By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 12, 2007

The people of Trinidad and Tobago are witnessing a decline of our civilization which no amount of money can reverse if we do not recognize the sovereignty of our people and that the goal of democracy consists in the sanctity of life, the preservation of liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To be sure, the pursuit of happiness cannot be reduced to a mere license to do whatever one wants to do at any time one chooses to do it. It consists in conscious and thoughtful acts that enhance our human personality and advance our humanity. It goes without saying that the affirmation of life and the pursuit of happiness cannot be achieved in a climate of lawlessness and the inability of citizens to feel a sense of safety in their homes and in their communities.
Continue reading The Pursuit of Happiness →

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 27, 2007

The main problem with Professor Hamid Ghany’s analysis (“Prepare for Constitutional Debate,” Guardian, Nov. 18, 2007) is that it fails to take the views of ordinary people into consideration and leaves East Indians out of the constitutional debate for which he wishes to prepare us. Professor Ghany extols the wisdom of Major Wood and argues that “the whole history of the African population of the West Indies inevitably drives them towards representative institutions fashioned after the British model.” If he wishes to cite historical examples to clarify African agency and the struggle for representative government there is no sound reasons why he could not go back to the Baptist War in Jamaica (1831); Daaga uprising in Trinidad (1837); or the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica (1865). If he wanted to take an inter-racial perspective-after all we live in an interracial society-he could have gone back the major Indian panchayat in Tacarigua in 1899 when East Indians rescued the leadership of their group from John Morton and signaled their independence. Trinbagonians have always rejected authoritarian rule and spoke up for themselves.
Continue reading It’s Not Only a Black Thing? →

By Stephen Kangal
November 21, 2007

In the rest of the civilised world politics is the art of the possible and of compromise. In T&T it degenerated in 2007 into a fine art of naked UNC deception that caused some 190,000 unsuspecting people to be so manipulated that they bought into it with their rustic innocence and hero worship of a badly scarred leader.

Panday whose political credibility has reached ground zero deceptively led Mr. Dookeran in October 2005 into the lion’s den under the false illusion that both were participating in leadership succession planning in the UNC. Mr. Dookeran suffered from the worst form of humiliation and total disrespect as Leader of the UNC.
Continue reading Deception Thy Mate is Panday →

AG Bridget Annisette George and PM Parrick Mannning

By Michael De Gale
November 20, 2007

It took me a while to recover from the shock of the cesspool into which local politics had fallen, and to fumigate my mind from the stench that permeated political discourse in the recently concluded general election in T&T. I will not rehash the unsightly displays and personal attacks that took precedence over numerous opportunities to articulate a vision for the country, propose feasible solutions to pressing social issues and to demonstrate enlightened leadership. However, I still can’t get over the petty miscreant whose battle cry was “let ME go out in a blaze of glory”, when the future of the nation was at stake, nor the acrimonious remarks used by the sore losers to conceded defeat. But all that is behind us now. The universe has unfolded as it should. While there is need for consultation and strategy, the job of running the country must continue without pause for a honeymoon. At the core, it must be born in mind that a government was elected to lead a nation, not only to serve those who lent their support when political barbarians were pounding at the gates. That’s what democracy and leadership is about.
Continue reading Forward Ever – Backward Never →

LEFT: His Excellency Professor George Maxwell Richards presents
the Instrument of Appointment to Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday

TriniView.com Reporters
Event Date: November 15, 2007
Posted: November 20, 2007

Opposition Leader and Member of Parliament for Couva North Basdeo Panday received his instrument of appointment as Leader of the Opposition on Thursday 15th November, 2007, at the President’s house in front of a small gathering consisting mainly of UNC supporters.

The Instrument of Appointment was presented to Mr. Panday by His Excellency Professor George Maxwell Richards, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at a very brief and simple ceremony.
Continue reading Panday Receives Instrument of Appointment →

PNM Patrick Manning, UNC-A Basdeo Panday and COP Winston Dookeran

by Raffique Shah
Sunday, November 18th 2007

If the PNM can take little comfort in its victory in the recent general elections, how must the opposition UNC view the results? Last week I alluded to what I saw as a decline in support for the PNM in many of its core constituencies. True, boundaries were re-drawn by the EBC and five new constituencies created, making it difficult to make clear comparisons with previous election results. But when one examines the numbers (compared with 2002 results), they must be cause for serious concern for the new Government that is supposed to officially start functioning tomorrow.
Continue reading Panday’s political pyre →