By Stephen Kangal
August 26, 2014
Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning now in the twilight of his long political career, albeit sadly interrupted by an unfortunate cessation of blood to part of his brain, made a fool of himself by concealing more than revealing in his Press Statement on the magnanimous offer of an ORTT by the Prime Minister.
How can a former Prime Minister and longest serving MP not know and appreciate the subtle and quite obvious distinction and separation between the party that is the UNC/COP and the current Government; between political matters/banter transacted in the cut and thrust of the electioneering hustings on the one hand and matters of state involving the offices of The President/ the Prime Minister during the most important national occasion on our celebratory calendar?
Will Manning now admit that he has forgiven, forgotten and retracted as untrue the speech he made on the raging bull/wajang as PM in Parliament because he has given a direct endorsement of Mr Rowley who according to him “…will bring back pride in our liberty…” Age is not bringing back political wisdom.
Mr .Manning of all persons ought to know and remember that the CJ-Chaired National Awards Committee straddles all Administrations. It is not unique and exclusive to the PNM as he deliberately and erroneously posited in his prepared statement. Additionally the Office of the Prime Minister does not contact the nominees for their prior approval. The Office of The President performs that function.
This is the last week of August by which time a former three time PM for many years (12) ought to remember that the National Committee would have done its work and submitted its recommendations to the PM who has the powers as Manning did to add and subtract and forward the approved list for implementation by His Excellency The President. It is the President who releases the names to the media for publication on the morning of 31 August annually and not the OPM.
What does Manning mean by “dignity?” Prime Ministerial nominations/additions to the list do not go before the National Awards Committee.
The “I” in Manning has clouded his judgment. His prepared Press Statement is a poor reflection on his advisers/speech writers who wanted to throw dust in our faces by claiming victimhood and alleging that the PP won the 2010 elections because they attacked the personal integrity of poor, convalescing, Mr. Manning.
The PP won and Mr. Manning lost the 2010 elections because the people had enough of him. They gave him a 29/12 meltdown verdict fueled by the prodigal spending of his sweet-Hart, his property tax, rapid rail, UDECOTT, secret scholarships. Even Arima, La Horquetta, D”Abadie/ O’ Meara rebelled against him in an unprecedented historical rejection of the PNM and its vindictive agenda.
It had nothing to do with his alleged character assassination by the UNC/COP but his puerile vendetta against our Penny from Arima and Hazel calling Arima bush.
The electorate spoke very loudly on 24 May 2010 and this cost him several seats in the East.
If millionaire Mr .Manning now in receipt of an MP salary and full salary as PM as his pension had any principles he would have refused the largesse doled out to him by the Prime Minister for defraying his recent medical attention received abroad since he cannot distinguish between the party and the Government. That would have been consistency and his cosmetic claim to statesmanship.
Mr .Manning on the cusp of his retirement from parliamentary politics is still being economical with the truth even though he had time to consider what he had to say to salvage his integrity and reputation and politely refuse the offer of the ORTT from the Head of governance.
That is what 12 years as Prime Minister and serving as an MP/Minister since 1971 under Prime Ministers Williams and Chambers should have instilled in him. He was the elder/ more experienced statesman compared to the sitting Prime Minister. He sacrificed his duty to display humble statesmanship on the altar of political expediency and one up-manship in the twilight zone of his political career. Political blood is really thicker than water.
Perhaps he was talking to his exclusionary PNM 28% and not all of T&T because he cannot appreciate the consistent magnanimity extended to him by this inclusionary-prone Prime Minister sister Kam.
Your opinion. A waste of reading. Disrespectful and biased.
If Mannout had an ounce of dignty he should have not accepted PP Gov’t help for his medical biil. he should’ve spent some of his or his sweetHart’s millions. That would’ve been true dignity exemplified.
Manning probably felt some sort of perverse revenge when he refused the award. His public grandstanding in the refusal fits his megalomania and sense of delusional grandeur. Please Mr.Manning ,ride away into the sunset and take Mr. Panday with you.
