Tag Archives: Keith Rowley

How Kamla Hang She Own Jack

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HangJack

 

Well I finally stop celebrating the TOP defeat in Tobago and will be nice and point out to Kamla, for her own benefit, how she hang she own Jack at this lovely game of Elections All Fours that she just fogged up royally.

There are many who will tell you that many Tobagonians were royally upset with London’s PNM over the last 12 years. And this was not a lie. Orville London spent 12 years coping with the arrogance and asininity of Patrick Manning and then the bungling incompetence of the PP. During his tenure he had to cope with Manning’s myopic vision for Tobago that saw adequate monies being pumped into the island to cover recurring expenditure, but very little being allocated to proper development of the island. In 2009 and he managed to hang on to the THA, but the TOP, a young and vibrant party was making inroads. Then came the 2010 elections in which Tobagonians delivered their own referendum on Manning and his treatment of them. Tobago went yellow. And from May 2010 to January 20th 2013, Orville London began the most strategic fight back I have ever witnessed.

TOP and UNC Political Leaders in Mason Hall on a walkabout.

TOP and UNC Political Leaders in Mason Hall on a walkabout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But this coloumn isn’t about London’s fightback, but rather about Kamla’s defeat. Given the tide London was swimming against and the landslide victory that Kamla achieved in 2010 one would think that she would have used good judgment and not squander that goodwill with the electorate, right?

Wrong!

Yesterday’s THA should have been a referendum of Orville London’s performance as THA Chief Secretary in the last 12 years, instead, through the cleverness of London and the crass vulgarity of Kamla and her minions it became an assessment not of London’s performance in the THA but of Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s performance from May 2010 to last week.

This Election should have been about Jack vs London, but it quickly became about Orville vs Kamla…..and like this woman don’t learn! No Trini could ever come and beat a Tobagonian in he back yard.

Kamla launched her THA offensive at Budget Matihkor..aka the pre-Budget Rally….and I was the first, and probably the only person to note the type of language Kamla used to describe the ensuing THA campaign. Both Kamla and Anand boasted loudly on the stage at Mid-Centre of how they would win the THA Elections and send Rowley and London in a corner. That was misstep number 1. Yuh campaigning in Tobago and not Trinidad, how yuh go insult and attack two sons of the soil that lift Tobagonians nose so high?

At that same meeting Persad-Bissessar started her own subtle race talk with her “We know who the enemy is…get in yuh section” talk as she referenced the THA campaign to come. While Trinis aint see nothing wrong with that kind of We vs Them talk…Tobagonians know it and understand it only too well and we don’t stick it! That was misstep number 2. And I pointed it out. But the Kamlarites so busy calling me a racist PNM sodomite they never read between the lines.

Thereafter though there was a change in the TOP’s approach. Realising that Tobagonians weren’t taking too kindly to the numerous missteps and corruption allegations from Central Government, Ashworth Jack himself issued a warning…no UNC interference in the THA campaign. Jack wanted discreet behind-the-scenes assistance by way of money and resources. The TOP hoped that the Milshirv accusations, just like the Calder Hart accusations against Manning, would stick to Orville like shit on a shoe heel. Unfortunately both the Chief Secretary and his Finance Secretary Anselm London much savvier than that. They understood that what threw Manning down was his unwillingness to come clean on his relationship with Calder Hart, Juliana Pena, UDECOTT and the Guanapo Church. Manning’s position was both arrogant and unhelpful and it only riled the citizenry up more….which is why I insist he was a fool. London & London on the other hand utilised transparency and accountability to their benefit. A full file was uploaded to the world wide web, as well as sent to the Integrity Commission. Answer that! Not a peep could be heard from government for weeks after the upload. And the most they have managed thus far is a limp legal action from && that the treasury going to have to pay for.

TOP’s gamble that Milshirv would haunt Orville the way Calder Hart haunted Manning died a sudden death.

Ashworth Jack, Kamla Persad-Bissesar, Jearlean John and vernella Toppin at church in Plymouth.

Ashworth Jack, Kamla Persad-Bissesar, Jearlean John and vernella Toppin at church in Plymouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then came the House That Pumpkin Built……and I had to grin each and every time Jack lied or avoided questions. Transparency and accountability was coming to haunt his ass now. Milshirv began to fade quickly as Ashworth’s relationship with the UNC and its financiers because the front burner issue….then Jack’s failure to lodge documents with the Integrity Commission. And here was the next misstep. Jack was making Tobago and Tobagonians look corrupt. Jack….really…..you from Tobago how long and you don’t know that corruption associated with Trickydadians, not Tobagonians? Yuh fall down bad boy!
You see, London had managed to dampen, if not totally remove the stench of corruption around himself, while Jack was refusing to answer any questions.

To deal with his declining public image Ashworth Jack made his next misstep….one that would be so critical and crucial to his demise, I wonder if the TOP and UNC figure it out yet….Ashworth Jack resorted to social media handled by a Trini….and not just any Trini, but a Trini whose entire idea of marketing and media is fete. Soon the TOP had a social media presence on FaceBook and Twitter and the pages were filled with Trinidad UNC supporters…and thereafter it only went downhill. There were pictures of Jack working in a garden and alluding to his supplies as being the basis of his wealth. Meanwhile Express’s Irene Medina was doing her research and hitting Jack for six week after week. Kamla et al, sensing the shifting tide made the next crucial misstep by jumping into the fray.

Their hope was to show that Central Government….the moneyhandlers….were entirely behind Jack and that if Tobago wanted to develop and prosper they had to follow the money trail.

Could they be any more dumbass? Kamla…darling….Tobagonian know underdevelopment and hardship long time you know….Trinidad suffering Tobago aint nothing new.

And so, interference from the UNC went from peripheral to central! The Elections moved from being about Orville’s performance to the invasion from the UNC. And Kamla, unwittingly became her own worst enemy.

Tobago was flooded with a sea of yellow. Trinidadians all over the place being their arrogant, flashy selves. Money, in a society that admires thrift and frugality and pulling up one’s own bootstraps, was being thrown around wildly. Tobagonians looked on and realised just why Trinidad so effed up. They watched the queen parade herself. Helicopters flying in daily; trucks being ferried over with goodies…goodies that Tobagonians had been denied for the last 32 months unless they were openly TOP….and a flurry of activity to pretend as if development was taking place.

