CHIEF SECRETARY Farley Augustine believes the decision to place the Tobago autonomy bills on the Order Paper for the December 9 sitting of the Parliament could be because the Prime Minister wants to dissolve the House and call the general election, constitutionally due in 2025.
He spoke to reporters on December 6 after the prize-giving ceremony for the Chief Secretary’s Tobago Secondary School’s Art Competition at the Hampden/Lowlands Multipurpose Facility.
Augustine said, “I have concerns that the only time we seem to get these bills in the Parliament or the debate going is when an election is coming. So it might very well mean that it is coming Monday because the Prime Minister plans to dissolve the House in December to call the election.
“Because that is the only thing that will explain the kind of haste when, in fact, legally, constitutionally the government has until August. So the only thing that could explain logically this haste must mean that the Prime Minister wants to dissolve the House soon and so he wants to mamaguy Tobagonians. He wants to come on the hustings and say, ‘Well, he put something before the Parliament and it eh pass. And hopefully he could win the election on such a premise.”
He said he has serious concerns about how the government “seems to be rushing at this stage.
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“It was placed on the Order Paper yesterday (Thursday) to be debated on Monday although I have publicly called for meetings between myself, the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader, the individual members of the independent bench. That has not happened.”
Augustine said democracy requires that the government listen to the people.
“At the end of the day, this should be about what Tobagonians want. It cannot be about what the Prime Minister wants. It cannot be what Mrs Robinson-Regis wants. It cannot even be what the PNM wants. It is not what the TPP (Tobago People’s Party) wants either. It has to be about what Tobagonians want.”
He recalled the most extensive consultation on Tobago’s autonomy took place during the tenure of former chief secretary Orville London.
“It came on the heels of a green paper that was done circa 2013 and Tobagonians, through the THA, sent down bills to Parliament.”
Augustine said he saw somewhere an admission from Tobago West MP Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis that, in fact, “some things were changed and some things weren’t delivered based on what Tobagonians said that they wanted.”
He added, “But it is not for the government to say: 'You want this, I am not giving you that. I am giving you what I want.' It is not what they want. It is what Tobagonians’ want.”
He said the only bills that are acceptable to Tobagonians must contain four things: a federal type system; a clear definition and delineation of the territory or boundaries of Tobago in keeping with international law; equality of status between Trinidad and Tobago; accord to the people of Tobago, the right to make every single decision over all matters surrounding the lives and livelihoods of Tobagonians.
“For me, that is absolutely critical. If those four components are missing from the bills, then the bills require work.”
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Augustine said he has held the position that the bills should not be dispensed with but improved upon to meet the demands of Tobagonians.
“That is a very reasonable position and a logical position. But the central government and the ruling party cannot adopt the position that it is my way or the highway. That is not democratic. My position is: let us do the thing properly. Tobagonians deserve this.”
He said the issue should have been resolved when late president and prime minister ANR Robinson first brought the motion to the Parliament in 1977.
“Every single time the central government just keeps refusing to do what is right and to correct a historical injustice. I think the Prime Minister, as a Tobagonian by birth, might be missing this opportunity.”
In his address at the Tobago Day Awards on December 4 at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, Augustine signalled the THA’s intention to seek international help, if need be, to get autonomy for the island.
He told diplomats and heads of missions in the audience that they may be called upon to assist the island in the fight for autonomy.