Well what can be expected from a sycophant for whom right and wrongs will always have a racial influence. Of course Manning was correct to refuse the award. There is a protocol for this, and the Prime Minister and her assembly, seemingly, are so deeply influenced by their sense of being Lords of the Manor that adherence to simple courtesies has become a nuisance to them.
Rodwell, by now you should have guessed that pagans sense of right and wrong does not come on a moral scale of balance. Protocol? what protocol? as long as it is done by one of their own, thats protocol enough. If Manning were to have ‘accepted’ their ORTT award void of the courtesy of being forewarned, void of consideration by the Awards commission and lacking in approval by the President, but presented on a silver platter by her majesty, then what a great occasion that would be!. The ‘magnanimity’ of her majesty to present such an award to a lamed opponent who no longer have the physical strength and aptitude to combat a fly is not a consideration here. He must be shown who is boss – Queen Kamla of course! Manning should not even have a mind of his own that his christian upbringing has nurtured in him. Paganism rules and he must abide by the rites, rituals and ceremonies that are so well orchestrated in the new order of things. This must be so, until the people decides to change it. Until then we must heed the advice of TMan who sees Manning’s action as for not accepting as “perverse revenge”,Country Boy suggestion that “If Mannout had an ounce of dignty he should have not accepted PP Gov’t help for his medical biil.” or as Kangal put it, he “made a fool of himself by concealing more than revealing in his Press Statement on the magnanimous offer of an ORTT by the Prime Minister.” Now, my friend Rodwell, with statements like these are you still wondering why paganism is reigning supreme? Gone are the days of respecting one’s right to see things by his own judgement using moral and christian values that used to be so common. Gone are the days when we looked to QRC,CofC, Convent, Pres and Naps to provide us with grads we can all look up to, now we have to rely on the grads of Sat’s school of public policy to tell us how stupid we are not to acceptant tainted awards. The pagans are now drunk with power and for now allow them their time to savor in their drunkenness with the thought of perpetual power.
Patrick Manning’s spy list featured some very prominent citizens.
They included then president George Maxwell Richards; then chief justice Sat Sharma, then acting police commissioner James Philbert and, yes, also Keith Rowley, then known for his difficult relationship with Mr Manning.
Is this the same Rowley that Manning now views as the savior of the nation?
I’ve got news for you TMan, show me a responsible government that does not keep tabs on its most prominent citizens and I’ll show you a failed country.
What’s your point T-Man? Jack Warner once viewed your illustrious PM, as an uncontrollable drunkard, then got into bed wit her , so as to help topple de Faddah of you nation, in papa Baz.
Both Baz, and most of the UNC, likewise saw him as an ego inflated rogue, and vagabond, but had no problems using his huge , financial war chest, to service their power grab.
Give it a rest, and learn the subtle nuances of politics, as played out not only in T&T , but globally,mi amigo.
It create’s strange bed-follows.
Jews once viewed Arafat, as a neo terrorist bandit, yet PM Yitzhak Rabin, broke bread wit him , in their quest for elusive , peace.
Mandela had racist Apartheid sympathizers in his cabinet.
While campaigning,G H Bush , once called Ronald Reagan proposed policies,” Voodoo economics, “and was eventually made VP by said Reagan, where he served loyally , for 8 years.
Basdeo Panday could not stand the best bone in either his lawyer Ramesh Lawrence Maraj, or Awee Bouy ANR body, and yet the former served as his trusted AG, while the latter. …
Speaking of country hating, fake refugee bums,ain’t it amazing how this T Man fellow , and others of similar make up,are suddenly enamored with T&T?
Need I say more?
Oh how peaceful and desirous our maligned country has become again.
Tell us TMan, so are you guys planning to pull dat stupid stunt again, once, de Mason Hall kid, Uncle Rowley, ascend the political throne?
You are right, my friend.Trinidad is becoming enamored again. Crime, including murders is down substantially,the economy is booming and we are represented by a diverse coalition government, instead of a protocol driven, colonial one-sided PNM power hungry regime.
