There is no human right to vote in T&T's Constitution, Attorney General Ramlogan says.He made the comment as he responded in the Senate to Opposition statements that the runoff system presented in the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2014 may violate the public's freedom to political expression.Ramlogan, who told the Senate he spent his birthday on Tuesday participating in the debate, news which earned him congratulatory remarks from Opposition and Independent Senators, said he had got several legal opinions to support that.
He said he was advised that people's rights were not violated by any of the amendments and that the right to freedom of political views were unaffected.He added: "We are on good grounds on the law."We do not have in our Constitution an enshrined right to vote as a human right. That is not to say that the Government doesn't want it, or it is a bad thing or good thing, it is just a factual recitation of the law.
"People are saying you are taking away a constitutional right. I am trying to say to you there is no constitutional right to vote and that has been pronounced by our courts."He said he had argued cases as an attorney which dealt with the right to freedom of political expression, including a case which argued the right to vote was protected by the Constitution through the freedom of political expression.
"I lost the case. I argued that the right to freedom of political expression must obviously mean expressing a political view by vote. They said no and I lost the case," Ramlogan said."The declared law for the Republic of T&T is that the Constitution does not provide for that, so when people talk about taking away rights and the need for a special majority, I hope I am clarifying that cannot be correct," he added.
Power over MPs
Ramlogan also responded to Senator Helen Drayton's contribution on Tuesday and criticised her for the use of the term "Trojan Horse".He defended the right to recall and runoff provisions, saying if you gave the people the right to hire their MP you must give them the corresponding right to fire their MP.
"That is the very essence of power to the people. And that is why these provisions are with us because now an MP would know that if he concentrates on those where he gets his support and his support is a minority support, he knows now, well you know that may not be sufficient because there may be a runoff and he knows that even after that if he does not properly serve his constituents he could be liable to a recall.
"Every single constituent, for the first time in our political history, they will now have power over their MP that they can exercise to recall him.He knows that is a possibility and whether the right of recall succeeds or not may not be the only point. The right of recall has an important psychological value. It is an important psychological political weapon in the hands of the people that they can use to ensure they get effective representation," he added.
He said even if the recall did not succeed, if a majority of people signed a petition it was unlikely that the MP would survive in future elections.He said the fears being mentioned by senators were not being borne out by evidence.
"Show me a country where the runoff has realised the fears you presented. I do not share the view that the runoff will result in a low voter turnout but even if it is, that is their right. They cannot complain and if they don't like the parties form their own, it is free," he said.
Responding to Drayton's suggestion of a bi-partisan committee for due process, Ramlogan said that was not necessary.
"No bi-partisan committee vote to put him there. Why are we so afraid to give power to the people. There is a certain amount of intellectual elitism in the Senate. Due process comes from when the petition comes, you go to the people and explain to them," he added.