TREVOR SUDAMA

WHILE THERE have been general statements on the merits of the model of the American executive presidential system, there are legitimate questions about the system being implemented in our sociopolitical and administrative environment. Some of these questions are:

1. Will political parties propose their own nominees for president, and, if so, how will partisanship (intense or otherwise) be reduced or avoided in the execution of presidential functions?

2. If presidential nominees are required to be non-partisan, will there be legal difficulty in incorporating such a provision in the constitution as it would circumscribe the rights of political parties?

Even if such a provision is accepted, there can be no prohibition against a president having partisan sympathies or political parties advising members and supporters to vote for a particular presidential nominee.

3. If a presidential nominee is proposed by a political party and is elected and the same party controls the legislature, would the oversight and check on executive power be diminished and rendered ineffective given the reality of fierce and uncompromising partisanship?

4. If a president belongs to a different party from the one in control of the legislature, will executive action requiring the approval of the legislature be stymied and funding for governmental operations be purposefully delayed and blocked, and, if so, will there be a general stalemate in the relationship between the presidency and the legislature, resulting in a challenged governmental process?

5. Since the president shares power with the legislature but is not accountable to it, by what processes and mechanisms would he/she be accountable to the people for the exercise of presidential power during his/her term of office?

6. Since the president is constitutionally elected for a specific period, will there be provision for his/her removal from office during his/her term for misbehaviour or other infractions and will this be by impeachment, and, if so, how will this be initiated and will giving effect to this process generate intense partisan animosity and political turmoil?

7. Given the concentration of the amplitude of executive power in one person and office and given a general propensity of office-holders to be free from restrictions by undermining the system of checks and balances, will a presidential system be more facilitative to the emergence of autocratic and dictatorial rule, taking into account the example of Forbes Burnham in Guyana and the leanings of Donald Trump in the US?

8. Will the president's nominees for high office be required to undergo interrogation by the legislature for confirmation or otherwise, and how many nominees in TT will be willing to subject themselves to this procedure?

9. If there is no requirement for nominee interrogation and confirmation, will the president be given a free hand without oversight or scrutiny to appoint in his/her own absolute discretion and judgement members of his cabinet and other high office-ho