The Congress of the People (COP) says it has been noting with "deep interest the heated debates on the return of the death penalty in Trinidad and Tobago".

In a media release yesterday, COP political leader Prakash Ramadhar pointed out that at its last National Assembly on January 14, delegates representing the country's 41 constituencies called on the party's hierarchy to make constitutional reform an important part of Government's agenda.

"This resolution was unanimously passed and we are heartened by the promise of our Honourable Prime Minister to ensure that constitutional reform will be tackled in 2012.

"Capital punishment for certain crimes is the law of Trinidad and Tobago. We have always taken the position that the laws of the country must be enforced," Ramadhar said.

Adding that the COP is reiterating its call for constitutional reform "and in particular, the use of the referendum to decide important national issues", Ramadhar said, "if ever there were a need for a referendum, it would be on this issue of capital punishment, since constitutional reform and the use of the referendum has been a pillar of the COP's legislative agenda from our early days".