The T and T (Trinidad and Tobago) Political Scene

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The Caribbean Is One Nation
After a brief break we are back. Thanks for your patience.

Submitted by the Mahogany Coconut Group.


National Flag of Trinidad and Tobago
Any hope that former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Ms. Kamla Persad-Bissessar , had of a fresh election to overturn the results of the last one which saw her swept out of office, has been effectively killed by the recent ruling of the Court of Appeal, which ruled that the Electoral Boundaries Commission, did not in any way cause the result to be any different, when it extended the voting hours by one hour . Since such matters are not put to the Privy Council, no further appeal is possible and in the words of our youth: Kamla will have to chill in opposition.
We suggest that the political future of Persad-Bissessar, will now be questioned because she may be forced to finally offer her position as parliamentary leader to a more attractive colleague to challenge the Peoples National Party(PNC) in another five years or so. Unfortunately, we do not see any bright prospects within the ranks of her party, the United National Party(UNC) at present. However, a day in politics is a long time and four years must be equivalent to four or five life times.
Since most legal luminaries had posited that the court challenge had little or no chance of overturning the elections, the outcome is perhaps only of psychological importance. It means that the public and government can move forward without excessive and prolonged legal rumblings. The sad truth is that Trinidad and Tobago can ill afford any development that hinders governance this time. Widespread crime is proving to be a great headache for the new Dr. Keith Rowley administration; falling oil prices have derailed its once buoyant economy and public squabbles between President Anthony Carmona and Rowley , have caused some public uneasiness. A return to the polls , in the midst of such issues would have been the straw to break the camel’s back.
We can therefore expect a rather quiet political period outside of the occasional flares up that are a constant in what we call island politics. The major job of the Rowley administration is to ensure that the economy does not deteriorate, to such an extent, that all the gains made during the past two decades simply disappear. As we have often stated, a weak Trinidad economy is detrimental to the entire region. In many ways , not withstanding the rather low keyed announcement that the elections were free and fair, we submit that once more the unique ability of the Trinidadian to make seemingly difficult periods just a part of everyday life has won the day.

 Of note......
Since then Persad-Bissessar's  United National Congress, showed some gains in the recent 
local government elections. So Persad-Bissessar, lives to fight another day, since she can
claim some moral victory in that the ruling Peoples National Movement (PNM) lost some
ground but was still victorious.
Perhaps we have not heard the last of "Auntie Kamla"

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