PORT-OF-SPAIN (Trinidad Express):

There will be no prime minister under the new constitutional arrangements described by Prime Minister Patrick Manning at the 42nd annual People's National Movement convention on Sunday.

This was confirmed Monday by a senior government source who is a member of the round-table discussions on constitutional reform. It is the discussions of this group that form the basis of the working document which is to be put out for debate.

Presidential authority

Under the new system, there will be a president who would be chairman of the Cabinet, the source said. The president would appoint the ministers - six of whom must come from the parliament.

But the source stressed that the new leader would not be an executive president.

The chairman of the Cabinet, who would be designated a president, would not have presidential authority as exercised by the US president, but would be subject to the Cabinet.