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Constitution Reform (The Citizens’ Democracy)

Constitution Reform (The Citizens’ Democracy). Fareed Abdul. Introduction.

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Constitution Reform (The Citizens’ Democracy)

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  1. Constitution Reform (The Citizens’ Democracy) FareedAbdul

  2. Introduction To : The Committee for Constitution ReformThe appended documents describe a system of governance whichemphasizes the democratic process at work at several levels throughoutthe strata of the population. It is not envisioned that the entire system could be put into practice beforethe population becomes READY; a status which would require yearsof preparation. It is ,however, possible that work on prepping the population can beginimmediately, while parts of the system are implemented. The entities to be prepared are The People, The Politicians and The Parties.

  3. Preparing the People This exercise must start with Leadership Training at ALL levels From the Elementary School level, children must be taught how to collectively solve problems and how to take decisions as a group using the Democratic process. Leaders can be elected from amongst theclass students and meetings conducted, allowing the students to take decisions and resolve problems.Leadership Training programmes must be made readily available toall existing groups. All citizens must be encouraged to participate in one or more interest groups by virtue of finite incentives offered by government to the groups.It would be useful to "streamline" these Non Governmental Organizationsso that "like" groups can fall under one umbrella organization. Community Centres must cater for large amounts of group participationand many may have to be resized to achieve this end.An abundance of Leaders who are willing to walk the talk will becomeavailable to mobilize their constituents into actively participating inactivities which would improve their communities and at the same timeguard the democracy.

  4. Preparing the PoliticianThis is a major difficulty in getting the proposal to work, as the systemdoes not offer any incentive to present politicians. However, because it offers a better future for ALL citizens ,any future thinking, selfless politician, who feels that he/she can represent a constituency without the backing of a Party would readily embrace the system and can consider himself/herself well prepared. Politicians, in the system, would now be taking directives from constituents rather than from a Party ( this could take some getting used to ). Most of the present day politicians, having made the paradigm shift,would be able to fill some of the major roles in the system.

  5. Preparing the Party This is probably the impossible, as the members and the supportersof the Parties, at present, benefit immensely from the Party's existence. If , however, the People and the Politician can be rehabilitated, thenthe Democracy can be changed for the better, and the Parties (with all itsills ) would have breathed its last breath.( to the benefit of all ) The Parties would have no role to play in the proposed system ofCitizens' Democracy.

  6. General Description A • The Role of The CitizenThe Citizens' Democracy depends largely on we, the members of the public, recognizingthat we MUST be vigilant if we are to maintain, not only democracy, but independenceand equity in the distribution of the wealth of the country, by our active involvement in the politics. This is only achieved by being part of the decision making process: not leaving that task to the elected few. The way to do this is by BELONGING. We MUST join an existingINTEREST GROUP. If there is no group which is geared to highlight our plight, thenwe must strive to create one by seeking out persons who share our problem orpoint of view. Our support of the group would ensure the group's support of us. Thisinterdependence within a community is what strengthens that community.Strong communities is the foundation of strong Nations. WHEN we BELONG, we become the SELECTOR and ELECTOR and we can guide our representatives in the Parliament and in the Senate; representatives who must be organic to their constituencies, subservient to their constituents and havingno Party with which to share their loyalties.Our input in this venture is simply our time and our ideas; both of which are integralingredients in the decision making process at the higher levels in the politics.Our contribution is necessary in order to fill the vacuum which exists between, voting onElection day, and the decisions which are subsequently made by the people we putin office; decisions which are ,too many times, void of consensus, lacking True Democracy.Sadly, no fault of the decision makers, but rather of a system which allows it.

  7. General Description B The Role of The PoliticianIn the proposed System, the constituency representative(the MP) is also the head of the Local Government, with each constituency having much greater autonomy with a budget foradministration and maintenance based on a formula which considers the population size.Specific allocations would be considered for high priority breakdown maintenance workwhich would be carried out by the Local Government, while New projects would befinanced and carried out by the appropriate Cabinet Ministry, after Parliamentary approval. Each constituency would therefore operate as a microcosm of the Central Executive, with a mini cabinet to carry out maintenance projects ,and a cadre of leaders from the interest groups ,whose job would be to ensure that all works are planned and executed with the maximum inputs from the constituents.The MP does not have to put his ear to the ground; the ground comes up to his ear. This Think Tank , with access to the wider population, would also be the incubator forthe Major or New Projects which would be submitted by the MP to the Central Governmentfor final approval. Each constituency ,and by extension the entire country would now see the kind ofdevelopment that the people themselves would have conceptualized, and approved of.

