Ramlogan: Tell us your proposals Rowley By Clint Chan Tack Monday, December 22 2014 ATTORNEY General Anand Ramlogan yesterday appealed to Opposition Leader and People’s National Movement (PNM) political leader Dr Keith Rowley to indicate what proposals the PNM is prepared to support in order to pass the Hanging Bill in Parliament. The bill requires a three-fourths majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate for passage. This equates to 31 votes in the House and 23 votes in the Senate. The Government does not possess this majority on its own in either House of Parliament. On Saturday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told reporters that Ramlogan will bring a note to Cabinet and subsequently seek to bring the bill back to Parliament. Confirming he will be bringing this note to Cabinet early in the new year, Ramlogan said the objective is “to amend the Constitution to facilitate the implementation of the death penalty.” He confirmed the bill will still need a three fourths majority for passage and will “naturally require the support of the Opposition.” Recalling the PNM did not support the bill when it came to the House in April 2011, Ramlogan said, “I subsequently wrote Dr Rowley on several occasions to request the PNM’s policy and proposals on this issue.” Saying that Rowley never responded to any of his letters, Ramlogan said, “I therefore wish to make a public appeal for Dr Rowley to share with the nation, the legislative proposals which the PNM will support in Parliament that will allow the death penalty to be implemented.” He said Government, as it has indicated before, “remains willing to consider their policies and proposals if they (PNM) are serious about supporting the death penalty.” Ramlogan claimed this was also a golden opportunity for Rowley to demonstrate “that he has ideas and proposals as the recycled Vision 2020 document has failed to excite the imagination of the public.” Further alleging that the PNM has “fallen short on this critical area of proposing solutions to problems,” Ramlogan said the Opposition has “fallen into the rut of proposing without proposing.” Claiming this was becoming a trademark of Rowley’s leadership, Ramlogan said this was demonstrated by the way the PNM voted for the recently passed Procurement Bill. He said it was “disingenuous and unethical” for the PNM to vote against the Government’s legislation but offer no recommendations for consideration. Opposition Senator Faris Al-Rawi said it was “farcical in the extreme,” for Government to attempt to bring back the Hanging Bill. “This is smoke, mirrors and UNC trickery at the highest,” Al-Rawi declared. He said as chairman of the National Security Council (NSC), Persad-Bissessar needs to tell the population why the death penalty has not been implemented. Al-Rawi said no amendments were needed to the Constitution while Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj was AG under a UNC regime to implement the death penalty. Reiterating that the amendments proposed by Government “will not bring a single person to the gallows,” Al-Rawi charged, “The Prime Minister treats the population as fools who will be satisfied with mere trinkets.” He slammed Government for the absence of a parliamentary legislative agenda and for rejecting repeated overtures by the Opposition for a bipartisan approach to deal with crime in the country. Independent Liberal Party (ILP) chairman Rekha Ramjit said, “The timing of it is what concerns me.” The latest general election can be held next year is on September 17, 2015. Ramjit said it was difficult not to see this move by the ruling People’s Partnership (PP) coalition as “an election gimmick” to show the electorate that while it was doing something to curb crime in the country, the same could not be said of the ILP and the PNM. Ramjit said Government’s move might have been seen as more genuine, had Persad-Bissessar made this announcement with no general election being imminent. Stating the ILP has yet to see the legislation which Persad-Bissessar spoke about, Ramjit said it was premature to say the party would outrightly reject the bill. She explained that the ILP would need to study the bill before its sole representative in Parliament, party political leader and Chaguanas West MP Jack Warner, articulates the ILP’s position on it. Ramjit added that while she could not speak for the PNM, it was possible that party might not outrightly reject the legislation depending on its contents. Ramjit said the main issue is not the question of bringing back the death penalty but rather its implementation. Saying she agreed with Ramlogan on the latter, Ramjit said, “Hanging has never been taken off (the law books) as the sentence for murder.” Noting the challenges posed by the Pratt and Morgan ruling of the Privy Council, Ramjit said this country’s justice is not quick enough to ensure that the death penalty can be implemented in a timely manner.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 18:31:47 +0000
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