And in all this all Tobagonians wanted was a revised Constitution that gave them their promised autonomy. No music trucks, no food cards, no wild promises. Just a sober Bill that delivered what they wanted.

But Kamla, unable to keep the smallest of promises instead went over with a half-assed Bill that she rushed to Parliament and continued the orgy of money spending….SQUANDERMANIA Kamla style…..and Tobagonians looked.

In fact, they did one better and donned the yellow T-shirts, mounted the music trucks, accepted the handouts and then yesterday voted PNM.

They voted the PNM to let Kamla know that you cyah come over here with sniffer dogs in a church where you get invited to and insult people’s hospitality. You cyah spend 32 months attacking black people in overt and subtle ways and then get more vex than we over Hilton Sandy comment. We would punish Sandy, but you cyah have Sat telling we how to punish Sandy. You cyah want to come and run things in Tobago house.

Not a Seat for Them!

Not a Seat for Them!

Kamla had only to look at how Rowley played his role in the PNM’s campaign to take a cue. Instead she surrounded herself with a team of dunce, clueless advisors who believe that a Trinidadian approach to life and campaigning is what would work in Tobago and put her Jack out to dry!

We Didnt Vote Full Dotish!

 

Tobago Yuh Lift Meh Nose, Yuh Make Meh Proud!

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Dear Kamla….Sincerely, The Keith

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The PM responded again today insisting that Kublalsing does not want to meet with her and here are some excerpts from her comments at a luncheon given for the media at the Diplomatic Centre:

A synopsis of what the PM said minutes ago during an address to the media at a media appreciation function at the Diplomatic Centre:

-”I am not above meeting with Wayne, I have done so and would so again but that is not what is being asked of me”.

- Kublalsingh has insisted from the very start that he doesn’t want to meet with me, he wants highway work halted and review undertaken.

- I refute claim from Highway Re-route Movement that I reneged on promise to halt work. Work was halted, and meetings were held.

- after work on Pt. Fortin highway halted, it resumed months later after several meetings and a report from a technical team.

-we simply cannot give in to the demands of Kublalsingh and his team to stop a project which could benefit generations.

-we have tried to reason with the Highway Re-route Movement more than many would allow.

-I make an appeal to Wayne’s parents, wife, to take on “personal obligation and duty” they have for his actions & not transfer it to the State.

-I am fortified in my oath of office. I cannot favour any one group or allow fear to control my actions.

 

then later today Opposition Leader Keith Rowley sent a letter to the PM. Here are it’s contents:

22nd November, 2012

 

 

Mrs. Kamla Persad Bissessar S.C.

 

The Honourable Prime Minister

 

Office of the Prime Minister1

 

3-15 St. Clair Avenue

 

PORT-OF-SPAIN

 

 

Dear Honourable Prime Minister,

 

 

As you will be aware the whole issue of objections to certain aspects of the routing and construction of the San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway has been with us for some time now. This matter of the State versus those directly affected has escalated to a point where a life might be at risk.

 

 

It is now a matter transcending the objectors of Delhi-Mon Desir to one of the national conscience relating to how we deal with one another and how the might and patience of the State is exercised in service to the people, all the people, even those who may be perceived to be stubborn, unreasonable or taxing.

 

 

Yesterday, Wednesday 21st November 2012 I was contacted by Dr. Kublalsingh and requested to speak with him. I subsequently visited him and I am very concerned that if something positive is not done very soon the ultimate tragedy of irreparable harm would most certainly occur. Notwithstanding the antecedents of this situation, it is my view that it is possible for this matter to be defused without the pain, shame and stain which it harbours and promises to promote.

 

 

I asked Dr. Kublalsingh what is the minimum condition attached to his request and he informed that the announcement of a multi-component technical group with some element of independent professional/technical, input, detailed to review the alternatives will suffice to break his fast.

 

 

Honourable Prime Minister in the fullest appreciation of your onerous responsibility and expressed empathy, it is my sincerest suggestion that this is a situation where the age-old principle of “nobles oblige” could be applied for the wider good of not just those directly involved but for the peace, respect and reputation of the nation as a whole. It enriches us all when we see and appreciate, as we always know, that it is far easier for the king to reach down and touch the commoner than for the servant to reach up to the master. A simple request on your part, to have the issue brought back to your office, just one more time, may suffice to save a life and disembark us all from the pathway of destruction upon we may have wittingly or unwillingly entered.

 

 

This is not a time for anger, blame or bombast. This is a time for reaching out and protecting us all from the pain of failure. Ultimately this is a matter of the State versus the people where numbers and dollars may not be all that matter. It may finally boil down to who we are, how much we understand each other and how well we would have served all the people.

 

 

There is no shame in seeking a solution mixing authority with humility and this final effort as requested ought never to be viewed as a diminishing of your esteemed office. It is in this vein that I strongly recommend that you intervene, one more time, and may God bless us all.

 

 

 

Yours in service,

 

 

 

 

Dr. Keith RowleyLeader of the Opposition andMember of Parliament for Diego Martin West

The Ethnic Agenda

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In case you missed it, Ambassador Neil Parsan’s wife is black, which apparently is an actual ethnicity, not just a colour; and his wife’s colour apparently gives the goodly ambassador carte blanche to make up information about Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. Oh, wait you missed it? You missed the speech wherein the diplomat that is supposed to be representing an entire multicultural nation gave a speech that implied he is really only there to serve the interests of a particular interest group: the People’s Partnership? Some of the key points in Parsan’s speech was to point out that the “Indian Diaspora is a formidable force in Trinidad and Tobago, the largest numerical representation in the Caribbean.” And let’s not forget as well that Indians are ” the most well-to-do and culturally strong and progressive ethnic group in the uniquely plural society of Trinidad and Tobago.”

