Category Archives: Elections

Ryan Dumps PNM and Endorses the People’s Partnership

Crazy the calypsonian, 'Manning must go, must go...'

Time for change: no renewal of mandate deserved

By Selwyn Ryan
Sunday, May 16th 2010

This column has been witness to at least ten general elections over the past four decades. In almost all of them, the exceptions being those in 1976 and 1986, it has supported the PNM, whether implicitly or explicitly. We are now in 2010 and face many new and daunting political and economic challenges. After having thought carefully about all that has happened to us as people since the 2007 elections, and indeed before, and having also considered the issues and the options that are available to us in terms of leadership, I find that I cannot possibly support the PNM and have no alternative but to endorse the People’s Partnership coalition as the formation which best suits the political and economic circumstances in which we find ourselves at this juncture. It is time for a change. We need to open up the political system and consider other governance options. We also need to lay to rest the ghost of the NAR. And the fear of coalitions with which it left us.
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Imperatives: social equity, diversified economy

PM Patrick Manning and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar
PNM Patrick Manning vs UNC Kamla Persad-Bissessar
By Raffique Shah
Sunday, May 16th 2010

WITH one week to go before ‘decision day’, the two parties contesting the general election are locked in a tight race. Whatever the pollsters may say—I expect some of their findings will be published today—I do not see either the PNM or the People’s Partnership (PP) gaining a significant majority that will enable the winner to govern the country comfortably.
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Malice over Nalis

The National Library
The National Library
Newsday Editorial
Saturday, May 15 2010

Had the National Library and Information Service refused the People’s Partnership request to use NALIS for the launch of the latter’s Political Manifesto, the matter would have passed relatively un-noticed. But that was not the case. NALIS accepted the booking for the Library’s facilities, accepted the payment for them, and met with the Party on site, all during the lead-in to the proposed manifesto launch. No questions were raised about the propriety of holding a manifesto launch there, beyond, we assume, the normal requirements regarding noise, decorum and a deposit against damage to property.
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Cops uncover plot to disrupt election

Kamla’s niece, driver carjacked

Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert
Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert
By Azard Ali
Saturday, May 15 2010

THERE are persons who have been hatching a plot to violently disrupt the general election, according to acting Police Commissioner James Philbert.
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PNM and UNC Coalition 2010 Manifestos

PM Patrick Manning and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar
PNM Patrick Manning vs UNC Kamla Persad-Bissessar

Download the PNM’s 2010 Manifesto. (Adobe PDF 19 Mb)
Our programme for the next five years is based on our Vision to make Trinidad and Tobago a developed country on or before the year 2020, and on the work we have done over the last 8 ½ years to lay a solid foundation for the attainment of this Vision.

Download the UNC Coalition’s 2010 Manifesto. (Adobe PDF 3.8 Mb)
This General Election comes at a defining moment in our Nation’s history. The oil and gas boom of the last decade has fizzled out and the hard work of building a sustainable economy stands before us.
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Really, Mr Manning?

Dr Keith Rowley, Calder Hart, Patrick Manning & Hazel Manning
Keith Rowley, Calder Hart, Patrick Manning & Hazel Manning
Newsday Editorial
Friday, May 14 2010

MANY must surely question how closely PNM leader Prime Minister Patrick Manning is actually following the wonderful list of ideals for handling his Cabinet Ministers, that he espoused to a PNM rally at Fyzabad on Wednesday night.
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Flattering to Deceive

Diego Martin West PNM candidate Dr Keith Rowley
Diego Martin West PNM candidate Dr Keith Rowley
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
May 13, 2010

From all accounts Keith Rowley came out as a hero when he announced that he preferred to stay aboard a sinking ship (or certainly a troubled ship) rather than abandon it. He declared, “I am a sailor on the PNM ship and I know what my duty is. And it does not matter what shape the ship is in, don’t give up the ship.” Although he sounded convincing, the question was not whether he was abandoning or staying on ship but what could he propose to return the ship to an even keel and bring it safely back to shore.
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Is a Letter of Comfort needed from Daaga?

Candidate for Laventille West (N.J.A.C) Makandal Daaga
Candidate for Laventille West (N.J.A.C) Makandal Daaga
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
May 12, 2010

Dear Mr. Manning:

I was disappointed when you called upon Makandal Dagga to apologize to Christians for his having desecrated [your words] the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception during the Black Power Revolt of 1970. I was even more disturbed when you castigated him for wearing a dashiki in these post-Black Power Days although you wear African clothes on Emancipation Day, one of the few concessions that you make towards your African-ness.
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Williams, Daaga and Black Power

Dr Eric Williams and Makandal Daaga
Dr Eric Williams and Makandal Daaga
How 1970 uprising changed Government policy…

By Ken Ali
May 11, 2010 – guardian.co.tt

Dr Eric Williams, Trinidad and Tobago’s first Prime Minister and acclaimed “Father of the Nation”, was an apostle of the ideals of Black Power.
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PM made mistake to trust Calder Hart

PM Patrick Manning, Dr Keith Rowley and Calder Hart
PM Patrick Manning, Dr Keith Rowley and Calder Hart
By Andre Bagoo
Tuesday, May 11 2010

PNM DIEGO MARTIN West candidate Dr Keith Rowley last night broke his silence on the Udecott issue, calling on the Government to assure the nation before May 24, that all 91 recommendations of the Uff Commission of Inquiry into Udecott, will be implemented.

He conceded that the issue was “a big one” in this year’s election campaign and told his constituents that Prime Minister Patrick Manning had “made a mistake in trusting” the State company’s former executive chairman Calder Hart.
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