A schizophrenic constitution?

May 12, 2019 Letters

Dear Editor,

Article 106(6) provides for No-Confidence motions. An NCM allows members of the parliament to vote their consciences on any Bill being considered. This also means voting against their party lines.
Article 156(3) is an amendment to the Constitution passed in 2007. The clear intent of this article is to prohibit members from “crossing the floor” – that means they cannot vote their consciences.
Legislatures very often pass laws that are challenged in court: the claim is that they clash with some provision in the Constitution. If proven, Courts will always rule that the statutory laws are unconstitutional.
How will the CCJ reconcile two colliding Articles in the same constitution? Will they spin a toss? Will they say one makes good sense, the other doesn’t?
I predict the CCJ will say the 2007 Amendment makes no sense. An amendment cannot possibly be valid if it seeks to nullify an Article in the original constitution.
The record shows that the leaders of the parliament – a Mr. Jagdeo and a Mr. Corbin – were indulging themselves in an exercise of schizophrenia. They wanted to turn their members into robots, devoid of consciences.

Mike Persaud

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