 

I can’t tell you where to find Ambassador Parsan’s speech anymore because it has since been removed from the embassy’s website. What I can tell you is that Neil Parsan is engaging in a not very subtle game of Whose Ethnicity Is More Superior? And that is a game that the entire country will lose. Why? Because it is pitting groups against each other, and making the atmosphere of Trinidad and Tobago more toxic. A speech such as this says plainly that groups here don’t yet view themselves as Trinbagonians but as ethnicities all holding their corner and struggling for a larger piece of the pie. That an Ambassador, a diplomat, representing an entire nation, would be caught delivering such a speech is beyond embarrassing and Parsan should hand in his instruments of appointment and just leave Washington DC because his conduct as an Ambassador in that speech is poor. He is not representing a country.

 

But  Ambassador Parsan is but one in a string of ethnicity-related gaffes we have had coming from the People’s Partnership of late. Since the massive Section 34 March, we have had Minister of National Security, Jack Warner, on several platforms spreading a message of ethnic strife. The Section 34 march was negligible according to Warner because he saw only Afro-descended people in it. As if to imply that Afro- descended people aren’t Trinbagonian enough to be taken seriously. As if to imply that it wasn’t a march of citizens. As if to imply Section 34 is a race or ethnicity issue and not a national issue. Mere weeks after the march, on i95.5 with John Wayne Benoit, MP for Mayaro, Winston Peters in response to a question repeated that he is only representing the people who voted for him.

 

And if that wasn’t insulting enough, Warner then, sulking and petulant, announced that he wasn’t attending the opening of the Nagar because Keith Rowley would be there. Disingenuous as ever, Warner claimed he didn’t want to politicize the issue. Then Sat Maharäj, pundit Harry Maharaj and Devant Maharäj jumped in to support Warner’s position. Mind you, this is Divali and the Divali Nagar site. A holiday celebrated by the national community on lands donated by the state. What Warner was ostensibly saying to Rowley is we don’t want you or your kind here. Please keep in kind that Warner is not the UNCs Minister of National Security, he is the nation’s, obligated to serve the nation, and at a public forum this is how he speaks to the Leader of the Opposition, a man that represents the interests of another part of our society.

 

Of course, yes, you can argue that Warner was there in his capacity as Chairman of the UNC. And in that case, what are Warner’s words and actions saying about the party’s agenda and policies? Is the UNC, the party that is currently leading this coalition government, actively using strategies of ethnic division and polarizing politics as part of its strategy to stay in government? The COP agreed to this? Because I can’t see what other way there is to define what Warner and his supporters are attempting to do if not polarize the nation yet again.

 

And to add frosting and cherry on top this ethnic agenda cake is our Prime Minister. A lady who is mum on most matters, but manages to break her silence at the closing ceremony of the Divali Nagar and used the opportunity to attack the Leader of the Opposition. And on trivial issues no less. What the Prime Minister fails to remember with the whole goar lagay incident, when she decided to bow before the President of India is simply this: the PM was there in her capacity as the head of government, greeting another head of government; two heads of state do not bow to each other. Simple protocol. But it seems the PMs advisers are not strong on protocol, just on beefing up her strategies for her ethnic agenda.

 

If sounding like a petulant child about the international bowing incident wasn’t insult enough, the PM then lashed out at the Opposition Leader’s decision to wear a kurtah to ceremonies at the Nagar. Apparently the PM has a monopoly on wearing ethnic garb in this country and we didnt get the memo.

 

The Partnership sounding scared. They sound jittery. Why else would they need to begin to deploy race politics so hard if not to rally their voter base around them. and that’s an old Bas trick, eh. When under attack rally the troops. So in one breath the PM will talk about representing the nayshun….and in another, she scolding people to get in their section.

 

But I want to take a minute and examine this voter base that the PP appealing to. Persad-Bissessar can only be appealing to a group for whom policies based on tribalism and ethnic division will work on. So then, is the leader of the PP saying that her voter base wants ethnic division? Is the leader of the PP also saying that she is quite willing to use divisive tactics once it keeps her popular. Remind me what was the new politics we voted for in 2010 again?

We won’t be getting any of that new politics anytime soon simply because Kamla and the PP must now rally the troops together and bunker down until 2015. Any loss of her voter base, or the Indian vote to the PNM will be a bad sign. Especially since she knows that she depended heavily on the PNM vote that the COP managed to capture. That’s out the window now since PNM supporters see COP for what it truly is….a Trojan Horse of a party.

Kamla also knows that there is no way she can win the seat of government with just the Hindu government. So the struggle is on. Let’s hope others keep their head on and see this Ethnic agenda policy for what it truly is….divide and rule so that the UNC can live another day….but still, you have to ask yourself what it says about the party’s voter base that race politics appeals to them.

De Vice Cyah Done!

Muje Maaf Kar Do….Mea Culpa?

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This afternoon the PNM is putting on a grand Divali celebration in St James. The celebration will feature a tassa competition, a beauty queen show and deya lighting. For a party that is in opposition and considered to be more Afro than any other ethnic group in its appeal, it is refreshing to see the efforts that Rowley et al are making to appear more inclusive.

Indeed, since the PNM Convention on October 28 th The Keith has been quietly relentless about showing his many facets and in showing his softer side, he is attempting to show the PNMs accommodating side. But how accommodating is it?

Is it going to be a seasonal accommodation? One that pops up only during popular religious festivals? Will other less prominent ethnic groups also be a part of this new accommodation? Will other religious systems that are less prominent as well be welcomed into the fold? After all the PNMs mantra these days is ” Come home to the PNM”.

But what exactly are we coming home to? Is this new accommodation a pappy show to give an impression of inclusiveness, or is the PNM serious about turning a new leaf?

I am asking these hard questions because there are two major obstacles the PNM has to confront at some point in time publicly. Why? Because they are the obstacles that are thrown up all the time privately. The unspoken grouses the electorate has against the PNM as it were, and I think publicly confronting them will actually make the party appear stronger and serious about inclusion.

Right now the constant pictures of The Keith in koortah is window dressing for a deeper far more serious problem. Yes he looks very dapper and cuts a fine picture in ethnic garb. But as a half coolie that looks more African than Indian, I can tell you that there is far more to being Indian and winning the regard of the Indian community than donning ethnic garb. The PNM in particular and Afro Trinbagonians have always been viewed by the Indo community with skepticism and mistrust.

