.::The Official General Election 2015 Thread::.

[rfari]

I think the main intention was to ease the backlog of cases that should have been finished long ago so that new cases don't drag on forever like those. or maybe it was solely to get a couple of their financiers out of jail and that is why the pnm supported it.

do we understand the difference between supporting a bill (volume of sections) to become legislation
and
extracting one section of that bill for proclamation?

[SiR8081]

What else are some of the major issues y'all want to see tackled

People want

1. Crime reduction
2. Less traffic, improved roads
3. Water 24/7
4. Procurement Legislation
5. Constitutional reform
6. Health care reform
7. Reform of your avg govt office e.g. Licencing office, BIR etc
8. Reformed judiciary

1. Criminal element has govt contracts now. God forbid if pp loses, they gonna find money doing the usual drugs, kidnappin etc
2. Initiatives started under the pnm. Mt hope interchange, south highway extension etc
3. Programmes started under the pnm. Halted when pp entered office and slowly re-introduced and executed when the badmind faded/common sense prevailed
4. Brrrr? The draft bill?
5. Proportional representation? Ok. Take that
6. Brrr? O right. Le chirren hospital.
7. Started under pnm. Halted by pp and they now tryna re-cook what pnm did
8. Of course. Section 34

1. First you all saying that crime not down, the PP has perverted the statistics coming from the TTPS and the MoNS. Now you saying crime down b/c for the 1st time in the history of T&T the gov't give contracts to all the criminals.

2. We agree on that but unfortunately it took too long to come and people are not appreciative of the sticker govt that is the PNM.

3. Bring your facts to show the massive water improvements under PNM.
With PNM at 2010 18% of population with a 24/7 water supply. As of Dec 2013, 57% of population has a 24/7 supply with the supply to increase to 73% at the end of 2014. Tobago is to get a 100% 24/7 water supply by mid year.

4. Draft bill there but it seems no politician wants it to pass

5. Some form of PR is necessary but not wholesale. We need limits on the PM and recall for MPs etc
Rowley done say no constitutional reform needed.

6. We need new hospitals and refurbishment of the old ones

7. Again you fooling yourself. As usual PNM failed to implement the plans they paid for with massive sums of tax payer's dollars. You saying the Point Fortin highway, the credit should go the PNM along with the massive water improvements down south due to the new Seven Seas Desalination Plant cuz it was PNM plans.

8. I think this one is up to the CJ. He needs to be given full control of the Judiciary with the support of the executive arm of gov't passing good legislation to help the judiciary.

All yuh fellas is PNM supporters or PNM sympathizers b/c it sounding like all yuh have a tabanca that the PNM couldn't do anything right.

1. Multiple factors. Take a look at the the mexican drug war and u will understand what come with the fight against the narco trade.
2. There is a process that has to follow when undertaking megaprojects. Is nuh no box drain project in some backroad in central we talking bout here. From feasibility to construction. Cyar blame pnm if they following best practice. PP should thank their lucky stars that pnm laid the foundation for these projects. And even so, PP still manage to divert from set procedure and make a mess of tings
3. Again, ground work laid by the pnm that the PP now implementing. Same with the beetham reuse project. They shelved it when they came into power and they looking to quietly bring it back possibly with an incomplete feasibility study.
4. Well I hear that the jcc had some comments on a draft but I haven't seen it and wouldn't comment
5.ask urself. Do u trust the PP to undertake the tabling of any constitution reform legislation?
6. Most important proper management. Right now the rhas are hampered by corruption and nepotism.
7. Can't blame pm if they follow best practice.
8. U have a point

1. What factors you talking about? Edify us here on tuner.

2. I fully understand and appreciate all of that. So why is it then that if their corporate governance structure is so transparent and accountable, why is it that all of their projects went into massive cost over runs and time delays? How is it that these same PNM projects, are completed by the PP either on time and budget or in even less time and under budget e.g. Navet Trunk Line Replacement

3. Some of the foundation was laid but not all. This leads me to; assuming all the foundation was laid by the PNM: Why did not not seek to improve the water supply of the country? A basic resource required by living things. Why is it that mega projects like the water front, NAPAs, Tarouba Stadium etc were more important than providing citizens with basic services. Cart before the horse business.

