Constitutional reform surpasses the nation’s record-high levels of serious crime as ’the most critical issue facing the country’ since without it, the Government cannot win its war against the criminal elements, says Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday.

’You cannot deal with the Police Service under the present Constitution,’ Panday said.

He said this is why 5,000 people have been murdered since the ruling party won the general election in late 2002 , and the Government ’can’t do anything about it’ as he predicted ’500 persons are going to be murdered this year alone.’

Panday made the comment as he expressed his support of a new Constitution that includes an executive presidency but not the one that has been proposed by a roundtable operating out of the Office of the Prime Minister.

’The (executive) president must be elected by the rank and file of the people on the basis of one man, one vote,’ Panday said on Monday night during the resumption of the United National Congress (UNC) Monday Night Forum held at the Aranjuez Community Centre, in Aranjuez.

Panday first addressed the issue of crime in the context of constitutional reform as he said the Government MPs in Parliament used their majority to reject the Police Service Association’s nomination of Snr Superintendent Stephen Williams to replace Trevor Paul as the nation’s police commissioner last year.

’The Constitution allows them to do that,’ Panday said.

He said the existing system is why ’the Minister of National Security makes such of a fool of himself every time he appears in the Parliament.’

’I sorry for the fella. The fella hide is as thick as a crocodile’s,’ Panday said.

Yet paraphrasing former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Panday said the police commissioner in New York is under the office of the mayor, who can say to the top cop there -’Hey, you see that crime has gone up there. If it don’t go down by the end of the month, you are fired.’

As for a new form of government, Panday expanded on a point he made during the UNC National Congress on Sunday that there should only be one House of Parliament in Trinidad, of which the members are elected by proportional representation.

Panday said this would ensure the executive president has no majority in the Parliament since each party will get seats depending on the number of votes they win. He noted that in the last general election, the Congress of the People won some 148,000 votes, ’but they ain’t get ah seat’ in the Lower House.

’That is wrong. Under proportional representation, they would have had members in Parliament,’ Panday said.

But when Prime Minister Patrick Manning spoke during a People’s National Movement political meeting in Roxborough on Saturday, he said proportional representation has the inherent danger of splitting the electorate along racial, religious and other lines.

’And some people in Trinidad and Tobago who, because it only sounds right or because they have a sinister intent...I don’t want to go on a platform such as this...will advocate proportional representation, I urge you, my dear friends, when they come to you with that, you must reject it,’ Manning said.