00:00Attorney at law and former Senate President Timothy Hamill Smith says while the Senate
00:05President is not required to explain his decision, the absence of reasons
00:10accompanying the casting vote leaves little guidance for a future Senate
00:15President facing a similar situation. He believes the circumstances warrant
00:21further examination including broader discussion and possibly a white paper on
00:26the issue. For me what it does call into question is whether we should be looking
00:30at amending our Constitution so that these things are not that number of issues that
00:39perhaps our Constitution needs to address. Our Constitution is now the 1976
00:45Constitution which really was very similar to our independence Constitution of 62 in
00:54many ways and therefore you know it's time to revisit that. Hamill Smith is also
01:01weighing in on the Prime Minister's criticism of the independent Senators
01:05following their opposition to the Special Operations Bill. While he says he may
01:10have approached the situation differently, he suggests the government may believe the
01:16independent bench has outlived its usefulness. I think her remarks point to
01:21the fact that she felt she feels that the Senate does not bring value to Trinidad and
01:28Tobago as a whole. That's the bottom line. It's not remarks that I wouldn't have said it in
01:34the same manner as the Prime Minister but I think the bottom line is that the government believes that the
01:45Senate no longer serves the purpose for which it had been originally
01:50introduced. As the debate over the role of independent oversight continues, Hamill Smith says a strong Office of
01:59Procurement Regulation remains important to safeguarding the country's public
02:04procurement system. This comes as Parliament passed the new amended Procurement Bill 2026.
02:11But I do think the procurement legislation is vital for Trinidad and Tobago. It needs streamlining but yes it is
02:24I think an essential component for good governance of a country.
02:30Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.