4. The legislation is perfect however there is a clause which does not subject govt to govt contracts and the awarding of contracts by special purpose state companies e.g. UDECOTT, NGC etc to fall under the legislation. This basically makes the legislation useless as most of the govt contracts are awarded via the state companies and govt to govt contracts. The JCC demands that this clause be removed and they have my full support.

5. The PP it seems is the only administration willing to allow for some reform of the constitution. We need two term limits for PMs, recall for MPs, allowing of referendums etc.
Your boy Keith done say no constitutional reform especially PR b/c that would mean the end of his party. Remember when i said the PNM was a minority party? Everyone was real laughing but it seems the political leader of the PNM knows what I am talking about.

6. There is a commission of enquiry into health sector done by Ms. Gladys - Gaffoor. Seems no one cares about the citizens b/c that report like all others just collecting dust in the various govt offices they reside.

7. Again you coming with talk about PNM following best practice. See my point #3

8. We agree on something

My biggest grouse with the PNM is that for the number of years they were in power and the kind of resources they had at their disposal being in office for during an oil boom and gas boom, the life of the average citizen has not been improved much or at all (you decide). We are far behind where we should be. I not going and beg no politician to give me what I damn well deserve. All of the funds collected by the govt belong to the ppl and not to an political party in power for them to blow away the money as they see fit. If they want to blow away money, let them open a private business or play the lotto.

[Hyperion]

So this morning on TV6 Morning Edition PNM chairman Franklyn Khan indicated that the official list of voters eligible to vote in the party's internal elections next month has been compiled. Just upwards of 79,000 members are eligible to vote, I thought the number would have been higher. I expect that once these internal elections are over then the real campaigning will begin in earnest. Time to pop some corn and grab a front seat, one side's going to be bussing real files and the other is going to be pelting real $$$.
Earnestly though, I can envision a weary population quickly becoming oversaturated with all election gimmickry and mudslinging. I would much prefer to see thoughtful and constructive debates in the vein of the TV6 town meetings.

[rfari]

1. -the use of make-work programmes and contracts to temporarily reduce unemployment
-no replacement for the opv's as promised. what is being used to protect the borders?)
-as mentioned before, a healthy drug trade. the underworld has its revenue streams secured for now
-a pnm led govt, will continue to target and suppress these drug lords as was seen during their last administration
trust me. pp not srs about srs crime. reshmi is the proof of this.

2. not all their projects. in any case, as growley has stated time and time again, lack of oversight was one of the main reasons for the failed pnm projects. he was fired and burned at the cross for being critical of these same projects we speak of.
the navet trunk main project was started under the previous pnm administration. iirc, when pp came into office they continued it. the estimated cost and project duration that u see unc bandying about was pulled from the the previous consultant's draft final report. as i said, pnm foundation.

3. see point 2. multiple intiatives were undertaken by pnm and some were completed before others. so dont buy the hype that unc is tryna sell ppl that pnm only had interest in building skyscrapers. as i said before, lack of proper oversight. another example is the national highways programme that is responsible for the all the major road works undertaken in tnt in the last 5 years and for the next 5 years. the majority of the leg-work was done under the pnm.

dem eh have a clue of how to start getting something like this done. project was in cruise control by the time the last ballot was counted in 2010

and just to throw in a lagnaippe. the beetham reuse that was gifted to sis. that's a pnm brainchild too

4. still havent seen the draft legislation. will look for that sometime

5. end of the pnm? pnm prospered in the last pr lge

6. first time im hearing about this report. will look for it

7. see point 3

8. scn

[Daran]

Brother I worked Ministry of Works when Humphrey and Baksh were Ministers. All of these highway plans used by imbert were done under UNC. UNC had a vision for citizens to reach all corners of the country in an hour.

When it comes to completing big and extremely necessary projects on time UNC wins hands down.

[rfari]

Brother I worked Ministry of Works when Humphrey and Baksh were Ministers. All of these highway plans used by imbert were done under UNC. UNC had a vision for citizens to reach all corners of the country in an hour.

When it comes to completing big and extremely necessary projects on time UNC wins hands down.

u mean this??


bai, udfr. u rell wrong and outta timing

[kjaglal76v2]

rfari always goin above & beyond for his blogger stipend

[rfari]

rfari always goin above & beyond for his blogger stipend

I work hard for my money yute

[rfari]

[Daran]

Brother I worked Ministry of Works when Humphrey and Baksh were Ministers. All of these highway plans used by imbert were done under UNC. UNC had a vision for citizens to reach all corners of the country in an hour.

