00:00Former Minister of Trade and Industry, former MP and Senator Vasant Bharath says the Prime
00:07Minister's criticism ignores the record of the independent senators and reduces a constitutional
00:14function to a political disagreement. He tells the Moni edition, since taking office, the
00:20government has brought 36 pieces of legislation to the House, with 33 of them having been passed,
00:27adding that the independents are essential to democracy and should not be insulted and demeaned.
00:34Because this is an abrogation of people's rights. So she's taking, as we say in China,
00:38taking front before front takes her, but she's also adopting a very bullying type of mentality,
00:47attempting to portray this bullying as strength. But in fact, as we all know, this is what we're
00:55teaching our children, right? We're teaching our children, and if you cannot win an argument,
00:59you become abusive.
01:01Bharath says the independent bench exists precisely to scrutinise legislation before it becomes a law,
01:09particularly where fundamental rights and freedoms are at stake.
01:13As it is in the United Kingdom, where you have the House of Lords, is to act as a check
01:18and balance
01:19against executive power. That's the purpose for their existence. They're not a rubber stamp.
01:27And the Constitution determines states that these people must come from different backgrounds,
01:33social, economic, and from community backgrounds. But they must bring a level of expertise
01:38to the decision making, so that ultimately, the laws that are passed in Trinidad and Tobago,
01:46goes through a level of vetting that comes out on the other side with the best possible minds
01:53having been applied to making of this legislation. He further warns that the implications extend beyond
02:00the Special Operations Bill, arguing that meaningful independent scrutiny is necessary to build public
02:07confidence in the legislative process.
02:10Now, a lot of these pieces of legislation, Marlon, the Procurement Act, the Special Operations Bill,
02:17could have properly been passed through Parliament with certain amendments being made by the independent
02:24bench that would have provided certain checks and balances and a level of proportionality that would
02:31have made that, yes, the government would have gotten through with the legislation, but it would have made
02:37made the public far more comfortable.
02:40Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
02:43See you next time.
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