Tag Archives: politics

“[…] My pay has not moved since 2014… While everything around me kept climbing. The bills. The groceries. The cost of a life that quietly became unaffordable. “[…] We were told to be grateful. To stay professional. To not question. To not push back. “But how do you stay silent, …

“[…] This is not leadership; it is a distraction. “[…] Ordinary citizens risk lawsuits or police action for far less, yet politicians hurl insults without consequence. That imbalance is the real scandal …” The following Letter to the Editor on the effect of our leading politicians’ trading of insults was …

“[…] Today Christmas—and many other religious observances—has become totally commercialised as a rapacious capitalist system sees the opportunity to make significant profits at this time, almost to the point where the religious significance of Christmas is lost. “[…] Surely the Prince of Peace would have called out the hypocrisy of …

“[…] Now, Trinidad and Tobago is a shadow of its former self, undermined by a lack of innovative leadership, perceived corruption, crime, poor infrastructure and most of all, a culture that has transformed itself into rewarding mediocrity rather than excellence. “[…] Evidence-based decision-making is critical in achieving service excellence… [For …

When in government, the People’s National Movement (PNM) speaks with the certainty of authority—decisions are made, policies defended, and dissent dismissed as misinformed or politically motivated. The tone is top-down, and messaging emphasises competence, legacy and control. Consultation becomes performance, not practice. But in opposition—or after electoral defeat—a different voice …

Against the background of recent attacks on the Independent senators, I outlined last week the two constraints on three-fifths special majority legislative power contained in our Constitution. I conclude the examination of these constraints this week. First, however, I pursue the question why such constraints are necessary. Next week, I …

I have re-examined the long-standing perils of our manipulable state enterprise system, focusing last week on how inadequately prepared we are for oversight in terms of appropriately trained personnel and available or reliable data. This week I wish to emphasise that it was into that same manipulable environment that the …

“There are two things that are important in politics,” said Mark Hanna, a 19th-century businessman and political kingmaker in Cleveland, Ohio. “The first is money, and I can’t remember what the second one is.” Pete W Moore, the MA Hanna associate professor of politics at Case Western Reserve University in …

The level of divisiveness in our small island nation—about which I gave examples in my recent columns—will undoubtedly compound the difficulty of getting the country as a whole behind the serious fights to survive, which now so starkly face us. It seems to me that, despite the end of the …

“[…] Governments come and go, and with them their pet projects, regardless of whether those initiatives were making a difference. “What happens next? The same communities, the same youth and the same families are left once more to pick up the pieces. “[…] This goes beyond dollars and cents and …

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar began her term in office with a message of love and optimism today, as she took the oath of office alongside new attorney general John Jeremie at President’s House in Port of Spain. The rest of the Cabinet should be sworn in on Saturday. Persad-Bissessar, who …

I have been having a bout of angst, despair maybe; I’m not sure how to describe the wave of bleakness that has been washing over me. An optimist at heart, I am usually able to ferret out things that bring even a glimmer of hope under trying circumstances. I know …