Constitutional quagmire

WHO RULES Tobago? That is the question raised by the Prime Minister’s intervention on Sunday in the political developments on the island.

Anyone with a copy of the Constitution should know the answer. Section 75 of our supreme law stipulates Cabinet governs both Trinidad and Tobago. This has been confirmed by our Supreme Court.

Therefore, the administration of Chief Secretary Farley Augustine has no leg to stand on in the adversarial positions it has adopted in relation to national environmental regulators and national licensing authorities.

Its desire to take up issues relating to crime and security has also raised eyebrows, given the demarcation of responsibilities under the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Act.

All these matters have been remarked upon, with concern, by this newspaper.

Where we are in more troubled waters, however, is in Dr Rowley’s call for a fresh THA election in the wake of elected officials decamping from the political party through which they came to power.

It is not clear if the Chief Secretary’s administration will face punitive action from Dr Rowley if it fails to dissolve the assembly, as called for by the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) leader Watson Duke.

In his social media post on Sunday, the PM promised everything will be done “to give Tobago every opportunity to benefit from good order,” but that will depend on whether the central government will continue to “persuade” the THA to respect limits.

It all suggests we are on the edge of another constitutional quagmire.

While the PM has alluded to the undisputed moral issues raised by the shifting political allegiances of the THA executive, the issue is not straightforward.

This country’s Westminster-style democracy sees voters vote for several things on election day. They vote for an individual. But they also vote for that individual’s political party and its leader.

In this system, it is not uncommon for a ruling party to change leadership in the middle of its term without recourse to the electorate.

Given the provisions of the THA Act, Mr Augustine might feel it permissible simply to cross the floor, en masse.

Yet even if forming a new party feels of a piece with old-fashioned traditions, that does not mean those traditions are within the spirit of good governance in this modern day and age.

When Tobagonians went to the polls in 2021, they brought about a profound political change and, seemingly, have been punished ever since.

This impasse could be a fresh opportunity for Mr Augustine to set a higher standard of accountability to the Tobago electorate than what currently pertains nationally.

At the same time, Dr Rowley, a canny politician, must nonetheless be careful not to underestimate the mandate already given to Mr Augustine and his associates, regardless of their party.