President Anthony Carmona delivered the feature address at the opening of the Fourth Session of the Tenth Parliament on Friday. This is a continuation of his presentation from yesterday's Guardian:
The earlier practice of having parliamentarians not read from a written, prepared speech was supposedly intended to encourage them to respond to issues raised, rather than repeat at length arguments already explored or reintroduce points upon which there is already clear agreement.
Debating is a skill that must be developed. It is indeed a sore diversion to observe parliamentarians reading speeches. It can lead to a lack of reasoned arguments and needless regurgitation. Perhaps we need to employ mediation and alternative dispute resolution techniques to arrest this problem.
Moreover, while the prepared speeches of MPs might score political points, they do not enable the listening public to scrutinise and to develop a critical understanding of national issues and how various pieces of legislation might affect them, immediately, and in the longer term. We are reminded that, as trustee of the nation's patrimony and resources, Government's role is one of steward and not benefactor.
The elected Government of the day is not a benefactor of the nation's riches but rather a facilitator of its distribution. The Government should ensure that the nation's resources are evenly and fairly distributed, not based on how one chooses to cast one's vote. It makes a mockery of a democracy if the exercise of my civic right attracts punishment, verbal flagellation and marginalisation. Regrettably, this has been the modus of successive governments in the main.
In keeping with this, I posed the same question in my address to the Tobago House of Assembly, on April 26 of this year:
"How often, as leaders, we see the need to protect the voiceless, the marginalised and the dispossessed among us and we see this strictly in terms of class and other social structures, conveniently forgetting that it equally applies in the arena of politics. Where there is no representation, voices can be silenced. Mohandas Gandhi once said, 'I understand democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as the strong.'
"Dear assemblymen and women, you have the responsibility to ensure that no one in Tobago, or Trinidad, suffers from the vagaries of what I will term 'majority politics'."
Madam Prime Minister, Mr Senate President, Mr Speaker, honourable members all:
I bring to my office the conviction that the Parliament must be an engine for positive change. And today, when the concept of civility seems to be everywhere under threat, the issue of dignity and decorum in parliamentary CONDUCT is a matter of grave importance. This must not be lost on parliamentarians.Paragraph 7 of Resolution 1903 (2012) of the Council of Europe includes this interesting statement:
"Members' conduct is first and foremost a matter of personal belief and conviction."However, their behaviour has to meet the expectations of those who placed their confidence in an elected representative...the declared commitment to abide by the code of conduct depends from the outset on members' willingness to comply with it, in good faith."
Every Honourable member present today has taken the oath to "bear true faith and allegiance to T&T...and to conscientiously and impartially discharge the responsibilities to the people of T&T." It is time to consider whether we are in contravention of the oath that we have taken; whether we have fallen short. Is our greatest allegiance to our country or are there competing allegiances? Can we say that we are discharging our duties in a manner that is "scrupulous, painstaking, principled and governed by conscience?"
If we cannot, my fellow parliamentarians, then we have not done as we have sworn to do. We are in breach of our contract with the citizens of the nation.What our nation needs at this time is a return to honour. The challenge we have faced, for many, many years, is the lack of personal credibility in our leaders, in every sphere. And where leaders go, the nation follows. The question has been asked,"What is left when honour is lost?"
Ladies and gentlemen, honour cannot be legislated. Honour does not only involve distinguishing between right and wrong. Honour demands that we eschew the very perception of wrongdoing and impropriety. A university education does not make one honourable. Wealth does not make one honourable. High rank or position does not make one honourable.
Ladies and gentlemen, to be honourable requires that one commit to always doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, regardless of the consequences and ignoring the potential rewards of doing otherwise.
It is honour in leadership that will inspire confidence in our people and result in the stability of our nation. Our nation is depending on honourable leaders in Parliament to demonstrate the understanding that they are called both to lead and to serve and that it is in faithful and conscientious service that honour lies. Leadership must be inspired and inspiring and, parliamentarians, you sometimes fall short in the conduct you display in and out of the Parliament.
