Govt should include people sovereignty issue on ‘same sex ballot’

TIMES INT'L

Dear Editor,

Your newspaper reported that the Government has informed the international community of its plans to put the issue of “decriminalising buggery” (to appease the gay community) to a referendum. This is a laudatory move giving the population a voice in law making. So why doesn’t the Government want to give the voters a voice in amending the Constitution or in drafting a new constitution? Why the duplicity?

How come the Government can now afford the cost of such a referendum? This same Government said last year and again in February that it cannot afford the cost of a referendum on the judgments of the Chief Justice and the Appeal Court on the “People Sovereignty” case.  Thus, it opted to appeal the rulings.

In both rulings, the court stated the people are sovereign and any change in the Constitution must be approved by referendums and not by their representatives in Parliament. The people are supreme over the Parliament. This is not an unreasonable judicial ruling giving power to the people as superseding that of their elected representatives.

The PNC-AFC Government opted to appeal the CJ ruling, which the Appeal Court stayed in February.  Now the Government goes to the CCJ, expending tens of millions of dollars. The costs associated with both appeals are probably much more than the cost of a referendum. If the Government truly feels the Parliament, as opposed to the people, is sovereign, put it to a vote and let the people decide the issue. Incidentally, this same coalition now in government, during the 2015 campaign, said it would amend the Constitution and hold a referendum. It has now backtracked having tasted the sweetness of power – to hell with the people, they say.

The Government told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) it would hold a referendum on same-gender sex relations. Since costs for a referendum are no longer an issue for the Government, include the judgment of whether the people are sovereign on the same referendum. If the people can vote on same-sex relations, why can’t they also vote on term limits and other related constitutional issues?

 

Yours truly,

Vishnu Bisram

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