Trinidad’s Electoral Amendment Bill forces coalition government

Aug 31, 2014 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,
A constitutional electoral amendment bill has been passed in Trinidad. However, support for the bill depends on political affiliation on the island.
The sections pertaining to two-term limits for prime ministers and the right to recall non-performing Members of Parliament have overwhelming support across party lines (race). But the run-off vote (when no candidate gets more than 50% of the votes) has divided support based on party affiliation, with ruling Peoples Partnership supporters backing it and opposition PNM and ILP supporters opposing it. Opponents of the bill feel the run-off portion (when no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes) will hurt their chances at winning closely contested (marginal) seats in a three way race.
People feel Prime Ministers in the recent past abused their powers (as party leader and as head of government). They feel a constitutional measure is needed to rein in a PM’s behaviour with term limits, forcing him or her to listen to supporters and party supporters. Voters also said that M.Ps are known to have abused their powers and most of them hardly serviced constituents, with the voters powerless to do anything. Now with right to recall, M.Ps will be motivated to service constituents and voters have a chance to fire a non-performing M.P.
On term limit, if re-elected next year, and polls show her ahead over the others, it is unlikely Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar will seek a third term in 2020, given that she proposed the idea in the PP’s 2010 manifesto (counting it as the first term).
On recall, the percentage of signature (20% of constituents) required to invoke a right to recall is almost impossible to obtain. The 10% threshold is achievable and people feel it should not have been raised. And even if the required signatures are garnered, getting a two-third majority approval by voters to complete recall is virtually impossible.
People feel a simple majority (51%) would have been enough to recall a M.P since 51% is needed to elect the M.P. In the U.S, only two governors were successfully recalled and it is unlikely any M.P will be recalled given the stringent requirements.
The amendment that allows a third candidate who obtains a minimum 25% of the vote and within 5% of the second place finisher be included in the run-off is a farce. As it is right now, polls are not showing any third party candidate getting 25% of the vote in any constituency.
Supporters of the opposition are opposed to the run-off portion of the bill, believing it will hurt their chance of winning seats. This will force parties into making pre-election coalitions in order to win seats and form the government. The Trinidad electoral bill should inspire our parliament to pass similar legislation forcing coalition government formation when no party wins a majority.
Vishnu Bisram

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Trinidad’s Electoral Amendment Bill forces coalition government

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