And this brings me to another aspect of parliamentary conduct.Ladies and gentlemen: I am no stranger to "fatigue" and no one enjoys well-placed "picong" as much as I; but the rule that says members participating in debate must address the speaker is one way of discouraging direct, heated exchanges, and forestalling the introduction of offensive, insulting, provocative or threatening language. The impulse to engage in theatrics may well prove irresistible when one is in sight of television cameras.
However, indulging in forms of communication that denigrate and degrade not only compromises the substance of a debate but, more importantly, it signals to the larger public, and especially to our impressionable children, that crass behaviour and disrespect are acceptable modes of conduct and communication. Wherever we find ourselves, our conduct should reflect the gravity of the responsibility entrusted to us.
Today in our nation, there is a tendency to ignore or to downplay the respect that accrues to public offices. But while it is the responsibility of a mature public to respect the offices of the land, it is also the responsibility of the officeholders to earn that respect by their conduct while in office.
Madam Prime Minister, Mr Senate President, Mr Speaker, honourable members all:
Four-and-a-half months ago, on assuming the presidency, I swore to "preserve and defend the Constitution and the law" and "to devote myself to the service and well-being of the people of T&T." There are elements of the preamble to our Constitution that have resonated with me and which have encouraged me, in addition to my constitutional duties, to embark on various initiatives aimed at helping to preserve, in particular, the spirit of our Constitution.
One of these is the involvement of students as witnesses to important ceremonies and high-profile visits, as a means of bringing them into close contact with leaders, both local and foreign. "Lunch with the President," for example, allows the nation's students the opportunity to engage with the presidency in a personal way, drawing them into the governance process, and encouraging them to participate in the future development of T&T by affirming their special value to the nation.
For the same reason, I want to commend the outreach programme of the Parliament which includes school visits by the Senate president and Speaker of the House and tours of the Parliament. For far too long, ours has been a democracy practised in ignorance. Parliament's outreach programme is (yet) another means of sensitising our young people to the importance and responsibility of Parliament and parliamentarians.
And here I want to raise the issue of the constitutional provision that no person under the age of 25 can qualify to be a senator in the Upper House. It is a dinosaur piece of legislation lacking in vision.In every generation there comes along an exceptional human being under the age of 25 and there should be a constitutional provision for such an occurrence.
The majority of parliamentarians here today will never get the opportunity to address the general assembly, as 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai did in her defiant response to Taliban militants who attempted to take her life and destroy her dream of change and education.
Young Malala stated, "They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices...nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born...[I am not] here to speak in terms of personal revenge...I do not even hate the Talib who shot me...
"This is the compassion I have learned from Mohammed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This is the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Mohammed Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of non-violence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa."
Honourable parliamentarians: I adhere fully to a philosophy that celebrates both the independence and the compassion of the human spirit. I will not, therefore, be burdened by the cronyism of the past and the present or engage in a fossilised interpretation of my constitutional remit. I will not budge from engaging progressive change nor will I be bullied by those who cannot cope with such change.
The President's door will be open to provide access to those outside the corridors of power, influence and contact so that their existence and their desire to serve will not be limited by their seeming anonymity. I have a deep respect for institutional memory and it has its place and relevance, but I also believe in creating lines of succession and, for far too long, with consecutive governments, we have the same faces with the same old philosophies and tired ideas.
We need as a nation to engage our young intellectuals and not simply speak of the "Singapore Model" without ensuring that our best and brightest are in governance and in the Parliament. This President, much to the chagrin of some, will not engage, figuratively speaking, in the recycling of plastic bottles.
Before closing, allow me to refer to my inaugural address, in which I stated that there are powers which the President has and powers which he does not have.As a general rule, in the exercise of his functions, the President is mandated to act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet, or a minister acting under the general authority of the Cabinet.
However, this general rule does not always apply. May I repeat, this general rule does not always apply. At times, he is required to act in his discretion, or after consultation with some other person or authority (Section 80(1)).