In terms of declaring “refugee” status overseas, it might happen again if a Rowley government, in typical PNM style, re-introduces discrimination against Indians in the public service hiring and promotions,secret scholarships for party insiders,elimination of funding for religious observances,reduction of funding for the “cowsheds”,discrimination against Indians in the issuance of national awards,neglect of the South and UNC held constituencies, awarding of contracts to PNM donors only,minimizing Indian culture and traditions,etc. etc.
There you go Neal! indian to d bone. You hear nothing in their conversation about oneness or Trinidad. Indian, South, Caroni, ‘discrimination against indians’,Indian culture and a host of other (Indian) grievances. He even introduced the idea of another “refugee” claim. However, it is heartening to hear TMan say that ‘the economy is booming’, helped in no small part by the now famous export of gas which was developed by the much touted and hated ‘PNM’.
And eric and the PNM surely discriminated agaist Seeraram Bros, Mootilal Moonan. PNM would tell the base don’t supoort Maraj jewllers, Ram kirpalani, Kirpsons, Ackbaralis. Don’t buy roti and double from them. Don’t go to Pagwa and Hosays. Don’t invite to your house on christmas. Don’t support they rumshops. PNM use to tell them all of that.
Why are some people deliberately not considering whether the award was done in the right way or not? Isn’t there a formal, established procedure, as explained by the author of the original article on the response of Mr Manning, for deciding who merits receiving a national award and for making the public announcement of the class of award and the name of the recipient? In Mr Manning’s case, was this procedure followed? If yes, he had no grounds for complaint.
In our society more and more people are supporting wrong and sometimes even going so far as brazenly trying to make those who do the right thing look and feel stupid.
National Awards missteps
Express Editorial
August 31, 2014
We congratulate all recipients of National Awards and thank them for their service to community and country. To one degree or another, all have distinguished themselves sufficiently to have been considered worthy of national praise, gratitude and accolade.
Having said that, however, we cannot escape acknowledging the missteps that marked the 2014 National Awards which put a damper on yesterday’s awards ceremony. A full two weeks ahead of the awards came the first fiasco when the Prime Minister prematurely announced, without consultation with either man, that predecessor prime ministers Patrick Manning and Basdeo Panday were to be awarded the nation’s highest honour of the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT). If the public thought that was bad enough, worse was to come on the eve of the awards when the family of murdered attorney, Dana Seetahal, SC expressed open disappointment over of the award of the Chaconia Medal Gold to her. The family’s disappointment followed a recommendation by the Powerful Ladies Organisation of T&T (PLOTT) for Ms Seetahal to be given the ORTT.
Perhaps, worst of all, however, was the abrupt withdrawal, without explanation, of the award of the Chaconia Medal Silver to Dr Ian Hypolite, coach of 400 metres hurdles world champion, Jehue Gordon. According to Dr Hypolite, the Office of the President had been in communication with him regarding the award ceremony as a recipient of the Chaconia Silver. Then, one month before the ceremony, he received a letter from the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Sport advising him that Cabinet’s decision of August 29, 2013 to award him the Chaconia Silver had been rescinded. No explanation was given.
This newspaper is of the firm view that not only is an explanation required to Dr Hypolite, but an apology as well. If there is a sound basis for this withdrawal, it should have been factored into the decision on the recommendation to honour him in the first place. If it is not, then it amounts to yet another example of the thoughtless arbitrariness that is increasingly coming to define public affairs. This cannot be allowed to continue.
As the custodian of the List of National Honours, we urge the Office of the President to conduct a full and thorough review of the process in order to determine what went wrong this year and to ensure that never again will the awards be rocked by such ineptitude.
Above all, public trust in, and respect for the National Honours need to be protected from the cut and thrust of careless interests. This goes to the heart of the process by which persons are nominated and selected for honour. Only trust in the process will assure the public of the integrity of the annual list of honours and only an effective process will protect it from error and dispute. This can only be achieved by clarity and transparency of process and public understanding of, and confidence in the process.