Social and political leaders of the Indo community have kept the mistrust alive with a constant reference to several grievances held against the PNM. There is the constant cry that the PNM has oppressed Indians, of course when you press for details and evidence the conversation always ends up the “recalcitrant minority” speech by Williams. A speech that happened. That it happened in reference to something else is irrelevant to the Indo community. What matters is that it was said and as far as Indians are concerned it speaks to the true feelings of both the PNM and Afro Trinis.
Go to any FB group, especially UNC focused group and that’s where all the conversations lead to. Pnm is a cult that don’t like Indians and trying to oppress us. Ask the right questions and it boils down to the comment that has had Indians toting feelings against both PNM and Afros for half a century.

The Keith has begun addressing this grievance, but obliquely. It can’t be a coincidence that at every opportunity he has been given in the last two weeks he constantly refers to the valuable contributions of the Hindu community. It is possibly a subtle, mea culpa….but this won’t do.

You see Indians want their pound of fle……sorry, bhagi. And given the public way in which Williams made the comment, any addressing of it will have to be just as publicly. The PNM must make it clear that it is not now, nor ever will be, the party’s position on Indians. It matters little that fifty years have passed since it was made. It matters little that much has been done to atone for it. Until the PNM faces that bogey head on, then it will always rear its head in quiet and not so quiet corners to be used against the party and Afro Trinis.

The tote is real The Keith, and the party must go on record as having addressed the issue. A simple Muje maaf kar do. To refuse to address it gives the comment and its offshoot behavior more power than it deserves.

When you go on record, you diffuse the strength of that comment made more than fifty years ago….and turn the tables on the whiners only intent on ethnic political mischief.

De Vice Cyah Done!

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Much Ado About Numbers

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Protesters show their placards. Photos courtesy Andrea de Silva

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It was all about the size and ethnic make up of the crowd yesterday. While de facto Prime Minister Jack Warner (oh, you mean you didn’t realise that he is the person speaking on behalf of the government for EVERYTHING? When last you heard from Kamla?) is quick to tell the media otherwise, it’s fairly obvious, just from the type of responses he has given that the size of yesterday’s march and who was in it was important. And the larger and more representative of every demographic of this country the marches get, the more the PP Government will deny publicly what the marches mean. What makes this ironic is that back in 2010 Jack and Kamla lead much smaller protests for issues like the rapid rail transport sytem that was likely to displace farmers. Back then the size and ethnic make up of the crowd didn’t matter, what mattered was that citizens, Trinbagonians were being displaced by the government.

On Friday, thousands and thousands of Trinbagonians took to the streets to voice their displeasure over Section 34 and the bungling incompetence of the PP Government. Long before the crowd started marching along the route there were estimates being given out online. A person calling himself Allan Karim, the name of a known UNC blogger claimed a crowd of 800. The FB page for Team UNC-COP claimed 1000. At around that time the crowd was easily double that and I was standing in Woodford square with a group of like minded and right thinking citizens discussing how this government for all its new politics talk, was using the usual racist propaganda scare tactics to corral it’s voter base. Little did I know how my points would be underscored for me later.

The crowd coming from Wrightson Road side around the twin Towers heading to meet the Woodford Square posse. Photo taken by Andre de Silva.Just as the crowd was getting ready to leave Woodford Square the National Security helicopter showed up, and it stayed with the march the entire time. Part of what the helicopter was there to do was assess the size of the crowd, and interestingly enough some of these aerial photographs, that look like they were taken from one of the Twin Towers or by National Security personnel would eventually end up in the hands of UNC bloggers. The photographs – taken around 1pm, when one group of marchers was assembling on the Promenade having made it’s way from Wrightson Road to the Promenade to await the procession that was coming from Woodford Square – was used to dispute claims of over 20,000 people. There are photographs aplenty from Andrea De Silva to support my claim. Interestingly enough the figure of 20,000 was given by the police. And that figure only started circulating at around 3pm. It’s unfortunate that the UNC blogger’s pic don’t have a time stamp that I can see so I could corroborate times.

In any case, worried over the impact that a growing number of protesters would have on the psyche of the country, last night came this from TEAM UNC-COP:

**** Breaking News: EXPOSED! PNM, MEDIA, POLICE wrong on PNM March crowd! Irrefutable Proof! *****
Fellow Citizens: we expose the PNM-Media conspiracy and prove they are working in tandem against the Govt. The Police are, at best, clumsy oafs, poohar, backward, using flawed techniques for crowd estimates. We hate to embarrass the Police but we hope the Commissioner is shown this – by Minister Warner, and is convinced to train a few of his people in crowd estimation.

It’s very simple but the PNM is illiterate and cannot help defrauding the people; the Media is slothful, lazy, and against the PP govt. Their wildly inaccurate crowd estimates expose the media for what they are: simpletons, backward, illiterate, very low standard of journalism, spiteful, north-centric, a bunch of 3rd world pretenders who try to convince the people they are “neutral” and should be allowed a free rein, above all else they must not be criticized. And, if you think we are attacking you: bingo, you got one right! We are attacking you for your woefully horrible standard of journalism, and you are free to prove us wrong. If you do, we will retract everything and praise you, advocating strongly for 50% raise for all media people in T&T! Seriously.