Where the President is required to act in his own discretion, as for example in the appointment of the Leader of the Opposition, he may undoubtedly seek the counsel of any person who in his judgment could be of assistance. He may also choose not to consult with anyone at all. At the end of the day, the decision is his and his alone.
Similarly, where the President is required to act after consultation with some person or authority, it is expected that he will engage in a meaningful process of consultation. But again, having done so, the decision is his and his alone.
On the other hand, where the President is required to act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet, or a minister acting under the general authority of Cabinet, or of some other person or authority, he is obliged to act on that advice. In these instances, the decision is not his, but that of the person on whose advice he must act.
Nevertheless, the advice tendered to the President must itself be lawful. The President is not obliged to act in accordance with advice which is contrary to the law, that is illegal, unconstitutional and outside of the jurisdiction of the person tendering the advice. If it is against the law, he is duty bound to ignore any such advice.
For example, the President would be obliged to reject the advice of the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition to appoint someone to the post of Senator who is not qualified under the Constitution to hold that position.
Additionally, it is now commonplace that, in appropriate circumstances, the President would delay implementation of the advice tendered to him in order that he may bring to the attention of the decision-maker matters which, in his considered but restrained judgment, might have been overlooked.
Two of my important constitutional duties as President of T&T which I have already exercised are the appointment of independent senators and members of the Integrity Commission. Under the Constitution and applicable legislation, the former appointment is made in my own discretion, while the latter is made, by me, after the relevant consultation. Therefore, responsibility for these choices rests entirely on my shoulders.
In making such appointments, I will always be true to my oath of office to "conscientiously and impartially discharge the functions of President." In respect of such appointments, the buck stops with me.I saw a need to retool the composition of the independent senatorial bench. I have listened and I have also observed for years the gaps in that composition.
Where were the detractors in the last three years, when there was no energy expert on the Independent bench, no person of disability for some 50 years and no internationally-recognised expert and academic in finance? Where were you men and women of letters?
Constitutionally, of equal importance to my independent exercise of judgment in making the appointments are the powers vested in the Prime Minister and other ministers of government to "advise" me to appoint particular people named by them to various positions.
Such ministers bear the responsibility for such selections, although the actual instruments of appointment are under the hand of the President. I am simply upholding the Constitution of T&T and the law when I give effect to those decisions, which are lawfully to be made by others.It is important that the public understand this constitutional principle and the reason for it.
I have no authority to refuse to appoint the people put forward by the Prime Minister or other ministers, or in some instances the Leader of the Opposition. It would be constitutionally incorrect for me to seek to do so.Just as selections properly made by me in my own judgment are constitutionally required to be accepted by others, likewise, as President, I am required to accept the choices made by others in accordance with the applicable constitutional or statutory provisions.
I will make my own decisions where I am authorised by the Constitution or other law so to do, but in respect of matters where the authority to make the decision is vested in another person, I will follow the Constitution and the law and give effect to their decision.
It is still quite proper for a President to counsel and warn against any advice or recommendation that he considers to be unwise, and this I have done, with a measure of success, but the President cannot refuse to execute a lawful decision made by a minister or the Leader of the Opposition under the Constitution.As President I understand this very clearly, and it is important that the public also recognise and appreciate the importance of this constitutional position.
Ladies and gentlemen:I have used the occasion of the opening of this Fourth Session of the Tenth Parliament to again raise the issues of faithful service, personal honour and probity in public affairs.A new session invariably gives rise, in its own small way, to the excitement of a "new beginning"...a new beginning informed, at once, by an awareness of new and ongoing challenges and the understanding that meeting these challenges may require previously unplumbed levels of commitment to the ideal of nation building.
I am confident, however, that we have the courage and the wisdom to treat with these challenges successfully. And so, in closing, honourable members, I need only wish you a productive session and thank you for the courtesy of your kind attention.
May God continue to bless the republic of T&T.