Category Archives: People’s Partnership

UNC Lacks Institutional Memory on Vote-Splitting

By Stephen Kangal
October 30, 2013

Stephen KangalIt appears that the UNC has no institutional memory relating to the impact of a third force in adversely affecting its electoral performance. Its well-known experience of 2007 and its course correction strategy of 2010 with the COP ought to be very instructive and to determine how it must act to avoid splitting the votes like split peas especially when that third force originates from amongst its traditional base.
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Kamla croaks away

By Raffique Shah
October 26, 2013

Raffique ShahType the name “Kamla” on the Google search engine and see what comes up. That “Kamla”, a very common Hindu name, instantly yields Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, suggests that she is the number one “Kamla” in the world—something we should all be proud of.
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PNM did not win only the UNC Lost

By Stephen Kangal
October 23, 2013

Stephen KangalAs the politician-in-chief of the centrifugal forces that dominated the recent LGE, the Honourable Prime Minister has conducted herself in a most apolitical manner that can only parachute her PP and the UNC into disaster survival mode. Having scuttled twice publicly and prematurely the rapprochement of Jack Warner in the period prior to July 29 for membership of the PP that paved the way for the emergence of the ILP that in fact served to weaken the PP/UNC/COP electoral appeal and performance on the October 21 LGE, she now is negating any remaining attempts geared to salvage the recent retrograde political debacle. Are the wounds too fresh?
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Why Jack Warner-ILP Lost

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
October 23, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuThe paucity of votes (62,000) Jack Warner’s Independent Liberal Party (ILP) mustered at the 21 October 2013 local government elections sent a very loud and clear signal/message to the extent that the electorate wanted more than just fanfare, entertainment, elaborate promises and jerseys (money was good too).

Indeed, Uncle Jack must now ask himself these serious, ex post election introspective questions: Where did all my putative green supporters go and did not do, according to plan, on election day?; Were the pre- election day numbers a mere illusion of popular support?; Did my putative green supporters just went with the green flow/ride with no previous intention of so voting?—“Is party time.”
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Nastiest campaign ever

By Raffique Shah
October 20, 2013

Raffique ShahThis local government elections campaign was the nastiest ever in the history of this country.

And three man-rats, abetted by their respective executives, can take credit for having reduced electioneering to a level so low, anything worse will be burrowing the sewer mains. Dip your heads Jack Warner, Anand Ramlogan and Roodal Moonilal.
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Kamla not ready for prime time

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
October 17, 2013

Dr. Kwame NantambuThe decision by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar not to participate in the Trinidad and Tobago Debates Commission’s (TTDC) leaders’ debate on 15 October 2013 speaks volumes as to her overt, detrimental/self-destructive tit-for-tat myopic politics.
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Corruption and deception

By Raffique Shah
October 13, 2013

Raffique ShahOver the past 40 years, since the first oil boom began in 1973, allegations of corruption against government ministers, other politicians and senior public officials must have exceeded the one-thousand mark. I refer to alleged acts of corruption involving tens of millions of dollars and more, not to petty sums below, say, five million.

Since each corrupt transaction of this magnitude necessarily involves several persons—politicians, contractors, corporations, bankers, public officers—we could easily say that at least 5,000 persons of high standing in the society were involved.
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Bad Deal: Ramnarine blamed for messing up energy negotiations

By Renuka Singh
September 29, 2013 – guardian.co.tt

Kevin RamnarineEnergy Minister Kevin Ramnarine has distanced himself from the negotiation process that allegedly led to an almost ten per cent drop in local voting rights over the cross-border Loran/Manatee bloc. This move comes on the heels of scathing criticism that the minister had mucked up decade-long bilateral talks between Venezuela and Trinidad that, if negotiated properly, could have boosted local energy reserves and made allowances for Venezuelan pipelines to pass through the local refinery.
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Briefing on the Property Tax

By Stephen Kangal
September 27, 2013

Current Status of Property Tax Legislation

Stephen KangalAt present there are no laws in our statute books empowering the state to demand and collect property taxes except Act No.17 of 2009 that amended the Valuation of Land Act and Act No.18 of 1969 (The Valuation of Land Act). Those other pre-2010 laws have been repealed by the passing and promulgation of Act 18 of 2009. The Laws repealed at the end of 2009 were:
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Preserving the Tacarigua Savannah – Part 2

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 20, 2013

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI don’t know what area of Trinidad Anil Roberts comes from and on what basis he makes the claim that a Regional Sporting Complex “is forty years overdue” or why he feels that a sporting complex “equipped with facilities for all citizens to use for sports such as cricket, football, swimming, squash, tennis and table tennis” (Newsday, September 16) is the best use we can make of the remaining ten acres of the natural savannah of Tacarigua.
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