This is a continuation of the article reflecting on the Constitution (Amendment) (Tobago Self-Government) Bill, 2021, and The Tobago Island Government Bill, 2021 The first part was carried in the Sunday Newsday.
DR VANUS JAMES
DR WINFORD JAMES
Equality of Status
4. PERHAPS the most important problem with the bills laid before the House is that they fail to provide a specific definition of 'equal status' of Tobago and Trinidad in the Government of TT.
5. Here, it is proposed that equal status means equal importance, equal responsibility (especially for national unity), equal influence on policy and equal rights.
6. The definition leads naturally to the principle of disproportional representation.
7. In our current system of government, the House of Representatives is designed on the principle of proportional representation, which provides an equal number of voters per representative. This remains appropriate. However, it entrenches the dominance of Trinidad in the work of the House of Representatives. Accordingly, equal status for Tobago cannot be achieved through the House of Representatives. It is to the Senate that the country must look to provide equal status to Tobago.
8. The Constitution must be amended to give meaning to equality of status through the redesign of the Senate of TT. In that redesign:
a. Tobago and Trinidad must each elect the same number of senators. Under this arrangement,
i. If there are to be 30 senators, then 15 should be elected by Tobago and 15 elected by Trinidad.
ii. The President (or designated representative) should cast any tie-breaking vote.
b. This redesign will give Tobago the same commitment to national unity as Trinidad.
c. Equal representation would also protect the rights of Tobagonians as a tiny minority in TT.
9. This proposed solution, though correct in itself, might not be understood and might face stiff resistance from Trinidad. In that case, to get equality of status, there are only three other options:
a. Specific provisions for the concurrence of the Tobago island government on decisions of the national Parliament that have any specific effect on the exercise of its responsibilities or any direct effect on the people of Tobago.
b. Explicit redesign of the Government of TT to create a federal relationship with Tobago.
c. Tobago secession.
10. The above provisions are the simplest solution to the problem of according Tobago equal status, yet they are completely neglected by the bills before the House.
Self-determination
as fundamental rights
11. Self-determination of Tobago in the nation of TT must be explicitly expressed in a set of fundamental rights stated in the Constitution.
12. The bundle of relevant fundamental rights that best define the self-determination of Tobago is the following:
a. The right to explicitly defined (economic g