When it comes to completing big and extremely necessary projects on time UNC wins hands down.

u mean this??


bai, udfr. u rell wrong and outta timing

LOL don't make me laugh idiot.

When I worked there the following plans were being drafted, mapped, capacity dimensioned etc.
- Highway to Sangre Grande then to Mayaro
- Highway from San Fernando to Mayaro
- Highway to Debe-Penal-Siperia-Palo Seco
- Highway from La Romain to Pt Fortin
- Highway/Road from Blanchisseuse to Matelot
- Carriage way from Mucurapo to Chaguaramas

They were a good bit of others, but all these plans were initiated by Nizam/Humphrey. Yes, some existed before, but a lot of the highway plans were brand new.

[rfari]

what year was this? and at what stage was the project at this time?

[Daran]

98-99, Projects were all in the planning stages where drawings and mappings were being done, feasibility of the various iterations of designs etc. If I remember correctly it was a campaign promise by Panday for the 2000 election.

Anyway, here's an interesting nugget of info I found. It shows the ave number of voters registered for each seat (i think the average was based on EBC figures from 2007 and 2010).

It definitely shows some sort of reform is needed for create at least 2 or 3 more seats from the upper half of the list. This may create 3 additional UNC seats (or some marginal seats), but it definitely is unproportional with Couva North having more than 60% more persons than Port of Spain North.

Yellow is UNC safe seat
Green is marginal
Red is PNM safe seat

[rfari]

98-99, Projects were all in the planning stages where drawings and mappings were being done, feasibility of the various iterations of designs etc. If I remember correctly it was a campaign promise by Panday for the 2000 election.

Anyway, here's an interesting nugget of info I found. It shows the ave number of voters registered for each seat (i think the average was based on EBC figures from 2007 and 2010).

It definitely shows some sort of reform is needed for create at least 2 or 3 more seats from the upper half of the list. This may create 3 additional UNC seats (or some marginal seats), but it definitely is unproportional with Couva North having more than 60% more persons than Port of Spain North.

Yellow is UNC safe seat
Green is marginal
Red is PNM safe seat

dan, the pre-feasibility unc did is prolly between 5-10% of project effort. thats as far as unc took the projects. if so much. pnm did the comprehensive feasibility studies and designs. we looking at approx 50% or so of the effort. stop tell the ppl lies nah dan

[UML]

rfari is a joker

he talking bout PP eh know how to build the interchange

who he feel had the idea and initial design of the interchange?!!

It was John Humphrey Arch

and who he feel build the smaller san fernando interchange?

and if they didnt build them....they didnt need to know because there are technocrats there to build it....PNM ppl is UTT level and under material u think them cuda build it?!!

steups

[rfari]

rfari is a joker

he talking bout PP eh know how to build the interchange

who he feel had the idea and initial design of the interchange?!!

It was John Humphrey Arch

and who he feel build the smaller san fernando interchange?

and if they didnt build them....they didnt need to know because there are technocrats there to build it....PNM ppl is UTT level and under material u think them cuda build it?!!

steups

too easy . took long enuff to hook the pp king sheep

excerpt from the recent high report from the jcc

http://www.jcc.org.tt/highway-report.pdf

u cyar compare john humphrey arch


with this

wha humphrey was drinkin when he conceptualise that?

u eh have shame to bring up that sando bypass interchange?

[Daran]

actually humphrey's arch looks a lot better than the thing we have now.

[rfari]

actually humphrey's arch looks a lot better than the thing we have now.

it looks??? it looks? u srs ma dude? is aesthetics u looking at?
wha about the functionality, scholar?
u say u work min of works. u was a kitchen mechanic orwha?
u used to make coffee and thing for humphrey and dem orwha?


ollur tort is off kicks when i say is pnm country orwha? got these in my inbox






part of the south extension these sheep claim unc design

[rfari]

Anyway, here's an interesting nugget of info I found. It shows the ave number of voters registered for each seat (i think the average was based on EBC figures from 2007 and 2010).

It definitely shows some sort of reform is needed for create at least 2 or 3 more seats from the upper half of the list. This may create 3 additional UNC seats (or some marginal seats), but it definitely is unproportional with Couva North having more than 60% more persons than Port of Spain North.

