Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 24/Sep 05:00

Moving our republic forward with truth

DR KIRK MEIGHOO WHEN I WAS conducting my PhD research in the UK from 1997-2000 on the politics of TT from our first elections in 1925 to 2000, I had discovered that so many things we took for granted as “facts” about politics in TT were actually untrue. It was quite shocking. It started with Eric Williams’s The History of the People of Trinidad and Tobago, published at independence in 1962. In that book Williams basically erased from our history Albert Gomes and his first ministerial government (which preceded the PNM), the movement toward independence via the West Indies Federation (begun in 1947, long before the PNM existed), and basically all of the politics and politicians from 1925-56, as if politics and political parties started with the PNM in 1956. Unfortunately, this PNM view of history became the accepted history of the country, especially after they took control of the education system from 1960 with the Concordat. One of the things that is revealed in my book is that September 24, 1976 was not the day that TT became a republic, but another anniversary. We became a republic on August 1, 1976. Interestingly, that was then our Discovery Day holiday, commemorating Christopher Columbus. Notably, prime minister Williams – the famous historian of Capitalism and Slavery – refused to declare August 1 as Emancipation Day for the entire 25 years he was in office, and kept Discovery Day right up to his death. The PNM declared September 24, 1976 as Republic Day. Why this day? Notably, September 24, 1976 was the 20th anniversary of the PNM’s first election victory in 1956. The PNM were and are well aware of this, of course. So every year, the whole country inadvertently celebrates the first day the PNM won a general election (narrowly, without a legislative majority, in 1956), rather than the day the country became a republic. The official reason given by the PNM, however, is that September 24 is the day that the first Republican Parliament sat. However, March 26 could have been chosen, as this was the day the “the Act to establish the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and to enact the Constitution thereof in lieu of the former Constitution" was accepted in Parliament, or March 29, as this was the day the act was assented to. Not only is the date problematic, but so is our Republican Constitution itself. Firstly, it was passed when there was no elected opposition, due to the “No Vote” campaign of 1971, after the Black Power uprising. (This was later "rectified" by PNM members JRF Richardson and Horace Charles “crossing the floor” and creating an "opposition," which predictably did not survive for the 1976 election). In 1972, Eric Williams appointed Sir Hugh Wooding to head a constitution commission which would seek out the widest possible views. The Wooding Commission did put together a widely praised and respected constitution, which made serious changes to the 1962 Constitution. It comprised a fairer electoral system which included proportional representation, an end to the unelected Senate, a single-chamber national assembly, a president widely elected by members of the national assembly, city, borough and county councils, and many other innovations. However, after their report was submitted, Williams lambasted the Wooding Commission for nine hours in Parliament, saying, among other things, that it was a "dagger aimed at the heart of the PNM." This is a telling admission, that a fairer electoral system would be the death of the PNM. In its place, Williams imposed the 1976 Republican Constitution which was almost exactly like the unsatisfactory 1962 Independence Constitution, except the governor-general was replaced by a largely ceremonial president. The PNM sold the country a token version of republicanism. Instead of meaningful checks and balances, the new Constitution gave the Prime Minister even greater power. The supposedly “independent” institutions remained under the influence of the PNM, since the President was chosen by Parliament. The flawed first-past-the-post electoral system with “scientifically gerrymandered” boundaries was left in place. This allowed the PNM to form the government several times without winning the majority of votes, while minimising or shutting out other parties completely. This makes a mockery of the claim that sovereignty in our republic resides with the people. In 1996, Basdeo Panday’s UNC government removed Republic Day as a holiday to make way for Spiritual/Shouter Baptist Liberation Day. In 2002 the PNM reinstated Republic Day, and in 2017 they tied the national awards to that day to give it added significance. But the fundamental truth remains: we became a republic on August 1, not September 24, the anniversary of the PNM’s slim 1956 victory. Like our story of independence, Republic Day has been distorted by PNM politics. If we are to move forward as a nation, our history must be told correctly, not the PNM version of it. The full truth of our history must be taught in schools and acknowledged in society. We cannot continue to live under PNM lies, designed only to keep them in power, holding us back from fulfilling our true potential. Citizens must know when we truly became a republic, and why our Constitution has failed to deliver real democracy. We must forge ahead and finally institute a proper republican constitution, with a fair and proper system of elections and boundaries, thinking creatively and big about our future political development. This is my personal statement and conviction. The post Moving our republic forward with truth appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.