Category Archives: Opposition Party

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

More $$ for judges, parliamentarians

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Two pension bills passed

By Ria Taitt Political Editor
June 15, 2014 – trinidadexpress.com

ParliamentA financial boost for judges and Parliamentarians is on the way.

The holder of the third highest office in the land—the Chief Justice—will now receive the highest pension- $93,223 a month tax free.

This, according to the new pension arrangements passed by the House of Representatives on Friday night at the International Waterfront Centre, Port of Spain.
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Complaints, corruption, Court, Crime in T&T, General T&T, Law, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, UNC

Another scandal we’ll forget

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By Raffique Shah
May 04, 2014

Raffique ShahDoes anybody remember or know what happened with the scandalous “Section 34” issue? I recall that in the euphoria of the 50th anniversary of Independence, on August 31, 2012, some powerful person had that section of the Administration of Justice Act surreptitiously proclaimed, thereby opening a gateway to immunity (well, almost) for persons charged with corruption in the Piarco Airport matter.
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Gender, General T&T, Opposition Party, PNM

Confessions of a Soft Man

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 13, 2014

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLet me confess to my eternal shame that I am a soft man. After my prostatectomy (an operation for prostate cancer) about six years ago, I am sure that I can never win any titles for possessing the hardest hard which some of our calypsonians, promoters of this kind of wisdom, proclaim is the true sign of a real man.
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Elections, General T&T, Opposition Party, PNM, Politics

PNM’s Last Chance

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 05, 2014

Part 1

A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones—and South Africa treated its imprisoned African citizens like animals.

—Nelson Mandela

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI am pretty certain that Keith Rowley will emerge victorious during the PNM’s party election and go on to become the next prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Fortunately, that is the easy part of the political equation. The more difficult part is to govern in such a way that the society emerges in a better place than it is in 2014. That’s the challenge PNM faces when it takes the helm of government. However, if Rowley and the PNM fail to leave Trinidad (and especially our brothers and sisters in our depressed areas) in a better way than they found them in 2014, one can confidently predict that 2020 would mark the beginning of the end of the PNM as a political force in our country.
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Africa, General T&T, Opposition Party, Race and Identity, Racism Watch

Judge not by colour

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By Raffique Shah
February 08, 2014

Raffique ShahI know there are many people in the country who think that Keith Rowley is too black to be Prime Minister. I didn’t need Fitzgerald Hinds to tell me that, although his charge that such sentiment emanates from the bowels of the PNM, from important persons in the party, did surprise me somewhat.

I don’t know why we bury our heads in the sand when the issue of colour prejudice, which is often linked to race prejudice, rears its ugly head in the society. It has always been there, and, I imagine, it always will be. Most people of lighter or whiter complexion, whatever their ethnicity, believe they are superior to others who are dark-skinned, or worse, black.
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COP, General T&T, ILP, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

‘Democracy-Strengthening’ PR An Abject Disaster

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By Stephen Kangal
November 19, 2013

Stephen KangalIt is now patently clear that the mathematically-challenged eleventh hour imposition of the hapless PR formula based on the infamous 25% threshold without undertaking the requisite public consultations by the PPG has crystallized into a pure, unmitigated electoral disaster that back-fired big time. It consigned thousands of burgesses/ electoral districts to be without representation in their respective local government councils.
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General T&T, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

Prove me wrong, PNM

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By Raffique Shah
November 17, 2013

Raffique ShahMuch to the dismay of its detractors, the People’s National Movement (PNM) bounces back like the proverbial bad penny almost ritually every five years since it first lost an election in 1986. In the current political scenario, unless the 57-year-old party shoots itself in the head, the incumbents discover some magical elixir, or a mass uprising, a kind of “Trinidad spring”, occurs and spawns something new and exciting, the PNM will return to power in 2015.
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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

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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.
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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).
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Elections, General T&T, ILP, Media, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics, UNC

PNM WINS AGAIN

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By Andre Bagoo and Clint Chan Tack
November 05, 2013 – newsday.co.tt

PNM WINS AGAINTHE PEOPLE’s National Movement (PNM) candidate Terrence Deyalsingh was last night declared the winner of the St Joseph bye-election, but only after the country was taken to a nail- biting finish for what was expected to be the last election in a historic year.

Deyalsingh’s nearest rival was the United National Congress (UNC)’s Ian Alleyne who, at some points in the night, appeared in the lead. The Independent Liberal Party (ILP)’s Om Lalla managed the third largest share of votes but was not really in the contest.
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