Yellow is UNC safe seat
Green is marginal
Red is PNM safe seat

^and dey call manning a dictator. u feel pnm fraid dat?

Electoral seats increased from 36 to 41
RIA TAITT Saturday, June 26 2004


Five new seats in the 2007 General Elections. This is the startling recommendation contained in the 2004 Report of the Elections and Boundaries on the Review of Constituency Boundaries which was tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday. With a total of 41 seats, the possibility of a tie in a two-horse race has been removed. The report recommended that the number of constituencies be in-creased from 36 to 41. All the additional seats are in Trinidad. As Deputy Speaker Hedwidge Bereaux tabled the report at the start of the proceedings, MPs lost interest in all else and could be seen busily analysing the results. Initial assessments revealed that if the 2002 general election results were to be imposed on the new boundary arrangements, the PNM would get two additional seats while the UNC would get three, making it a 22:19 Parliament in the PNM’s favour. The current Parliament is 20:16.

Parliamentary approval is needed for the Commission’s recommendations to become law. Signalling the Government’s preparedness to accept the report, Prime Minister Patrick Manning pointed out yesterday that PNM historically has always accepted the EBC recommendations on boundaries. Manning confirmed that of the five seats created, three would go to the UNC providing existing voting patterns were maintained. “The extra seat (Princes Town South/Tableland) has been cut in such a way that (it) has gone to the UNC rather than the PNM,” he noted. Manning however believed that the shifts in the boundaries were done in a fairly equitable fashion. He pointed that this same Princes Town South/Tableland seat, for instance, would only be won by (the UNC) 188 votes on the basis of 2002 results, he noted. Manning also stated that the number of marginal seats had increased significantly. Under the new arrangement, the constituencies of Cumuto/Manza-nilla; Pointe-a-Pierre; Chaguanas East; Princes Town South/Tableland would be defined as marginal, in addition to the current marginal seats of St Joseph; San Fernando West; Tunapuna, San Juan/Barataria and Mayaro.

Manning said this meant that MPs had to work harder and provide better representation. “All power to the people,” he quipped. Manning said the preliminary glance showed three of the seats would now have a margin of victory of less than 1,000 votes; four seats a margin of just under 1,600, and two seats a margin of just under 2,500. Manning added that it also appeared that the EBC had taken into consideration not just geography but sociology. “It appears... that a greater attempt has been made to keep communities together,” he said. Complimenting the EBC for the job done, he said that the PNM had no reservations about the report at this time. Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday said he got the impression from reading the EBC Report that the Commissioners were “crying out for constitutional reform.” “They are trying to divide up the country into constituencies, trying to balance off one with the other, and all those old criteria are no longer relevant,” he said. Panday used the opportunity to make his standard call for the introduction of proportional representation.

“I thought the answer would be solved quite easily with proportional representation because it wouldn’t matter where people lived. Their vote would count,” he said. He added that he did not see the need to continue under the present system. He suggested that there should now be a 100-seat unicameral legislature, abolishing the appointed element (the Senate). The EBC, in explaining the rationale for its increase, stated that there were no calls from the MPs or the public suggesting that constituencies were too large and difficult to serve.

It stated, however, that it felt that the “countervailing argument of growing political maturity of the population, evidenced by the increasing demands made on the State, the increasing diversity and complexity of the responsibilities of parliamentary representatives, and the likelihood that an improved quality of representation would result from the reduction in the size of the electorate in an electoral district was sufficent to justify the consideration of an increase in the number of constituencies.” The Commission added that it considered various averages per size of constituency, which included data from several democracies in the Commonwealth, and finally decided to reduce the average size per constituency by 15 percent.

http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,19453.html

[desifemlove]

Supposedly UNC giving dey Youth arm $34m to do tings for de youths? And dey want Gypsy to say to calypsonians "doh ting no anti-UNC ting nah"? lol..

So....we doh live in no free country no more? What dis...Stalin/Hitler come back? Kamlin, Kamler..lol..

[rfari]

Meem. See nun wrong wid dat. U eh see wha dey do in bago orwha?

[desifemlove]

i does like freedom of expression. if UNC "hurt" cos dey get criticism, dey doh get de point

[de_dougla_smurf]

I see the pp election campaign has started. Government information systems is being used to market all those recently completed projects that were started under the previous administration.

