Martin Daly

Farley Augustine and the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) have interrupted the alarming descent of Trinidad and Tobago into an authoritarian one-party state and I thank them for that. Having comprehensively routed the incumbent People’s National Movement (PNM) in the Tobago House of Assembly elections, in the backyard of its leader …

George Washington Carver was born into conditions of slavery but nevertheless became a prominent agricultural scientist and innovator in crop farming. I mention him in the context of our leaders masking reality with excuses.   Carver stated his view in a single sentence: ‘Ninety-nine per cent of failures come from …

Two weeks ago, the President of the Republic in her words ‘spoke to the issue of the substantive appointment of commissioner of police’ and confirmed that ‘an order of merit list was delivered on 11 August 2021 to the OTP and withdrawn almost immediately’. OTP is a reference to the …

Many readers will recall the political controversies in which President Anthony Carmona, the immediate predecessor of our current president, was involved—arising out of the purported exercise of powers that he thought he had. As a result, citizens hoped that the presidency would return to calmer waters, not made turbulent by …

Who aborted the process for the appointment of a substantive commissioner of police and why? Is the unprecedented situation of the top leadership positions in the Police Service now being vacant the outcome of the President’s acts and omissions concerning the merit list which the Police Service Commission had settled, …

It is well known that in a functioning democracy checks and balances to guard against abuses of power are required in the public interest. In addition to the separation of the respective powers of the political executive (principally the Cabinet), the legislature and the judiciary, there are additional constitutional provisions …

It is not surprising that this government, which has lost its way in a fog of authoritarianism, believes that it can dismiss the collapse of the Police Service Commission (the PolSC) as a trivial event for which it is not obliged to account. However, what does the President of the …

On 22 September 2021, it became public knowledge that former member of the Police Service Commission (PolSC) and attorney-at-law, Roger Kawalsingh, had made a serious allegation of a secret approach to the Chair of the PolSC regarding the appointment of a Commissioner of Police (CoP) and outgoing CoP, Gary Griffith. …

It is clear to many of us that both the approach made to the Chair of the Police Service Commission by an unnamed public official and her subsequent actions were questionable and probably involved breaches of the Constitution. Admirably, she has resigned. She is due our gratitude and thanks for …

If any of the emails, releases and obviously planted stories circulating within the last 36 hours have any substratum of fact, then the fact of interference in the selection process for a new commissioner of police and now apparent interference in the attempts to settle the attendant litigation seem confirmed. …

The manipulations of the appointment of a commissioner of police (CoP) consequent upon the expiry of the term of office of Gary Griffith are now out in the open and in the court. The court may provide such enlightenment as may be necessary concerning the character of employment governed by …

In Smoke and Mirrors, Demi Lovato doubts her lover and asks: “Now that I see you clearer, I wonder, was I really happy? Now that I see you clearer, was it just smoke and mirrors?” An eighteenth century smartman is credited with the first use of a light projector to …