By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
March 27, 2023
Last Monday, Christine Carla Kangaloo was inaugurated as the seventh President of the Republic. I did not support her candidacy to the highest office in the land, but was buoyed by the advice my friend Arnold Rampersad gave me some years ago about one of other political leaders: “Selwyn, she is now our President. We must wish her the best, work with her, and pray that she acts in the interest of our country.”
Continue reading Pristine Christine
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 30, 2023
I wish to congratulate Christine Kangaloo for having been elected to the highest office of the land. Whatever her strengths and/or weaknesses, she now represents all Trinbagonians and so we ought to pledge our allegiance to her. As she said in her acceptance speech: “Now that the election is over, I look forward to serving our country in the only way I know how—with love for all and with an unwavering belief in the innate goodness of our people.”
Continue reading If you start with a lie…
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 16, 2023
“Democracy is not maintained by legal and constitutional texts alone.”
—Attorney Kiel Taklalsingh
A few days ago, the Prime Minister defended his Government’s choice of Christine Kangaloo for President of Trinidad and Tobago. He argued that those people who objected to the Government’s nomination were indulging in “nothing but pure politics… There are people in this country who set out deliberately to mislead the country, and I go as far as to say, incite the population”. (Express, January 9.)
Continue reading It’s always political
By Stephen Kangal
December 30, 2022
I express the hope that our new President will not be exclusively politically correct.
T&T needs a nominee who is above the fray of ethnic-driven domestic politics who understands and appreciates the Constitutionally constricted challenges of presiding over a multicultural diverse society. The incumbent cannot adopt a one -size- fits- all that has become the norm lately.
Continue reading Attributes of the Incoming President
By Raffique Shah
March 29, 2018
I was writing last week’s column when Madam Justice Paula-Mae Weekes’s inauguration as President of the Republic was underway at the Queen’s Park Savannah, so I missed out on most of the pomp and pageantry. No disrespect was intended: President Paula (well, we did have President Max) will understand my absence, what with a deadline to meet, and with Parkinson’s affecting the pace at which I write, though not the speed at which I think or the sharpness of my memory and mind.
Continue reading Reformation before revolution
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
By Raffique Shah
January 24, 2018
The passing of former President Max Richards, coinciding as it did with the unanimous vote by parliamentarians to elect retired Justice Paula Mae Weekes as the first female and new President of the Republic, seems to have triggered a measure of hope among some citizens that the nation can be rescued from its downhill slide by the eminence of the Head of State.
Continue reading Bad omen for new President
Guardian Editorial
July 05, 2015 – guardian.co.tt
The problem is that members of the public might have been so distracted by the President’s rumshop reference—a terse dismissal of their questions and concerns—that crucial aspects of his statement might have been lost.
President Anthony Carmona’s reference to “rumshop logic” in describing citizens’ comments about the latest fallouts from the Integrity Commission is unfortunate. Not only did it defeat what was an otherwise laudable attempt to bring clarity to an issue that has long been a focus of national concern and debate, it has also reinforced recent negative perceptions of that agency. The President was well within his rights to deal with the matter at length—he was, after all the focus of much of the criticisms following the latest implosion of that august body. Unfortunately, his choice of words and his condescending tone served to alienate rather then enlighten.
Continue reading President Carmona, the IC and the public
GIVE IT BACK
By Ria Taitt
November 07, 2014 – trinidadexpress.com
Senior counsel Martin Daly has questioned the legal basis on which the Chief Personnel Officer granted approval for the payment of a tax-free $28,000 housing allowance for President Anthony Carmona.
And former head of the Public Service Reginald Dumas stated yesterday that it would be “ethically reprehensible” if President Carmona is indeed living in State-provided accommodation, while at the same time receiving a housing allowance.
Continue reading Dumas, Daly question President’s $28,000 monthly housing allowance
By Raffique Shah
October 26, 2014
President Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona, to give the man his full handle as Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar never tires of doing, is convinced that my fellow columnists and I are “bulldogs in a ring”, uncouth, devoid of intellect, stuck in the “same ole, same ole” mode, and engaged in self-aggrandisement and worse.
Continue reading No, Tom, No