All involved must commit to ensuring that the debacles of 2014 are never again repeated.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/National-Awards-missteps-273414891.html
It is my opinion that the process is entrenched but the misstep was when the PM communicated to the press at that time without the President House announcing to the public firstly. With respect to the former PMs Manning and Panday they have all rights to refuse or accept. That is the basic tenet of contract; offer and acceptance. With respect to Ms. Seetahal’ posthumous award and her being recognized wuth Chaconia Gold so quickly, keep in mind the public was not aware as such as to the legal matters she was handling for the State that implicated the loss of her life. I remember my father lecturing to me whatever recognition you do receive from your colleagues receive such graciously and with humility. In this case the Nation was recognizing her posthumously.
Seetahal’s award was premature. Her murder is under investigation. It would have been wiser to await the results of her murder investigation before deciding to give her an award.
What happens if she is implicated in wrongdoing during the investigation. This is pure speculation on my part but in T&T today one never knows.
Wise answer TMan. The public’s emotion is very much behind Dana’s untimely death and there is a great deal of sympathy there, but awards should not be about emotions and feelings. It should be about sound judgement and convictions. Time should also be allowed to elapse before such considerations.
A high end legal luminary, elite scholar, and law abiding patriot, like Auntie Seetahal, would have indulged in criminal activities before she was murdered TMan? Pray , perish de thought, mi amigo!
‘Me think ,’ that you are simply – in de words of my late, extremely wise, Tobago Granny-‘playing dead to catch cobeaux alive,’ and it ain’t working.
It’s simply amazing how this PP regime , in just 4 years ,has brazenly ,bastadize our national awards system, and yet her many ,morally repugnant,adoring fans ,led by de likes of TMan, Mamboo, and Royal Trini, refuse to chastise her.
I won’t be surprise one bit ,if this glorified PM of yours, accept 65,000 pounds of Guyanese gold , in exchange for 3 of our oil/gas rigs, then build a special award, for her Spiritual adviser, Papa Sat, re his lifetime contributions,towards racial harmony, and peaceful coexistence ,across T&T.
Stay vigilant people!
An excellent comment from a reader:
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s announcement that she had recommended to President Anthony Carmona that former Prime Ministers Patrick Manning and Basdeo Panday receive the country’s highest award, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, has caused Manning to suddenly find his voice. In so doing he only stuffed his foot further down his throat.
All the reasons given by Manning to justify his refusal of the award show that he is still hurting from his sudden removal from the Prime Minister’s residence that he has no one to blame for but himself. His views are really like those only a kid would give.
His claim that Persad-Bissessr was able to win government through a series of sustained and vicious attacks on his character is foolishness and pure hogwash. Persad-Bissessar told no lies, produced no fake emails on Manning’s character and was open to be sued by him in our courts. Manning did nothing to refute what was put in the public domain. Were the issues surrounding Calder Hart, his spiritual adviser Pena, the rape of the Treasury lies? Was the Brian Lara Stadium completed? In its incomplete state was money well spent? Was the east-bound highway extention completed? Was money well spent? Were jobs for the boys, family and party fanatics not shelled out? The list is huge. It is a crying shame that Manning will voice that Persad- Bissessar is the worst Prime Minister in our history without giving one reason. Oh boy, this man is blinded by a serious bout of political tabanca. Manning would have been better advised to be a man and call the Prime Minister and teach her a lesson on protocol but no, he is not a statesmen, not even in the making.
As he has found his voice his constituents will be happy now so that he can speak for them in Parliament. But that is far away from him as the person who “evicted” him from the Prime Minister’s Office sits in a position his eyes cannot avoid. What a shame for a man with so many years in public office.
It is too bad that pagans have found disapproval in Manning’s refusal to accept but I want to remind them that ii is christian to refuse something that one believes is tainted. He exercised his moral virtues and decided to reject. Why can’t pagans understand that? Leave it alone, the man does not want it, what are your problems?