The Racist Letter submitted by Sunil Ranjitsingh to Jyoti Communications that he claims a PNM supporter handed to him.And if this attack on the Police and Media wasn’t enough, then came the accusations that the PNM was distributing racist pamphlets in Woodford Square. According to Sunil Ramjitsingh in a letter to Jyoti Communications, the website responsible for all of Kamla’s PR:
Dear News Editors,
>; I am writing in my personal capacity to bring to your attention the attached document, which document was being distributed at the Woodford Square this afternoon during the assembly for the Democracy March.
>; I walked through the square myself in the company of one of my colleagues. A tall woman in a red t-shirt handed my colleague this flyer and when I reached out for one she was hesitant but then she eventually, reluctantly handed me one.
>; If you read it, you will see that the flyer contains very nasty
racial content. I then understood why the woman did not hesitate to give my colleague but was reluctant to give me a copy – my colleague was of African descent and I, of course, am of East Indian descent.
>;
>; Respectfully Submitted,
>; Sunil Ramjitsingh
What was curious about Ranjitsingh’s letter is this….during the 2010 Election a similar letter was distributed in various parts of Trinidad. The point of the letter then, as it is now, is to stir racist sentiment. Ranjitsingh’s choice of medium is curious. Jyoti Communications is Kamla’s blog. Ranjitsingh is a known UNC activist, he ran for a position in the internal elections earlier this year. So, was the purpose of his story in Kamla’s blogpost to inform the wider population or to inform the party faithful? I was at the Square, and saw no one distributing this flyer. In fact the only flyers I got was from the Highway Re-Route Movement. If we go with Ranjitsingh’s story, then because I look african, I should have received a flyer. And I was in that Square from 11:45 until we moved onto the streets. Funny how no one ever gives me useful flyers.
The FB group TEAM UNC-COP also spent quite a bit of time yesterday race-mongering. In Sheila Rampersad’s account of yesterday’s march, that was careful to only focus on the trivial, the one thing serious issue she managed to note was a racist comment by a man on Frederick Street, who she reports as saying: A man speaking loudly to two women at the bottom of Frederick Street returned the country to its worst ethos: “This country! A Hindu demon leading this country! Is Kali puja!”
Thankfully, the women refused to respond.
The administrators of TEAM UNC-COP took this quote and expanded on it and on their wall claimed that the PNM had said it without any evidence of such from Sheila Rampersad’s column:

EVIL RACIST PNM PROPAGANDA! “A Hindu demon leading this country! Is Kali puja”
Citizens of T&T – beware of the evil disgusting messages coming from the desperate PNM. And is this encouraged by Ramesh lawrence Maharaj, Abduallah, OWTU, and the PNM accomplices? This is typical of the PNM modus operandi. Divide and Rule. Decent patriotic Trinis must condemn the PNM or else our beloved and beautiful T&T will descend into a zombie 4th world hell-hole. The PNM will like nothing better than that since that’s their natural environment, they love it that way.

In the last 24 hours the PP government have made certain thing undoubetedly clear.

  1. They aren’t practising any new politics since their policy is obviously to continue to lie to the electorate; ignore the complaints of the population; and to use scaremongering and racism as a tactic of divide and rule.
  2. They have no plans or policies beyond Position Hulsie X aka “We Not Moving”. There is no thrust to run a country or manage a budget. the only thrust is to line pockets.
  3. Their default position is always going to be Blame the PNM and Black People Hate we and trying to Oppress We.

Once you keep these things in mind, it’s pretty much easy to manoeuvre from here.

In moving forward the the other political parties….and by that I refer to the PNM and MSJ….will:

  • Continue to rally public support to the point where the financiers of the current government become concerned about their investment and put pressure on Kamla.
  • Continue to build develop their policies and party’s vision for the future because and present a slate of candidates that the thinking electorate will believe in.

Let’s face it. UNC/COP has squandered all of its political currency. As soon as any one of their ministers speak the electorate starts looking for the lie. The PNM faithful have returned home, it’s the swing voters or fence sitters that The Keith has to reach out to. The MSJ will now have to consider its voter base and reach out to undecideds in PNM and UNC/COP seats. If you ask me, short of a massive rigging that eclipses S34 or Prakash Ramadhar and the rest of the Section 34 Gang of Thieves managing to hoodwink the population into Proportional Representation (and that campaign coming, watch and see), the UNC has corrupted its way out of a chance at election 2015. Kamla may well have out-Basdeoed De Bas!

De Vice Cyah Done!

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I Out On De Road: Section 34 Style!

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No, not lemmings, just right thinking Trinbagonians defending their democracy!

 

I’m marching today. And happily so. When I marched weeks ago I was told by people who consider themselves thinkers, humanists and buddhists that to march meant I was Pro PNM…..and even better, marching meant I was a lemming. If Rowley was so against Section 34 why he vote for it. At that point in time no one was willing to listen to the details of the story. That Cabinet had promised to implement certain conditions and further that the early proclamation was a breach of trust.

Today, as more and more details of the section 34 issue has been revealed and more and more people realise the extent of the conspiracy perpetrated against the country all of a sudden marching has become the fashionable thing. The people who wanted to make this about Keith Rowley and the PNM a few weeks ago are going to be out on the street en masse today because that’s how bandwagonists function. They diss an action that they are not in favour of in its early phases and then when they see the direction the wind shifts in all of a sudden their intellect kicks in and they find a plausible reason for joining and become even louder and more vociferous than the original members of a movement. It’s all good, once they pulling their weight. I guess the Lemmings have company today.

But there are people who are still detractors to the march. We’ve seen the government throw up distraction after distraction where Section 34 is concerned. Pre-Budget Rallies, Post-Budget Rallies, random attacks on the media from Jack Warner and Jamal Mohammed, Warner trying to block crime statistics….all in an effort to distract the electorate from the issue of Section 34 and what it means that an entire Cabinet conspired to mislead the Parliament….and now pretending they did nothing wrong.

Last night there was a last ditch effort on the part of UNC apologists. People arguing that the issue has already aired publicly, so let’s move on. Well neither Kamla nor the AG have answered my questions on this matter satisfactorily so I can’t move on. And apparently the launch of TSTT’s 4G that was meant to thin out the protest crowds has been put off as well. So it’s just lemmings in Woodford Square at noon today.

Another argument is that this March today is about causing political destabilisation….uhhh….YES….we don’t trust the Government. No electorate should have to be saddled with a Government it doesn’t trust, and to argue that we must put up with an untrustworthy government for five years is to play smart with foolishness. That’s why it’s called a democracy….we have the right to show our displeasure and I am going to show it.

And Section 34 isn’t the only reason. There are at least a hundred…but let me refresh your memory with a few reason why I will be out on the road.

