By Stephen Kangal
May 27, 2010
The peaceful and civilized conduct and determination of the 2010 elections without incidents in which there was so much at stake for the incumbent regime makes me feel proud to be trini. The tenour of this election signals that T&T has achieved a note-worthy and qualitative leap in several aspects in the evolution of our political culture. This is the people’s achievement acting collectively to get the politics and its operating environment right.
Since 1986 I have always believed in the sagacity of the electorate to act decisively and to do justice when the national imperative demanded it. Manning took the electorate for granted and paid the ultimate price for his dictatorial arrogance and opulent life-style. His was a classic case of power corrupting the holder absolutely.
He felt that dispensing political state patronage and taking good care of the PNM selective faithful was a passport to political immortality. In the last twenty-four years, the PNM has lost four out of the eight elections held including two embarrassing melt-downs. Both in 1986 and 2010 wanton and widespread corruption constituted the undoing of the PNM. To suggest the spin that Manning acted independently of the PNM is pure foolishness of the highest order.
Can a re-branded PNM with new leadership ever convince the people again that it can break away from its cultural moorings of stigmatised graft, endemic corruption, secretive governance, exclusion and shameful abuse of the public purse for partisan electioneering purposes?
These sordid memories of repeated mismanagement of the patrimony are now permanently etched in our psyche.
Now We Can All Rise
THE EDITOR: The dogs can bark again. Where once there was darkness, there is now light. Arrogance, waste and visions of grandeur can now be placed to rest. Patrick Manning did his best but it was not good enough. He squandered hundreds of millions of dollars while holding in abeyance the immediate basic needs of those whose voices were muted for too long. And now we can all rise as one people, one Nation.
Trinidad and Tobago the best of times are ahead of us but not without sacrifices. As we forge our true identity, it will be inclusive, it will be participatory and it will be the will of the people. Mr. Manning, thank you. We learned much from your style of self gratified governance. Be assured that we will never walk that road again.
Jennifer V. Hosein
via email
http://www1.american.edu/ted/TOBAGO.HTM
So now that the prom night celebrations are over , and everyone , with previous venom in their hearts ,has finally developing a humongous love for their country once more- for obvious reason. Let us now begin the task of moving on to running our country, in a manner that is reflective of a leading regional , budding ,economic , resource laden giant, hummm?. Welcome aboard to our business class , you can begin to reinvest in our country again, after decades of irresponsible profiteering, and off shore banking .
Come on home , you ungrateful Trini foreigners, that spent the past 15 years of your despicable lives, tarnishing the image of your county abroad, to any one gullible enough to care about your lamentations of genocidal , terroristic , discrimination claims.
How ironic , that some of these political pundits are so overwhelmed with surprise, at the recent progressive
developments, as if this was the first time one political party was ever voted out of office ,and replaced by another in our country, due in great measure to the efforts of the people on the ground that counted.
Then perhaps, it’s because these good , intelligent , and much maligned folks , are the real idiots for voting as they did , and it is more the genius of the ‘new age/ traditional politicians,’ that were responsible for what occurred on May 24th, huh?
Remind ‘dem’ for me again will you, that nation building ain’t easy , better yet , running a country with high expectations after any major revolutionary change , can be quite challenging.
They can ask Uncle Obama, if they have any doubt. Yes , to the business at hand, what is the position with respect to our environmental protection, oil / gas overproduction , the interest of foreign conglomerates,verses the desperate socio economic needs of Trinidad and Tobago citizens – especially at the lower echelons. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575214593564769072.html
We certainly do not like what we are seeing in the gulf near Florida, in Southern Nigeria, and the indigenous people in Ecuador.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201001070491.html
oh yes. well i didn’t feel that way nah and not because i did not agree with the decisoon made by electorate. rather because of some of the derogatory comments coming from the same electorate prior to election and after.
Moreover, apparently my experiences won’t exclusive. This country really had a shock but of a different kind that night.
But anyway maybe for its the best. people like that will be dealt with squarely by those who will not tolerate one iota of racism.
Well it’s about time a woman was put in charge of our beloved countries as men have messed it up for so many, many years. The Trinbagonian women run all their homes mostly successfully, so why not our country. Congratulations to Kamla may God guide her for our country’s success and peace.
well I was always proud to be trinidadian…I had no reason not to be