  8. General Description C • DECENTRALIZATION Decentralizationof Government Institutions must be a natural part of this Transformation.Although The Citizens' Democracy System does not rely on it, decentralization can onlyenhance the system as well as solve many problems; foremost being Traffic Jams. The Decentralization process should harmonize with the constituency boundariessuch that each constituency would have access to all Government institutions withinit's boundaries. As far as practicable people should be schooled, work and recreatein the County in which they live. The County Structure would be similar to the House of Assembly and must haveautonomy over its affairs.

  9. How it Works THE COUNTRY would be divided into Nine Counties.The Nine Counties are St Patrick, Mayaro, Victoria, Nariva, Caroni, St Andrew, St George, St David and Tobago and would all begoverned by their various Houses of Assembly or Local Government Group.The boundaries of the forty one Constituencies would be adjusted to fit into the various Counties.A PRESIDENTIAL ASSISTANT would be the representative of the County on The Presidential Committee.

  10. How it Works • THE PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE would be made up as follows: • THE PRESIDENT : Elected by the Constituency Representatives . • THE VICE PRESIDENT: Elected by the Senate. • NINE PRESIDENTIAL ASSISTANTS: Elected by the Constituents of the Various Counties. • THE PRIME MINISTER: Hired by the Elected arm of the Presidential Committee. • THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: Hired by the Elected arm of the Presidential Committee. • THE CHIEF JUSTICE : Hired by the Elected arm of the Presidential Committee.

  11. How it Works • The Government would consist of the Two Houses of Parliament ( The House of Representatives and The Senate ) and The Law Reform Commission ( which would fall under the Legal Ministry ). They would be responsible for The creation and amendment of Laws .

  12. How it Works • The Cabinet, in its planning and execution, MUST request and use information from the Constituency Representatives and the members of the Senate, so that the work of the cabinet would be in sync with the wishes of the wider community.

  13. How it Works • AFTER ELECTIONS (For the Constituency Representatives or MP's ),The Speaker Calls a Meeting of the MP's to elect The President.The Vice President would be elected by the Senate. • The President , the nine elected Presidential Assistants ( PA's ) the Prime Minister, The Vice President , The C.J and The A.G constitute The Presidential Committee . • The Presidential Committee HIRES (From Applicants) The PM ,The A.G., The Cabinet, The Chief Justice, The Central Bank Governor, The Speakers for the Upper and Lower Houses , The Commissioners and the State Boards. • The Prime Minister, The A.G., and The C.J., upon appointment , become a part of the Presidential Committee.Note: After only the very first Elections would the Presidential Committee be incomplete until they hire the PM, AG and CJ • The Integrity Commission would consist of the members of the Presidential committee.

  14. How it Works • The House of Representatives would consist of the 41 persons, independent of Party, electedby their constituents. They must have NO Party affiliations ,must come from the constituency and would have contributed by virtue of serving in one or more of thevarious Interest Groups. They must have served at least one year/term as the President of a Village Council. These would be the MP'sor Constituency Representatives who would each be the head of the "LOCAL GOVERNMENT" for the constituency.The NINE WARDS or COUNTIES would hold elections every five years ( not at the same time as the elections for the Representatives ) to elect a "Presidential Assistant" who would be a part of the Presidential Committee.The Interest Groups or NGO's would hold elections every five years to elect one representative each , for the Senate.

  15. How it Works THE SENATE:It would be in every citizen's interest to belong to a group , or if a group does not existit would be useful to start one if you would want a voice in the politics.All groups with > 100 members in a constituency would qualify to apply for Staterecognition and funding. The President's Committee would review and grant status.The amount of funding (Admin. Costs) would be calculated on a per capita basis.All interest group leaders would represent their group at the Constituency level, and all "like" groups ( nationwide ) would be part of their respective Associations or NGO, which would elect a representative to serve in the Senate.The Senate would therefore be made up of the National representatives of each Interest Group Association , who would elect someone to be THE VICE PRESIDENT.

  16. NOTES

  17. Citizens’ Democracy Org Chart

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