ministers have gone beyond the five-year Parliamentary term, most notably Dr Eric Williams who held the 1976 general election after holding a session on the last day of the life of the previous Parliament. That Parliament prepared the way for the new republican constitution which began on September 24, 1976.
Mrs Persad-Bissessar and others in her party have spoken of their determination to abandon practices which, though legal and constitutional, add nothing of value to the political culture. In toying with the election date, however, Mrs Perad-Bissessar appears to be have decided to stay true to form with her predecessors.