PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — The Trinidadian Senate on Monday approved legislation which now sets a minimum one-year term in office for any prime minister to qualify for a state pension as well as a tiered payment structure based on time served.

The legislation has a “retroactive” effect from March 10 this year.

The Government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar had last weekend achieved the required special majority in the House of Assembly to pass the Prime Minister’s Pension (Amendment) Bill, 2025, that the Opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) legislators said was aimed at former prime minister, Stuart Young, who became head of government on March 17 and lost the April 28 general election.

The bill had required a three-fifths majority to pass in both Houses of Parliament, and as they did last Friday, PNM legislators abstained in the Senate, with the government again securing the necessary numbers as 20 senators voted in favour, and 10, including four independent legislators, abstained.

The passage of the legislation in the Senate came as President of the Legislative Chamber, Wade Mark, warned that intimidating legislators, whether inside or outside of Parliament, would constitute a breach of privilege and would not be tolerated.

While he did not single out anyone in particular, the ruling came less than 24 hours after the public relations officer of the ruling United National Congress (UNC), Dr Kirk Meighoo, told a news conference on Sunday that the government would need the support of four independent legislators to have the bill passed.

Meighoo told reporters that there were no truly independent senators in the Upper House, as they were all appointed by President Christine Kangaloo, who he said is “a long-standing and deeply embedded figure within the PNM”.

“How are the president’s senators going to vote? Will they vote as a group, as if they caucused, or of one mind? Will they stop the will of the people? Will they stop the bill? We need four, but if the president’s senators vote against the bill or cowardly abstain, like the PNM did in the House of Representatives, then they will defeat the legislation and allow the PNM to continue to rape the treasury and the citizens and taxpayers even while in opposition,” he said.

The legislation also introduces a tiered pension calculation that a former prime minister is entitled to receive, repealing the automatic full entitlement, replacing it with a system where the pension will be calculated based on the length of service.

According to the legislation, the former prime minister will now receive one third of the pension if he or she serves in the post for not less than one year, one half, if the holder serves for not less than two years, increasing to two-thirds, if the service is not less than three years and full amount if the former prime minister serves no less than four years.

Last week, in a statement posted on his Facebook page, Young wrote, “The Bill’s retroactive application to March 10, 2025, is constitutionally illegal as it is ‘ad hominem’ (a law that targets a specific individual).”

“I will not support any ad hominem legislation and the abuse of the constitution,” the senior counsel said, adding “As a matter of principle, it is my view that I should not participate in or be present for the parliamentary debate of this bill.”