1. Reshmi

2. Gopaul

3. Mary King

4. Cheryl Miller

5. Nizam Mohammed

6. Dwayne Gibbs

7. Gary Griffith

8. The Crop Duster

9. Raids on TV6, Newsday, Crime Watch and attacks on Asha Javeed and Denyse Renne

10. Chandresh Sharma’s London Taxi fare

11. Shoppin Toppin and Fuad Card!

12. The Soca Warriors $$$$

13. Jack as a Minister, Jack as a member of the National Security Council, Jack as Minister of National Security (this alone is a march in itself)

14. The bungling incompetence of the AG

15. Silk Gate

16. The dismantling of all of our border and coastal surveillance,

17. the deployment of national security helicopters as air taxis for the PM and her friends and family.

18. Vidwattie Newton

19. Janice Thomas/Marcia/Sasha Mohammed

20. The mess that is healthcare

21. The mess that is education

22. Fucking up our energy sector

23. Three massive budgets that have put us into deficit and saddling us with a debt my grandchildren will be paying.

24. Insulting our Caricom Neighbours with the ATM statement

25. Kamla being the most incompetent and ineffective, self absorbed, nepotistic and corrupt leader this Caribbean has ever seen.

 

I could go on for days…but I’ll stop there. See you on the road!

 

De Vice Cyah Done!

 

Rowbama vs Kamnesia

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The crowd at PNM Convention 2012

It’s the Battle of the Re-Brands folks, and Keith Rowley is ready to rumble.

In 2010 we saw a rejuvenated UNC re-brand itself after getting rid of Basdeo Panday. A lot of money, effort and Ernie Ross went into making over Kamla. On the campaign trail she was constantly surrounded by foreign security guards. Her normal attire was a yellow sweater twin-set and black pencil skirt, with perfectly coiffed hair. An accent, not bought from Honda, became readily apparent and we became the NAY SHUN. Persad-Bissessar, desperate to prove to us that she was a breath of fresh air, the chayyyynge that was blowing through the nayyyshun would lip sync Bryan Adams and Celine Dion for us: A New day was coming and Everything she was doing, she was doing for us. Her supporters were ecstatic over the re-branding. They were happy for the new image, and for the opportunity to prove to the rest of the country that the Panday era was behind them.

Tonight the PNM’s Keith Rowley reinforced Jamal Mohammed’s fears of a re-branded PNM by unveiling just that. This is my first PNM Convention ever, I have no idea what normally takes place. But the presentation of the Political Leader this afternoon was an interesting concoction of fanfare and substance. The PNM, a party that I have often considered to be stuck in the Jurassic era used a lot of multimedia this afternoon, and I was happy to see that. There were two documentaries: one on Section 34 and another on Rowley the Man.

Section 34 gave us a synopsis of the Constitutional crisis facing the country complete with man-on-the-street and informed talking heads (Faris Al Sexy and Justin Jwoww Phelps). the documentary on The Keith sought to show Rowley in a new light. Not the aggressive parliamentarian that earned him the name of rottweiller, but the man that Tobagonians see. Last week after returning from the Tobago meeting I commented to a few friends that the Rowley seen in Tobago and the one seen in Trinidad are two different beasts. Tobago is where he relaxes, stands up and limes with a crowd of people after a meeting and smiles and jokes.

Today the gathering at the QPS Grand Stand got to see some of that as the documentary showed Keith in his Mason Hall home, looking very much the gentleman farmer on land inherited from his grandfather, surrounded by other Tobagonians, family members and with a cameo from the Anglican archbishop. You saw Rowley as husband, father and neighbour.

The Keith takes the stage at sunset

Then there was the short video introduction to his speech that showed Franklyn Khan calling The Keith on his Blackberry. The Keith getting ready, and poking fun at himself several times pretending to comb his hair and even pausing on his was to the Savannah to pet a vicious looking dog. Who knew the man had a sense of humour? Then he and wife Sharon emerged on stage, and you don’t have to like Rowley to admit that he and his wife are a very handsome couple.

Then came the speech. And what it was, was a well crafted manifesto. It is the second time in a month that The Keith has presented an energy and debt servicing policy as a counterpoint to the abysmal budget Larry Howai delivered on October 1st. And when you consider the Ministry of Works asking for $2.7b since the Budget was read, and today’s announcement that the AG needs $1.3b to pay for the OPV arbitration; Keith’s policies and plans re the country’s finances begin to look far more attractive than the mismanagement and misstepping that Kamla and her small goal side have given us.

Between Independence Day to the present the Opposition Leader has used every opportunity at his disposal to present himself as Prime Ministerial; to show that he has the intelligence and leadership skills necessary to, as he said today, put the country back on track. And it doesn’t help the UNCs cause that at every turn they are doing absolute crap and Kamla….the epitome of female leadership remains the mum mother and grandmother.

Indeed,  the Prime Minister is probably hoping that Ernie Ross can give the country a dose of Kamnesia and make us forget the non-stop missteps of the last 2.5 years. In this upcoming week, when a massive protest is planned expect more wild statements from her ministers, especially Ministers who until now have been quiet. Expect all manner of distraction. And expect Rowley’s new look and his manifesto to be bashed even though the PPG has nothing by way of actual policy in the entire term to date that can compare. In fact, Rowley seems to be doing the Government’s homework time and again.

But new image a side, there was another aspect to today’s convention that was more satisfying to me and it is an area that I would like to see The Keith and his executive address. I had the pleasure and honour today of meeting Rick Rampersad and it was all accidental. I’d gone into the media room to charge my phone and ipad when a colleague brought in a young man to do an interview. The gentleman was from the West Orupouche seat (same one as Stacy Ramnarine). What started as an interview between him and the reporter quickly became a conversation between him and several people. Rick Rampersad talked about Indians in politics, particularly Hindus in politics in a way that isn’t discussed on the campaign trail. It was frank, respectful and refreshing. Not just the party’s voter base, but the entire country needs to be hearing more voices like Rick Rampersad’s. the face of the PNM is too often seen to be Black and Christian. It never looks as all inclusive as it claims to be and voices such as Rampersad’s and a host of others NEED to come to the fore.

