By Trevor Sudama
December 07, 2010 – newsday.co.tt
I was astounded by Panday’s lack of concern for the future of the sugar workers when he was the leader of the Government.
I myself was involved in the struggles of sugar workers in the sixties and early seventies. I was a candidate of the United Labour Front in the 1981 General Election in a sugar growing constituency.
Continue reading An act of gross betrayal
By Trevor Sudama
November 09, 2010 – newsday.co.tt
It is said that those who do not learn from the lessons of history are condemned to repeat them. It is my view that it is a government’s duty to have a holistic view of the circumstances and situation of the various elements of the society and, in the light of that assessment, pursue the national interest which may be defined as the greatest good of the greatest number.
Continue reading Clico, Panday and the oligarchy
By Raffique Shah
October 23, 2010
I HAVE never been close to the corridors of power, except on occasions when those on high invited me to some meeting or social function. Regarding the latter, I should add that I have grown so asocial over the years, some people think I’ve become anti-social. I enjoy good company and great conversation. Having attended some of these social activities, I have found the same people there; they invariably get drunk the way “ignorant” Trinis do at rum shops, and they behave little different to boisterous bar flies.
Continue reading Corridors of power living hell
I DO not know how Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Cabinet arrived at a decision to appoint a Commission of Enquiry into the attempted coup of 1990. I suspect the hype that always surrounds the anniversary date of the Muslimeen assault on the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) government may have prompted the PM and her colleagues to attempt to “put this matter to rest for once and for all”. It certainly was not part of the People’s Partnership manifesto or 120-day action plan.
Continue reading 1990 Enquiry: Exercise in Futility
Probe into 1990 Coup
Twenty years later, there is going to be a Commission of Enquiry into the July 27, 1990 attempted coup which was led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr and members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday during at the post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.
PM: Why did it happen?
Cabinet has decided a Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances of the July 27, 1990 attempted coup will take place to find out “what went wrong” and to “bring closure” and relief to citizens traumatised by the event.
Continue reading Probe into 1990 Attempted Coup
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.
Continue reading Ryan Dumps PNM and Endorses the People’s Partnership
By Yvonne Webb
Published: 5 May 2010
Prime Minister Patrick Manning last night fingered former UNC minister Brian Keui Tung as the person who sold out the date of the 1995 election to former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday.
Continue reading Keui Tung to Blame for PNM’s Loss in ’95?
By Raffique Shah
April 25, 2010
‘DID you hear the Prime Minister lashing out at you on the PNM platform last night?’ It was the kind of telephone calls and greetings I received repeatedly over the past week. I informed my ‘informants’ that I did hear Mr Manning mention my name, among others, as he attempted to give PNM supporters ‘History lessons’. As a columnist who writes on political issues, I need to stay tuned to the ranting on the hustings if I am to write informed comments.
Continue reading History lessons for Manning
T&T will go to the polls to elect a new Government in 38 days, on Monday May 24, 2010.
May 24 is decision day for the electorate of Trinidad and Tobago
Election bell!
PRIME Minister Patrick Manning yesterday named May 24 as 2010 General Election day in what he has ensured is to be one of the snappiest of snap elections.
Continue reading May 24 is Decision Day