[kaylex]

I see the pp election campaign has started. Government information systems is being used to market all those recently completed projects that were started under the previous administration.

You now see this.. they never stopped campaigning since 2010.. PR party.....
and it will work again come 2015... i sure

[rfari]

Dese pp sheep draggin de flag. Lemme play devil's advocate for the day.
21-20 to the pp next election. Not a damn ting ollur pnm scum could do about it

[desifemlove]

I see the pp election campaign has started. Government information systems is being used to market all those recently completed projects that were started under the previous administration.

Unofficial launch was Kamla's speech in Diego.

Official launch has to be the "celebration" next month. lol..

[desifemlove]

Dese pp sheep draggin de flag. Lemme play devil's advocate for the day.
21-20 to the pp next election. Not a damn ting ollur pnm scum could do about it

Perhaps. But PNM ent getting no landslide.

If PP can keep Barataria/San Juan, Dooks's seat, Prakash's seat and get back St. Joseph they have a chance.

[rfari]

Dese pp sheep draggin de flag. Lemme play devil's advocate for the day.
21-20 to the pp next election. Not a damn ting ollur pnm scum could do about it

Perhaps. But PNM ent getting no landslide.

If PP can keep Barataria/San Juan, Dooks's seat, Prakash's seat and get back St. Joseph they have a chance.

Dais all they need. City lock

[roop999]

Nice thread. Regardless of which party, there are obviously going to be issues that sway a voter in either direction, or push them away. Take any issue, corruption/economic dev/crime etc........ any one person can argue for either side having managed the said issue better than the other.

But the fact is that the election is won and lost in the 11 or so marginal seats that are mainly in the east west corridor. These seats also give ideas of how much the margins are going to be quite early on election night. The race is very, very close. The fact that ian alleyne only lost the St Joseph bye election by 789 votes is proof that it will probably be very close. Also, the election in my view will be decided by partnership. Meaning, how the parties decide to choose which party fights where and which candidate goes to what constituency is going to be the deciding factor. The PNM support is not going to grow much in my opinion, certainly not by leaps and bounds- causing upheaval in marginal areas.

What is good for Trinidadians is that the 2 major political leaders have shown that they are not afraid to fire any one in order to keep relevant to what the population wants. I also think that choice of candidate will make a difference in who wins the marginal seats. People, especially I dare say, like the young intelligent sensible thinkers in Trinidad- like the tuners who have all made salient contributions to this very thread , want NEW, YOUNG , BRIGHT , EDUCATED candidates. These are the people the undecided will lean towards.


I really think that the politics is getting better, the politicians have become better- both sides are showing that change is imminent. Even the quality of debate is improving, people like Colm Imbert and Anand Ramlogan are now able to agree on need for certain legislation- i heard it myself on the parliament channel.

So at the risk of sounding cliche- the 2015 race will be the mother of all elections.
Prediction PP 23 and PNM 18
No pp but instead UNC COP PNM ILP . Untold levels of political destruction on a scale unimaginable.(standby, Prakash and Carolyn are dotish enuff to think otherwise!!!!!!!)


Keep the convo going.............


Just a word of advice, politics and governance are 2 totally different animals.
Separation would allow better look into both sides ideas and vision.
You might be very good at winning elections and garnering votes, but do a Shiddy job of running the country. But i will not say more and so risk over simplifying the difference.

[rfari]

Nice contribution. How are ur 23-18 seats distributed?

[roop999]

My prediction is that PNM retain the 16 in the "red" in addition to Arima and La Hor/Talp.

the next MOST marginal will be Tunapuna, San Fernando West and Bon Aire. Really close!!
i think Toco, Mayaro, Barataria and St Joseph will remain PP strong win.
I think the PP has 1 year to convince a fraction of those people who make up the difference in the marginals to vote with them and thus can still pull out wins.
The PNM challenge is to find the right candidate to pull non traditional PNMites to vote with them.

I think the campaign managers on both sides will employ similar campaigns and that a lot more will be done to speak about issues, the PP will speak about infrastructure in place, the argument may boil down to 'we did it within time and budget- we delivered'. And the PNM will prob go down the road of "contracts for friends and family"(as all prev. oppostion parties have based their arguments.




all the real political pundits .................look at Point Fortin/3 diego seats/tobago east....................................Will PNM win.? Dark horses/swing seats if real work is done by PP.

But i look forward to more comments.