Tag Archives: Jack Warner

Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Media, People's Partnership, UNC

A wild ride to elections

9 Comments

By Raffique Shah
February 01, 2015

Raffique ShahFor all its bountiful blessings—natural resources that allow us to live reasonably well, a mixture of races that dwell in relative harmony, a people that laugh more easily than they cry—this is a cussed country that moves with consummate ease from one political scandal to another, a society that has grown to accept a level of lawlessness and boorish behaviour that permeate it from top to bottom, from captain to crook.
Continue reading A wild ride to elections →

Complaints, corruption, Crime in T&T, General T&T, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

Lead us to temptation

8 Comments

By Raffique Shah
August 02, 2014

Raffique ShahNow, of course, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has to see this sordid affair, five tumultuous years in Government, to its messy end.

Never before in the history of this country, or, indeed, other countries where democratic elections determine who governs, has a ruling party been wracked by the forced resignations or firings or re-assignments of more than thirty officials who held ministerial portfolios or similar high offices, all within one term of office.
Continue reading Lead us to temptation →

General T&T, ILP, MSJ, People's Partnership, Politics, UNC

Crucifixions and Resurrections

3 Comments

By Raffique Shah
April 20, 2014

Raffique ShahThe UNC minister or activist who mobilised a gang of hooligans to disrupt a public meeting staged by dissident Barrington “Skippy” Thomas last Thursday evening should be taken before the party’s firing squad and shot—with “goat pills”. He (or she) has done irreparable damage to the United National Congress’s image, if that is at all possible.
Continue reading Crucifixions and Resurrections →

General T&T, ILP, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Year of the Fall

1 Comment

By Raffique Shah
December 29, 2013

Raffique ShahPolitically, 2013 will be remembered as the year of unprecedented multiple elections. It was the year that marked the beginning of the demise of the People’s Partnership; the year in which Jack Warner’s meteor burned brightly before it died an unnatural death; and the year that saw the People’s National Movement (PNM), for yet another time, rise, Phoenix-like, from the ashes of defeat, to position itself for a return to power.
Continue reading Year of the Fall →

General T&T, Politics, UNC

Bas, Ram and Jack

11 Comments

By Raffique Shah
December 14, 2013

Raffique ShahAmong the three of them, Basdeo Panday, Jack Warner and Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj have accumulated 220 years on earth. You would think that these three geezers, having experienced a spread of political permutations, from the crown colony system and colonialism to independence and republicanism, would have also accumulated the wisdom to discern that they have long passed their political-expiry dates.
Continue reading Bas, Ram and Jack →

General T&T, ILP, India, MSJ, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, Race and Identity, Racism Watch, TOP, UNC

St Joseph Embodied the National Electoral Psyche

3 Comments

By Stephen Kangal
November 11, 2013

Stephen KangalBeing a classic marginal seat, Monday’s St. Joseph Constituency (SJC) bye-election results have encapsulated and mirrored the psycho-political underpinnings of the changing electoral dynamics as well as of the traditional ethnic moorings impacting on and progressively shaping the national political/electoral psyche- a microcosm of the macrocosm.
Continue reading St Joseph Embodied the National Electoral Psyche →

General T&T, ILP, India, MSJ, NJAC, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, TOP, UNC

Facing Elections Nightmare

By Raffique Shah
November 10, 2013

Raffique ShahMany readers scoffed at my suggestion in last week’s column that a rapprochement between UNC/COP and the ILP was a strong possibility in the run-up to the next general elections, due no later than August 2015. I imagine diehard supporters on both sides of the divide feel deeply wounded by the abuse their leaders hurled at each other during the three campaigns conducted since Jack Warner broke with the United National Congress (UNC) and formed the Independent Liberal Party (ILP).
Continue reading Facing Elections Nightmare →

General T&T, ILP, Law, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Vengeance of Moko

1 Comment

By Raffique Shah
November 03, 2013

Raffique ShahWhen the votes are counted tomorrow night, the St Joseph by-election will bring to closure what may well be the most torturous year in the electoral history of this country. Two scheduled elections—the THA in January and local government last month—and two unscheduled by-elections have left us numb from campaign punishment.
Continue reading Vengeance of Moko →

General T&T, ILP, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

UNC Lacks Institutional Memory on Vote-Splitting

15 Comments

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.
Continue reading UNC Lacks Institutional Memory on Vote-Splitting →

COP, Elections, General T&T, ILP, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Kamla croaks away

7 Comments

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.
Continue reading Kamla croaks away →