Reading some literature on the great C.L.R James and Frantz Fanon, renowned authors, educators, activists, social commentators and revisionists of the first order, I realized that there are so many aspects to racism that it sometimes raise it’s ugly head in condescending forms. Frank Worrell was the first non-white West Indian to become captain of the West Indies Cricket team. What we don’t concentrate on is the fact that prior to that and after that we were living with active racism in the field of sports. Sometimes we so love the sports that we sometimes forget that politics and sports go hand in hand, so the transition from say Franz Alexander to Frank Worrell, whilst history making in the context of colour was the act of active racism occurring in the daily lives of us all as West Indians. Little did we know that the transition did not just occur because someone or some people in the sporting hierarchy, sitting in the air-conditioned offices of Queen Park Oval thought that it was a good idea to elevate a black man to the captaincy of the team. It was actually the work of people like C.L.R James and others, who used their notoriety to fight for the elevation of Worrell. The point here is this. The disgust with Manning’s refusal to accept Kamla’s offer of ORTT (or whatever that means), has stirred racial feelings amongst her followers who express their racism in different forms. Their expressions of dismay and anger at Manning’s refusal to accept this award comes and a blow to them in the form of a black refusing to be ‘honored’ by an Indian whom many of her followers consider ‘their queen’. So, to them it is upsetting to know that, having used her powers to show them and the world that she is ‘magnanimous’, she offers (as a signal of peace) an award (that was tainted in the first place by the activism of Sat Maharaj – to be changed) that has lost it’s original meaning and significance. Incidently, it was under Manning’s administration that the Privy Council ruled that the previous name ‘Trinity Cross’ was racist in origin and it’s naming. Enough has said and written about this racism that the name entailed. But we are not merely playing with words and semantics here, it is the raw power and showing who is boss that is at stake. From strictly a political point of view, it would be foolish and of an inferior complex, were Manning to accept this offer. Read the venom with which people like TMan, Stephen Kangal, BrilliantIdiot and CountryBoy write. On one hand they praise Kamla for offering it to him and on the other hand they denounce him for his leadership as prime minister and leader of the PNM. He is either worthy of the award or not. How can he he be chastised for not accepting and denounced for the leadership for which he is being awarded at the same time? It is puerile and condescending to offer both feelings at the same time. This is in fact racism in the extreme because on one hand you want me to accept your offer in good faith and the other damn you and criticize you for not accepting. It is in fact one saying ‘I am superior to you, so you must show your inferiority by accepting what I gave to you’. This appears to be the general sentiment offered by the vicious attacks on the refusal of Mr. Manning, which everyone know was made with serious political calculations. It is strange that Mr. Panday too refused the award, but I read no such criticism of him by these bloggers. It is the reason why my belief is that what they are offering us readers is the kind that was so prevalent under the rule of paganism. It shows that paganism is live and well in our midst and when there is an administration that shows there is no ethics, morality, justice, integrity or forethought that go into decision making, it means we have and will continue to serious problems with governance for a long time, if it goes unchecked and un hindered. Racism becomes the rule of law, as is the undertone of the recently passed bill to amend the constitution by using an electoral process that would accentuate race as its measure. The most foreboding of constitutional desires requiring change is campaign financing. Yet, they choose to concentrate on election reform without a word of any intent to make changes to the way elections are financed. There are many flaws and well deserved changes to be made to this process but, left unchanged, it favors this administrations desire to be reelected (by any means necessary). Kamla’s time would be better served if she were to present changes to this method of campaign financing hat would definitely ensure ‘more democracy’ as they would like to put it. In the meantime, racism by any other name is still racism, it does not matter what form it is put into, it remains racism. They exponents of racism are always the first to call other people racist. It must be the art of reflecting one’s inner feeling before becoming detected.
We should add Kian, that apparently our Trini Hindustani cuz , uumight also subscribe to dat belief too, ennt?
If not, then did Papa Baz, not take his Protégé offer, but opted to give her the middle finger instead, as it were?
Oops, I forgot that ‘de national divider in chief,’ of “dis is our time”fame, in addition to his overhyped Law degree, studied Drama in London, si?
These country hating bozos-ah tell you!
May our ‘Afro-Buddah-Sun God,’ save us from the obvious suffering, they have continually tried to inflict on this underachieving country, while in , and out of power, eeeeeeH?