Tag Archives: UNC

Speaking at Indian Arrival Day celebrations in Penal on 30th May 2026, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar called for national unity. She stated that: “We have no Mother India, we have no Mother Africa, we have no Mother China, no Mother Europe, no mother other nation. What we have is Mother …

The UNC won the 2025 general elections promising to transform Trinidad and Tobago’s economic fortunes, treat workers fairly and address the crime situation—all important domestic issues. And as expected, as the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led Government marks a year in office this month, commentators and analysts have opined on their performance in …

“[…] 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 …

David Rudder famously sang in 1996 in The Madman’s Rant: “Somebody clean out the weed real fast. But somebody letting the cocaine pass.” Nevertheless, none of our leaderships were prepared to acknowledge this reality despite periodic reports of “drug busts”, including some massive ones. Despite strong editorials and some courageous …

In light of the announcement last Tuesday of yet another state of emergency (SoE) I feel compelled to restate a main theme of these columns. We have barely advanced positively in politics or in governance and little ever changes, even after a general election at which we vote out an …

“Trinidad and Tobago could only progress if Laventille does,” Winston Dookeran said in May 2010. Have we moved beyond this idea? Have we accepted that crime is not a group problem? It is not an “Afro problem”, an “Indian problem”, or a “PNM problem”. Crime is a national problem, and …

There is reason to be concerned about current trends towards the promotion of authoritarian rule in Trinidad and Tobago. The Commissioner of Police (the CoP) vehemently sought to dilute accountability for the fatal police-involved shooting of a citizen seen in a video emerging from a crashed vehicle after a chase, …

From the first US strikes against small boats in Caribbean waters in September 2025, military intervention in Venezuela was not a matter of if, but when and how. Those questions have now been answered. In all this, the world’s surprise at the bombing of Venezuela and kidnapping of president Nicolás …

“[…] The entitlement, indiscipline and misdirected priorities of some lawless citizens who inconvenience and endanger law abiding citizens will not be tolerated anymore. No discipline will be met with no tolerance. “No one will sway me from cleaning up this lawless dump to benefit citizens who try to live decent …

“[Critics] suggest that a caring state relies on education, while a punitive state relies on force. This binary view, however, obscures the reality of how safety and civil order are actually maintained. “[…] The assertion of law is not an abdication of care. On the contrary, it is often the …

“[…] What happened in Venezuela has nothing to do with Trinidad and Tobago. Citizens, just like myself, went about our normal business. We are not involved, so citizens have no need to be bothered. “[…] Trinidad and Tobago does not covet Venezuelan property—we never have and we never will…” The …