With the Electoral College set to meet on January 20, 2023, to appoint a President, there’s no word yet from this country’s first female President on whether she will seek a second term in office.
President Paula-Mae Weekes has been silent over the past several days after an announcement was published in the Gazette, stating that the Electoral College will be convened on January 20 to elect a President.
There has been widespread speculation on social media over whether Weekes will seek another term in office.
Guardian Media reached out to her office, asking whether she intends to seek another term but up until press time there was no response.
Weekes was appointed as this country’s first female President on March 19, 2018.
Before this, she had enjoyed a long, distinguished career in the legal fraternity, starting in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1982. She went on to serve as a Justice of Appeal in T&T and the Turks and Caicos Islands before retiring in January 2018, ahead of her nomination to become President.
However, during her time in office, Weekes became the fodder for memes on social media, with her statements on some issues and silence on others being mocked in equal measure.
In 2021, she found herself at the centre of a national controversy when the Police Service Commission (PolSC) was in the process of selecting a new Police Commissioner.
She was accused of interfering in that process and in the weeks that followed, the United National Congress filed a motion to have a tribunal set up to remove Weekes.
While the motion was unsuccessful, the PolSC debacle left a stain on Weekes’ presidency.
Weighing in on the appointment of a President in January, political analyst Dr Bishnu Ragoonath yesterday said while there are many good candidates for the post, whoever is selected must be as independent as possible.
He told Guardian Media the ideal candidate could come from the legal fraternity, as judges are known for being unbiased.
“You need people who don’t want to be bogged down by any political party and more importantly, who can command the respect of all the political parties,” Ragoonath said.
He declined to speculate on who may be selected, or whether Weekes would try for a second term.
However, he said some of her actions, as with the PolSC merit list, “undermined the credibility of the office.”
“The most recent issue was the Police Service Commission withdrawing its recommendation. That should never have happened and one could only suggest that it was because of political interference and the closeness the President would have with the Prime Minister (Dr Keith Rowley) that the President would have allowed those things to happen,” he said.
Ragoonath said there needs to be consideration about whether the President should have a more defined role but noted that can only be achieved through constitutional reform.
He said there is also the likelihood that the Government will select a candidate who may be “sympathetic” to their needs, as their majority vote will ensure that candidate is successful.
Also contacted yesterday, political analyst Dr Indira Rampersad said citizens should not rule out the possibility of Weekes returning, as any person would aspire to the President’s office, as it was more than likely the “best job” in the land.
“She (Weekes) may very well want to go back because it’s really a very cushy position. It’s well paid and lots of benefits and with little, not much to do, yes, you have some portfolios and some of which I outlined earlier, but not much to do really. Anyone would want that, it’s probably the best post in the land,” Rampersad said.
But she said the question would be if Weekes does opt to seek another term, whether the Government would support her.
She too said an ideal candidate would likely come from the legal fraternity, but said that person must have a wealth of knowledge on political and legal issues.
“It is important that we have a very sensible, rational and reasoned presidency highly qualified, like I said, in both law and politics, I think it is important because some of the roles that they have to play would impinge on these issues, political and legal issues, particularly legal issues,” Rampersad said.