As I write the COP is having it’s internal elections and no doubt the UNC is ensuring that it gets as many of its people into the party’s key positions that way Kamla can continue to call the shots. Once Kamla can call the shots she assures herself several things: no COP walking out before the next elections; and no COP to split votes then either.

This weekend the PNM showed that it can and will evolve in order to survive. It’s leader has shown that apart from being bright and incisively intelligent he is also  flexible enough shake up his own image. THA elections are around the corner. Time to see if the UNC has more to offer the electorate than really bad PR and an empty treasury.

De Vice Cyah Done!

The Motion of Censure against the AG

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Tomorrow our Parliament will see the Opposition bring a motion of  censure against the AG, Anand Ramlogan. The Opposition is charging that the AG was part of the Cabinet that promised to not enact the Bill before all measures were put in place and was also part of the Cabinet that then ignored these measures and facilitated the early…and secretive…proclamation of 5 sections of the Act one of which created an Amnesty for Ish and Steve Galbaransingh. As you well know, Ish, Steve and about 13 other people are facing charges of corruption and bid rigging over the billion-dollar Piarco Airport. They are currently seeking legal action against the repeal of the Indicatable Offences Act…the law that holds Section 34 in it. The following is the actual petition submitted by the Leader of the Opposition:
Motion:
1. WHEREAS Section 76(2) of the Constitution specifies “that the Attorney General shall, subject to
section 79, be responsible for the administration of legal affairs in Trinidad and Tobago and legal proceedings for
and against the Sta

te”;
AND WHEREAS the Attorney General participated in the presentation to Parliament of the
Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Bill 2011 which contained a clause that created
an amnesty for certain legal proceedings [referred to as Section 34];
AND WHEREAS the Attorney General had knowledge of and supported the Government’s
solemn undertaking to Parliament that no part of the Bill would be brought into force until such
time as all supporting rules, administrative and physical infrastructure were in place and
stakeholders consulted;
AND WHEREAS in the absence of the discharge of the said undertakings, the Attorney
General had knowledge of and/or involvement in the unexpected proclamation of Section 34,
thereby prematurely bringing into force an amnesty with consequences for certain legal
proceedings involving certain persons;
AND WHEREAS earlier, the Attorney General made certain decisions in an extradition matter
involving those said certain persons;
AND WHEREAS as a consequence of this series of developments there is widespread unease,
anger, disappointment and a general sense of loss of confidence in the Attorney General among a
large cross-section of the national population;
AND WHEREAS the Attorney General has accepted no responsibility for the improper
discharge of his constitutional duties:
BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable House express its strongest disapproval of the
flagrant breach of Parliamentary trust by the Attorney General’s involvement in the premature
proclamation of Section 34;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Honourable House express its loss of
confidence in the Attorney General and call on the Prime Minister to immediately relieve him of
the portfolio of Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago.

…And a Boddle of Rum!

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Hear nah, i feel 3 Zero have to be the official drink of the People’s Partnership and all man Jack Warner and Jamal Mohammed taking it through an IV.

I thought today’s low point was people from East Port of Spain telling reporters frankomen that if the Government aint give better paying jobs they will loot out Port of Spain….but no, it got better than that. Because angry citizens threatening to pillage and sack is one thing. But when you have your Minister of Local Government saying normal normal on TV that $69 a day is minimum wage you have to read between the lines and get what he saying. After Kamla and she small goal side pound Manning and the PNM for encouraging dependency, “gimme gimme” attitudes, and perpetuating a culture of handouts, Suruj Rambachan will come and admit that they government willing to pay people to work for 4 hours a day! because suruj cyah mean that people going to work an 8-hr day….which is the length of a normal working day….for $69. And if you telling me you hiring people for 4 hours a day, then the UNC is not only part of the problem, them IS the problem! Is not them self complain about this shit? Really?

And all of a sudden Jack Warner, the minister of everything, can’t be found to address a National Security issue…..well look thing!

But in the middle of TV6 news tonight i see the extent of this government 3 Zero problem. Imagine COP member, appointed Senator, Minister of Information, Jamal Mohammed will send a letter from the Office of the Prime Minister to the head of news at TV6, couched in racist language attacking the media and issuing  a not-so-subtle threat?

Take a read at CCN TV6′s post:

#ProtectThePress
Government’s Communications Minister Jamal Mohammed writes CCN Group Head of News a letter of complaint which he said is not the government’s position but “just the vides of an insignificant muslim coolie from San Juan”. He said the letter was not for publication but CCN Head of News informed him that that was not possible given his position in the Cabinet. CCN regards the letter

