GLEANING insight from her time spent as the country's sixth and first female Head of State, former President Paula-Mae Weekes said she would like some degree of investigatory authority added to the role and functions of the office-holder.

She made the statement in a pre-recorded interview which was aired on i95.5 FM's Eye on Dependency programme on Sunday. She spoke of her time in office, some of the challenges faced, the President’s role and racism on social media, among other things.

This is the second pre-recorded interview Weekes did for that radio station with the first being aired last week and which also reported on in the Sunday Newsday.

Asked by interviewer Garth St Clair what she would like to see added to the President’s role, Weekes said, “If you are asking the President to be responsible for identifying people nominated to hold certain independent, very responsible and very weighty offices, I think the President should be enabled to do more than go shoo-shooing around, asking people, ‘what you know about X?’

“If the President had a mechanism where certain checks could actually be made, where officially, the President can send out people to talk to the person’s co-workers, if necessary their neighbours, all of these things, then it would help the President have a clearer picture and a better grasp of the people before they are nominated.

“To me, that would be the biggest of the things that should be done at the Office of the President.”

This view also came after she outlined some of the powers the office-holder does not have.

On March 20, Christine Kangaloo was sworn-in as the new President.

ROLES VERY LIMITED

Weekes said that contrary to what some may believe, the President has very limited powers and authority. She reminded that the President is not a member of the Government.

She added that the President is a representation of the nation and exists to have a clear separation between Governmental powers and certain agencies which TT desires to have and keep independent such as the commissions.

Speaking to appointments, Weekes said the President is required to act as advised.

“The president is advised and as long as the legal requirements are met, the president must act as advised. You will have questions about, ‘how the president could appoint so and so as a minister?’ Because the president was so advised by the authority to advise that office.

"The person met the legal requirements – it may have to do with age or qualifications and, therefore, the president has to do it.”

Weekes said the President gets a little bit of power in certain appointments and can identify the person they wish to nominate and then consult with certain bodies about that person.

“The general and most popular consultation is with the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. Whenever the President consults with the Prime Minister, the President also must, by law, consult with the Leader of the Opposition.

“So a name is sent forward for a particular position and then both of these parties are