By Stephen Kangal
April 18, 2018
In spite of the surprising level of sensitivity and thin skin displayed by Her Excellency The President Ms Paula Mae-Weekes to public concerns expressed on the Darryl Smith appointment I submit that she should not have acceded immediately to the advice of the Prime Minister and proceeded unwittingly to appoint ailing Maxie Cuffy in a new post as a Minister.
Continue reading President Erred In Appointing Cuffie a Minister
By Stephen Kangal
April 11, 2018
Professed terylene ignorance of goings-on at Minister Moses’ own Ministry, allegations of a deliberate conspiracy to side line his weak and wobbly political directorate/ tenure in foreign policy finalization and lastly non-attendance by T&T at the March 15 OAS Budget Committee Meeting of officials on the Dominica waiver issue are being given centre-stage in the unconvincing explanatory paradigm for the anti- Dominica T&T vote debacle as well as the justification for the absolution by The Prime Minister of an out-of-his-depth, bed-raggled, somnolent and confused Foreign Minister Moses.
Continue reading Ignorance and Conspiracy No Bases for Moses’ Absolution
The statement from the Office of the Prime Minister
Today, (April 10, 2018) Prime Minister Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley advised Her Excellency Paula-Mae Weekes, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in keeping with the provision of Section 3(9) of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, to revoke the appointment of Mr Darryl Smith as Minister in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
This following a meeting between the Prime Minister, the Minister of Planning and Development, the Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis and Mr Smith during which new information came to the attention of the Prime Minister.
Continue reading Darryl Smith Fired by Rowley
By Raffique Shah
April 04, 2018
He was the most sincere, humble, decent political leader I’ve known, Of course, mere mention of sincerity, humility and decency as being the foremost character traits of any politician, especially when he was the leader of a main party in any country, axiomatically infer that he was also a failure if success is measured by winning elections and holding on to power.
All of the above were true of Cheddi Jagan, Guyana’s first Chief Minister (in 1953, when the colony was named British Guiana), a patriot whose birth centenary passed very quietly on March 22. In fact, I, who considered Cheddi a friend and comrade, would have not remembered the occasion had my columnist colleague Ricky Singh not written about it.
Continue reading Remembering Cheddi Jagan
By Stephen Kangal
April 04, 2018
The woeful conduct or lack thereof of T&T’s foreign relations/policies has degenerated to such a paltry and embarrassing state of affairs under lame-duck and struggling Minister Dennis Moses that even a grass-roots National Workers Union (NWU) is more in tune with our high profile foreign policy towards beleaguered Dominica than our current accredited Head of Mission to the USA/OAS, Ambassador Anthony Phillip-Spencer.
Continue reading Workers Union Betters Our US Ambassador
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 3, 2018
On Monday I attended UNC’s Monday Night Forum. Nothing out of the ordinary, I thought. I have always attended political meetings of every stripe to understand the political currents of my society and the world. I never supported Tapia, but Lloyd Best and I remained the best of friends. We attended the same primary school.
In 1972 David Abdullah contested the Tunapuna seat as a candidate for the ULF. I voted for the PNM. We remain friends. I was never a fast friend of Basdeo Panday but nothing stopped me from attending ULF meetings at Mid-Center Mall and other places. In August of last year, Nicole Dyer-Griffith was contesting the leadership of Congress of the People. I attended a meeting at the Tunapuna Community Centre to hear what she had to say.
Continue reading Permission Please, Sir
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 27, 2018
“A true and worthy ideal frees and uplifts a people; a false ideal imprisons and lowers [them].” — W. E. B. Du Bois, “The Souls of White Folks”
I am beyond myself with pride that the present government selected Paula-Mae Weekes to be the first president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (TT). It speaks volumes about our confidence in ourselves and points the way forward. This appointment speaks volumes particularly when women are being targeted, demeaned, and killed with growing frequency.
Continue reading Our Humble First Servant
By Stephen Kangal
March 27, 2018
Current proposals that are now in the public domain by way of the Bill No 5 0f 2018 geared to accord a higher level of self -governance to Tobagonians will create another façade Legislature like that of its predecessor exercising political and administrative autonomy merely to achieve peace, order and good governance. Tobago must be treated with dignity and their ownership or sovereign rights over adjacent maritime resources (living and non-living) to be exploited for the welfare of its people must be recognized and legitimized. This is the age of Nationalism.
Continue reading Tobago’s Claims over Its Maritime Resources
By Raffique Shah
March 23, 2018
It may well be a case of too little, too late. It might even be a classic case of trying to set right an historical economic wrong when the oil barrel is about to run dry. But for sure, Government’s Rip Van Winkle’s rude awakening to the reality that Trinidad and Tobago has for far too long been gang-raped by the large energy corporations, with the complicity of its mothers and stepmothers (successive governments and some of the elites), reduces informed patriots to a mixture of tears and guffaws.
Continue reading Too little, too late?
March 19, 2018
Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain
Fellow citizens from the least among you to the greatest and other distinguished guests.
Continue reading Inaugural Address of President Paula-Mae Weekes