to be an act of attempted intimidation and, therefore the contents deserved to be made public.
The e-mail pointed out the following:
1. ‘Something seems to be going on at TV6 and the Express and it is not too nice.’
2. ‘A blind man can see that there is a clear bias at both TV6 and the Express.’
3. ‘…reports are being presented in the name of investigative journalism and the only rationale for these reports is to embarrass certain individuals.”
4. “It is clear to me that there is a specific agenda to discredit Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and members of her government.”
5. “Since May 2010, I have seen for myself a deliberate and targetted barrage of accusations and misrepresentations about the People’s Partnership as if there is an ultimate objective to make the Government fall.”
6. “To make matters worse, a deliberate programme has appeared on both TV6 and the Express, where the PNM is being re-branded, refreshed and re-aligned so that it will become a new PNM ready for governance with the fall of the People’s Partnership”.
7. “I have noticed that anytime (without exception) there is a perceived problem concerning the Partnership Government, there is always a PNM Official ready, willing and able to make comment. This is most unfortunate.”
Should Jamal Mohammed be put on suicide watch? Better yet, should we put Kamal Mohammed on suicide watch because I sure Cha Cha want to dead with shame right now.
I hope that after penning that particular letter he write a letter of resignation one time too.
This government gone clear! and yet our biggest critic on media and culture can’t manage to do a proper column yet about how the UNC and Media. In 1996, within the first 90 days of his government Panday attacked Jones P Madeira because he was pissed off at how often pictures of him with a glass in hand appeared in the newspapers. Panday issued a ban on the Guardian and all of its reporters from all Government functions until Madeira was fired. That was the ultimatum. In a scramble some of the top news paper editors and publishers of the region flew in to Trinidad to meet with Panday and assuage his feelings by offering to be media watch dogs. His relationship with the media thereafter didn’t improve.
Flash forward to UNC 2010 and though Kamla started off on a positive note with the media in the last 3 years her government has issued attack after attack on the press. It started with appointments to state media boards, then the changes at CNMG, then the firing of Fazeer Mohammed. Then the death threats from Sasha Mohammed/Janice Thomas to Express editors and reporters. Then the raid on the Express. Then the raid on the Newsday. In between you had the government restricting all advertising funding to the Mirror Newspaper and Gayelle.  Then there was the firings at Power 102.1 FM.  Then recently there have been the attacks on Asha Javeed and Denyse Renne by UNC bloggers.  And I feel quite certain that I have missed a few.
Jamal Mohammed must have lost his mind. Or maybe he is just an example of a meltdown within the government. I mean really….”insignificant muslim coolie”? Does that mean “recalcitrant minority” off the hook now? Study yuh head good….you think if Keith Rowley was to ever put God out of his thoughts and use language like that to describe a citizen here he or his party could live it down? Yet Mohammed felt the need to use reductive language, of a racist nature and then pretend he wasn’t doing so in his official capacity as Minister of Information? Is it that he and Dominic Kallipersad are penpals and often discuss politics together? In what capacity other than his official one could Mohammed have been writing a media house?
He has brought the Senate, the Cabinet, the Government and the Country into disrepute with this letter, and he has also threatened our democracy by issuing this veiled threat to the media. Express and TV6 are doing their jobs…plain and simple….and it would have been great if Jamal Mohammed….a member of a bloated and overstaffed Cabinet…had actually done his!
JAMAL NEEDS TO GO, NOW!!!!!!!!!
De Vice Cyah Done!

Get in Whose Section?

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This morning I know most of us are coming to terms with the details of the Budget for 2012/2013. We are trying to figure out how exactly this was a budget that targets the rich when both middle and lower income persons will face the brunt of the reduced fuel subsidy and all its fall out in the areas of increased taxi fares and prices for anything that requires fuel. The business community here has never impressed the population with scruples; so, I imagine plenty belly banding start already. And then there is the illusion of lower food prices because of VAT removal. As of the time of writing the government is yet to release this list of 7000 new items that are now non-Vatable. I do know that she listed Ovaltine and Milo as some of the new items that are zero-rated, when in truth and fact Ovaltine and Milo were zero-rated under the previous regime…but she was advised!

But my focus this morning is still the Pre-Budget Rally, not for its uselessness and vulgar display of a government addicted to its own PR. Rather for the implications of the Prime Minister’s speech.

Our politics has always been riddled with ethnic tension. Political scientist Kirk Meighoo notes that “Indian-Negro tensions manifested themselves as early as Jamuary 1961…” as a result of PNM supporters breaking up DLP meetings. The DLP complained that they were not receiving adequate protection by the “Negro-dominated police”. Meighoo goes on to say that the elections of 1961 “have been considered the most tense in the country’s history, with race seeming to dominate the campaigns.” Fed up of PNM attacks on his meetings, DLP leader Rudranath Capildeo lost his temper at a meeting one evening and called on his supporters to take action. He said to them, “You will be called to arms. Wherever the PNM holds a meeting you will have to break it up.” And violence did break out during that election, causing limited States of Emergency in political seats like St. Augustine, Barataria, Caroni East and Chaguanas.

Flash forward to the present. On Saturday Mrs Persad-Bissessar made several statements that caused me some alarm. She advised the crowd to, “get in yuh section”, “an election is coming”, “we know who the enemy is”. Sections? Enemies? If this was a pre-Budget rally, why was it sounding like an election campaign? Why was the Prime Minister, at a meeting she claims the people called for, making comments that indicated it was “We versus Them”? In a country of Trinbagonians, who precisely are the “enemies” that the PM is speaking of? And why such divisive and attacking language? The election she referred to was the THA election. And the mood of the crowd at the time of her speech was drunkenly aggressive. I was standing in the midst of it looking on and wondering what madness was being incited at the Mid-Centre Mall car park. In a country where people’s tempers are stretched thin by any number of daily issues, the Prime Minister was being extremely imprudent.

Prior to the PM’s speech there were many subtle and overt comments to attack the PNM, at what was billed as a pre-Budget Rally. The fiercest attacks came from Ramlogan, Roberts and Moonilal. Their speeches were delivered early in the event, so by the end of the first 45 minutes of an event to announce the Budget, the predominantly UNC crowd was whipped into an anti-PNM frenzy. It was in stark contrast to their rallies of 2010. At those rallies then Opposition Leader Persad-Bissessar had stated to all her her audiences that she was running a clean campaign. There would be no slurring or mudslinging on her platform. She insisted that she was running a campaign focused on sober discussion of issues. The façade of being a principled coalition fell on Saturday.

The woman who is brought onstage to Celine Dion songs, dressed very femininely in demure and muted shades of yellow; the woman who routinely reminds us that her decision-making is informed by her status as both a mother and a grandmother revealed her claws. And she can scratch. At the helm of a party and government responsible for a multi-ethnic population phrases like “get in yuh section” and “we know who the enemy is” sound an alarum.

This in the wake of Warner openly casting aspersions on Asha Javeed, and we start seeing a trend with this government: attack the media, treat citizens of the country that are not Pro-UNC as the enemy and use both subtle and overt references to race and ethnicity as the determining factor.

We already have a situation whereby instead of promoting people who have genuinely achieved, regardless of their ethnicity, this government has been hellbent on reinventing political, social and cultural history to suit itself. Roodal Moonilal, introduced by Anil Roberts, as a man with more degrees than Rowley, announced to the crowd that Adrian Cola Rienzi founded the OWTU. He didn’t. He was the first sitting President of the union because Butler had to go into hiding from the authorities. But he can’t be called the union’s founder. But this is the kind of politics to be expected from this regime. Twisted, menacing and corrupt.

Three months away from THA elections, I still looking for a section. Please advise, Madam PM?