Members of the House of Representatives should not be eligible for appointment as ministers. This was one of the major recommendations in the report by the Cabinet-appointed Constitution Commission, dated December 27, 2013. The report is also proposing that only senators should be appointed ministers.The report is expected to be discussed during next week's Cabinet meeting at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.
The commission was chaired by Legal Affairs Minister Prakash Ramadhar.The 47-page document addresses issues such as the fundamental rights and freedoms, the head of State, reforming of the Parliament, the Executive, the Public Service, institutions and process scrutiny and the judiciary.
The report said under the parliamentary system, the Executive dominates the Legislature, while in a presidential model, there is genuine separation between the two, and the method of engagement is based on consensus as opposed to domination. It said the system which retains the presidency in its current form, while bringing reforms to other offices and structures, would continue to provide the political process with an impartial arbiter. It makes no clear recommendation on the issue of an executive president.
Dealing with the Parliament, the report said both the House of Representatives and the Senate should have the same number of members. The House has 41 MPs currently and the Senate, 31.The documents is proposing that MPs "should focus exclusively on their constituency duties and the duties of scrutiny as members of committees that oversee the Executive branch of government."
While the report recommends no change to the process for appointment of independent senators by the president, it said the remaining senators should be elected by the Hare method of proportional representation.The report said during general elections "each voter should be entitled to two votes, one for his/her MP and the other to elect senators."
Another major proposal was for the Cabinet to comprise the prime minister, deputy prime minister, attorney general, finance minister, national security minister, foreign affairs minister "and a limited number of other ministers drawn from the elected senators."The deputy prime minister is to be appointed by the president, on the advice of the prime minister, from the elected senators.
It also recommends a change of name for the post of Leader of the Opposition. The name minority leader is proposed by the commission. In seeking to advance the reason for the name change the document said the change was needed "in light of the fact that the title does not lend itself to seeking consensus, but rather, to a stance of being permanently opposed to the Government."
The commission report noted the proposed change to minority leader was necessary "to capture the fact that the office is not of the same political persuasion as the prime minister, and does not lead a majority of senators."
The Ramadhar Constitution Commission also recommends that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) "shall report to the president on an annual basis on his performance." It said the DPP's report "shall include statistics in such form and in such detail as may be prescribed." The report should be laid in the House.
A new post of contractor general should be created, the report suggested. The contractor general would be required to submit annual and special reports to the Parliament for "consideration and investigation" the document added.On the issue of having the Caribbean Court of Justice replace the London-based Privy Council as the final court of appeal, the report said a national referendum should be held to decide the way forward.
It also recommended that the membership of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission should be broadened to include a representative of the Law Association, who would be appointed for a three-year period by the president after consultation with the council of the Law Association.
Dealing with institutions and processes of scrutiny, the report said: "No minister should be eligible to sit on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) or the Public Accounts Enterprises Committee (PAEC), and references to the Opposition should be removed from the Constitution with regard to the chairmanship of the PAC and PAEC."