Category Archives: Politics

General T&T, PNM, Politics, Property Tax, THA, Tobago

Curbing The Tobagonian Apetite for Governance

By Stephen Kangal
April 05, 2017

Stephen KangalWhen the The Honourable Attorney General Faris Al Rawi tabled for approval by the House the Report of the EBC/Presidential Draft Order to legalise the package of measures for the holding of the THA Elections in January 2017 citizens saw that a 48,000 THA electorate albeit many absentees were gifted with 12 seats of assemblymen. This formula was deemed a successful and equitable model for Local Government by the PNM in Tobago with 3600 to 4500 electors per seat.
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General T&T, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

Getting It Right

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 27, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhenever a significant occasion arises, Kamla, in her ethnic enthusiasm, always muddles things up. When she was elected in 2010 she declared that the “hostile recalcitrant minority,” an observation that Dr. Williams made, had become the government of the country. I have argued previously that Dr. Williams was speaking about the behavior of a small segment within the Democratic Labor Party, but this fact has never interfered with the ethnic narrative of discrimination that some of our Indian leaders continue to propagate.
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Crime in T&T, Death Penalty, General T&T, Politics

Brutifying Our Sensibilities

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 20, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThis is not a criticism against Edmund Dillon, Minister of National Security, or the present government. It is more an attempt to place a finger on what the recent murders are doing to our national psyche, how they are affecting our emotional state and damaging our self-conception.
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Crime in T&T, General T&T, Health, Law, Politics

Legalise it!

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By Raffique Shah
March 13, 2017

Raffique ShahMany friends, relatives, even family members seem intent on having me “make ah jail” in my winter years: they are pleading with me to use marijuana! It’s not that they want to see me in a ganja-stupor or they will take delight in seeing armed cops swoop down on the geezer and whisk me off to some dank, putrid cell.

No. They want me to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, specifically, to reduce, probably eliminate, the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) with which I have been afflicted for at least five years. Like me, they have watched videos and read of studies and trials conducted by scientists on the use of cannabis in successfully treating PD patients.
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Crime in T&T, Politics

Ramnarine on Petrotrin: Imbert wrong again

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Media Release from
Kevin Ramnarine
FORMER MINISTER OF ENERGY AND ENERGY AFFAIRS, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Kevin RamnarineRamnarine: Imbert wrong again – Petrotrin paid over TT$ 20 billion in taxes, royalties and other payments to the Gov’t from 2011 to 2015. The country needs responsible leadership on matters of the economy; at such a time, it is critically important that we remove politics from the affairs of the Ministry of Finance.
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General T&T, International, PNM, Politics, USA

Will Lobbyists Now Replace TT Diplomats in the USA?

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By Stephen Kangal
March 02, 2017

Stephen KangalThe Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley in his usual unrehearsed statement made in the House on Friday 23 February during the debate of the final FATCA sitting raises a number of policy decisions the chief amongst which is whether his Government proposes to liquidate and close our foreign missions accredited to Washington and replace them with highly paid lobbyists to tell the real truths as he put it.
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General T&T, Law, Opposition Party, PNM, Politics, UNC

Guarding Our Laws

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 26, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIn 2011, shortly after the People’s Partnership was installed as a government, the GOPIO asked me to give a lecture on multiculturalism. I emphasized that Trinidad and Tobago will never reach its full potential unless all of us—black, white, Indian and African, protestant and Hindu—accepted our past as our national patrimony. Therefore, I was pleased when, Kamla Persad Bissessar, in her response to Faris Al-Rawi’s attempt to do away with the three-fifths requirement for the passage of certain legislation, recognized that our Independence constitution “was evolutionary and was the result of hard fought negotiations at Marlborough House by our forefathers.”
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Crime in T&T, Domestic Violence, General T&T, PNM, Politics, Violence

Beware of our Talents

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 12, 2017

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLast Monday, Dr. Keith Rowley embarked upon a tour to converse with his constituents. Symbolically, he began his conversation in the constituency of his most tone-deaf, most unavailable minister.

Any astute observer of the political scene could have told him that crime, public safety and citizens’ distrust of their government are prime concerns. They would have told him that men’s cruelty to women has little to do with the choices they make in picking their spouses or the clothes they wear.
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General T&T, Passed on, Politics

Leo Seebaran—Quintessential Caroni Man

By Stephen Kangal
February 14, 2017

Stephen KangalThe late former Permanent Secretary of The Ministries of Legal Affairs/ National Security, Mr Leo Bertrand Seebaran passed away on my 77th birthday- Saturday 4 February 2017. He was fondly and respectfully conferred by residents the aristocratic accolade of The Baron of Jumbie Peace in grateful recognition and appreciation for his devotion, humanitarian assistance and loyalty to the people of Caroni with whom he lovingly interfaced for 91 productive years.
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Finance, General T&T, International, PNM, Politics, UNC, USA

Can FATCA Pass the International Jurisprudence Test?

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By Stephen Kangal
January 29, 2017

Stephen KangalThere was a quite visible and audible dearth in the House possessive of the requisite international relations expertise to analyze and dissect the internationally illegal imposition of US- domestic FATCA on T&T from a foreign policy/international law perspective.

That important dimension after T&T has been an active international relations participant for 55 years of statehood/UN multilateral diplomacy/foreign policy-making is a blemish on our international image, national pride and reputation.
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