Category Archives: PNM

Standing Firm in Our Nation’s Faith

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 22, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThe steeple of St. Mary’s Anglican Church is the first landmark that greets anyone who enters the village of Tacarigua from its western side. Although the present building was constructed in 1901, this architectural splendor has been a part of the village landscape since 1843. On August 22, 1901, the Mirror reported that “the old parish Church of St. Mary’s is now leveled to the ground with the exception of the western wall, which it is believed will form part of the new St. Mary’s.” Directly across the Eastern Main Road is the St. Mary’s Children Home. Its first building was constructed in 1857 to accommodate East Indian children whose parents were lost during the long crossing from India to Trinidad.
Continue reading Standing Firm in Our Nation’s Faith

Law, order and our leaders

By Dana Seetahal
December 18, 2010 – trinidadexpress.com

Dana SeetahalWhen I heard Mayor Louis Lee Sing’s statement that he was going to ask the Port of Spain Magistrate’s Court to set midnight as the hour that bars must stop selling liquor in St James and Woodbrook I wondered whether he appreciated there was a separation of powers between the judiciary and the executive.
Continue reading Law, order and our leaders

Cudjoe’s Indian Time Ah Come

Cudjoe’s Indian Time Ah Come Part 1

By Sat Maharaj – December 02, 2010

Secretary General of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, Satnarayan MaharajWhen my friend Prof Selwyn Cudjoe invited me to deliver the feature address at the launch of his latest publication, Indian Time Ah Come In Trinidad and Tobago, my first response was that this was a set-up. Was Selwyn attempting to portray Sat Maharaj and Indians in general as a group glorifying in the political success of the People’s Partnership in a boastful way?
Continue reading Cudjoe’s Indian Time Ah Come

Split in the PNM?

PNM Walkout

Newsday Editorial
December 08 2010 – newsday.co.tt

PNMOpposition Chief Whip Marlene Mc Donald may shut her eyes to reality, play word games and deny her parliamentary bench is split, but Friday’s partial walkout of the Chamber can leave few in doubt of the power struggle that is confusing the PNM side. Friday’s division of the bench showed TT what it has for six months suspected: since losing office, there has existed a tug of war in the Parliament between MPs loyal to new Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley and representatives sympathetic to their former chief, Patrick Manning. Friday was a physical manifestation of the current PNM political reality.
Continue reading Split in the PNM?

A Presidential Challenge

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 01, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeWhat does the president of a country do when he is asked to break the law? He responds firmly and comes down on the side of the law knowing that political leaders are always more concerned about gaining partisan advantage than respecting the laws they were elected to uphold. The Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago has sent a letter to the President of the Republic demanding that he revokes the appointments of the non-executive directors of the Central Bank before their respective terms expire.
Continue reading A Presidential Challenge

I spy, with my electronic eye…

By Raffique Shah
November 20, 2010

Raffique ShahAs I write this column, Government is before Parliament presenting the Interception of Communications bill, which it expects to pass in a marathon sitting. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said she hoped to get support from the opposition PNM, which I feel certain she will.
Continue reading I spy, with my electronic eye…

Manning comes out fighting

SpyingSandy Hits ‘Manic Man’
MINISTER of National Security Brigadier John Sandy yesterday tore into former prime minister Patrick Manning as a “manic man” with “a sick mind” for the wiretapping of persons in public life by a secret spy unit that reported to Manning.

Manning comes out fighting (link fixed)
…says ‘spy’ bill will undermine national security
Continue reading Manning comes out fighting

Setting a Proper Example

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
November 16, 2010

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeI did not vote for the People’s National Movement (PNM) during the last national election. Like so many, I became so disenchanted with the positions and attitudes of the former Prime Minister that I could not, in good faith, support the party which I always supported and of which I am a member. I did not vote for the People’s Partnership (PP) either. Theirs was merely a throwing together of disparate elements whose only objective was to remove the PNM. They had no plans for the country, except for a provision of computers for our students and a promised old-age pension of $3,000 which they repudiated the first day they walked into office. They informed an eager population that it really was not a promise: it was a misprint.
Continue reading Setting a Proper Example

On Mr Manning’s Secret Service

Express Editorial
November 13, 2010 – trinidadexpress.com

SpyingAs the country watched in fascination, former prime minister Patrick Manning showed signs of having been stung into replying to his successor’s revelations about the telecommunications intercepts perpetrated for five years under his rule . Until Friday, Mr Manning, now just another MP, had been mostly silent in the House. It was unseemly of the 39-year parliamentary veteran to insist on an unentitled opportunity to reply, thereby earning the rebukes and an eventual ejection threat from the Speaker.
Continue reading On Mr Manning’s Secret Service

They Spied on the President Too

SpyingClear and present danger
PRESIDENT George Maxwell Richards, former Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma, his wife Kalawati, Government and Opposition politicians, trade-unionists, journalists and even some of their children were subject to secret surveillance by the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA), Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar revealed yesterday as she expressed a “deep sense of personal outrage” over the SIA’s use of illegal wiretapping.
Continue reading They Spied on the President Too