Editoral
January 30, 2000
T obago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Hochoy Charles has elected to play the role of statesman, a quality not notably present in the continuing controversy between President Robinson and Prime Minister Panday.
His intervention through his letter to Mr Panday asking for a meeting between them either in Tobago or Trinidad could not have come at a more appropriate time.
For, by all indications, the relationship between President and Prime Minister has been on a downward spiral ever since Mr Robinson refused to be rushed into approving the revocation of the appointment of the two Tobago Senators and their replacement by two others.
It is not going to be easy. Mr Robinson suggested in his latest communication to Mr Panday that he proposes to break off all relations between them unless and until he gets an apology from the Prime Minister and the Attorney General.
Mr Robinson accuses the two Government leaders of making scandalous and defamatory remarks about him. Moreover, Mr Panday, he says, is guilty of telling blatant untruths and falsehoods. "Prime Minister, I do not wish to continue at this level with you," he wrote.
Mr Panday is yet to reply. But a response in the same vein as President Robinson's letter will only make things worse. So Mr Charles has given the Prime Minister the opportunity to play the statesman, no matter how much it hurts, and clear the ground so that this constitutional crisis may be defused.
The Chief Secretary has a vested interest in the matter. He is titular head of the NAR which is the minority member of a ramshackle alliance with Mr Panday's UNC. Indeed, the view is held that the alliance died after Mr Charles advised Trinidad voters in last year's local government elections to vote against UNC candidates.
Still, that is water under the political bridge linking the two islands. The present crisis concerns to a large extent Tobago's place in the unitary state, a deeply held concern of President Robinson.
It is an accident of politics that he holds the position of Head of State. For when the UNC and the PNM won 17 seats each in the 1995 general election, Tobago's two seats, both won by NAR candidates, one of them, Mr Robinson, came out on Mr Panday's side.
Had it not been for the defection of the two PNM members, Vincent Lasse and Rupert Griffith, the coalition would have carried on its merry way. But the defections made it possible for Mr Panday to lose whatever real interest he might have had in sharing the responsibility of government with the NAR.
The Tobago party might be wished away from sharing in governance. But Tobago remains a constituent member of the unitary state and President Robinson understands and appreciates this far more than Prime Minister Panday.
This is at the heart of the problem over the revocation and appointment of Tobago Senators. It is not good enough to say the two prospective Senators are Tobagonians. The fact is they have not been nominated by the head of the NAR, Chief Secretary Charles.
At the same time, the government will be unable to carry out its programme on schedule if the two NAR Senators can deny the government their support whenever they feel like it.
Basically, the crisis has to do with the government's plans for Tobago as presented in the Tourism Bill. The controversial clause gives the government responsibility in areas which Tobago believes should be that of the House of Assembly.
There is room for debate, discussion, frank talk on this and other issues affecting the relationship between Port-of-Spain and Scarborough.
A meeting between the Prime Minister and the Chief Secretary should help remove much of the misunderstanding. It should also be a means of clearing the ground for a resumption of a proper relationship between President and Prime Minister.