Tag Archives: Roodal Moonilal

Time was when, if yuh neighbour house on fire, yuh used to throw water on your own. Not anymore, not in politics anyway. Nowadays, if yuh political neighbour house on fire, yuh does throw pitchoil. I thought that was the hidden message in an unpublished letter sent to Wired868 by …

I am satisfied that the restrictions on the use of firearms and prohibited weapons contained in the Firearms Act do not readily accommodate “threat assessment training” of politically exposed persons or their families involving the possession and use of firearms. However we live in extraordinarily violent times in an unstable …

Judged by the standards to which it holds other institutions of public trust, one would’ve expected a clear and unambiguous media response to the Sunday Express report that a significant number of journalists and media workers were beneficiaries of public housing on the basis of personal recommendations from ministers of …

The discovery that a large group of people benefitted from the exercise of ministerial and satellite power in their favour in what appears to be preferential circumstances should undoubtedly have attracted scrutiny from the media. The fact that the benefit was the allocation of houses by the Housing Development Corporation …

By this morning the 2015 UNC leadership contest should be history. As it was proceeding, the usual bland salutation “may the best person win” did not seem appropriate. “May the best rigger win” came jokingly to mind. High profile figures in this internal election and others associated with their party …

You can call her “Queen KPB.” Well, she has been called worse. Former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar re-established herself as the number one in the number two party yesterday, as her “Team UNC” whipped Dr Roodal Moonilal’s “Team Loyalists” and Vasant Bharath’s “Team Reconnect” in the UNC’s internal election. It …

During an interview for the Industrial Court’s 50th anniversary publication, Journey to Gold, Basdeo Panday told me that ‘Indian people’ tend always to search for and support a pahalwan—a wrestler, gladiator or strongman—to fight on their behalf. ‘Bas’ himself was finely suited. He was a real wrestler donning the presidency …

The UNC leadership contest is boiling. Ostensibly the challenge to the political leadership of Kamla Persad-Bissesar is a revolt against her running the losing election 2015 campaign in which the party lost Government as “a one person show.” There is nothing odd about a member of a political party challenging …

Choosing a leader to take the United National Congress forward, backward, sideways, or keep it stagnated, is the business of members of the party. It is not for me, who never belonged to any party other than the original United Labour Front, and that very briefly, to tell UNC members …

Say “Employer” to someone and (s)he expects soon to hear “Employee.” And ditto if you reverse the order. So I wasn’t really surprised when Wired868 stopped talking about “Barra” and started talking about “Barry.” But I stopped reading Monday’s Express story about the MP for Princes Town with the first …

Bull, princess and stink—the three words that had the biggest impact in our Budget debate and debate about the debate by Trinidad and Tobago parliamentarians. Contributions in Parliament were generally poor. Few of the elected members analysed the vital macroeconomic matters which all of us have to deal with. Even …

Though I am not  a big fan of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, I have to admit that there are pockets of dialogue which I have never forgotten. One such scene goes as follows: Elizabeth: Captain Barbossa, I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal. …