COP Deputy Leader: "PP MUST GO!!!"

[Cjruckus]

lmao@We were a force. Unsuccessful at the polls

i dunno why de media does even give them a voice

White power.

[~Vēġó~]

elections?????

I know I not voting pnm......cyaar be that short termed in memory to forget all that money they fakin squander.....half ah million on a piano and yuh buy 10....lawd....

[brickman]

elections?????

I know I not voting pnm......cyaar be that short termed in memory to forget all that money they fakin squander.....half ah million on a piano and yuh buy 10....lawd....

Who else it have,bakr's son?Pnm is the same sh!t,just changed leaders,if the pp seperated which side betterr,unc or cop?

WHO IS THERE??????

[~Vēġó~]

^^^indeed but another "new" entity would only guarantee pnm's return to power.....

those that are there presently must get their act together or else it will be the pnm again as their sheep are even more blind and loyal....that is a fact and it is their organization's structural power built over the many many years.

[eliteauto]

^^ to add, it wasn't UNC, COP or any of the PP party supporters that won them the last election, it was a collective of the fence sitters and disillusioned PNM supporters that won the E-W corridor, they were all galvanised under the remove Manning ideal, there's no Manning factor in any future elections so the PP needs to maintain their popularity to continue to win the swing votes, failing that well wait and see

[SUPAstarr]

the only reason i voted was cuz Colm Imbert is not representing Maraval (Diego E) in any satisfactory manner. I dont care for party politics when it comes to elections, i want my constituency to be represented an cared for, which is not happening. This was the best opportunity to get imbert out an it almost happened, but failed nonetheless. I WILL NOT BE VOTING AGAIN

[Halfbreed07]

I think this can be called the OFFICIAL beginning of the end for the PP.
Anil will most likely jump ship if Dooks does not step down as leader, and elections by August.

The huge spiral downwards is set to begin the week AFTER carnival.

lol how long alya saying dat?
is just like saying the Messiah is coming soon.

i do agree that there focus has since wained.
that 'celebration' dey had dey was a slap in the face of educated ppl.
d fack she tanking ppl for her 'victory' still.
butt fackery!!!
we deserve better than this eh, and pp supporters should demand such.

[TRAE]

Rasc do you know that the second post was your reply to your own post in this failed ched? buh anyways i rel dunno how is a big scene so--- PNM eh have nothing to complain about or wha, now they questioning dead issues. Ask manning bout the seer woman nah

[silver]

http://www.guardian.co.tt/letters/2011/01/31/signs-dont-look-good-pp
Signs don't look good for the PP


I would like the People’s Partnership Government to get more than one term but this is highly unlikely as the signs are that it will either disintegrate within three years or lose the next general election if it remains intact. Accordingly, for what it is worth, I have decided with some reservation to add my little two cents as follows: n The PP must understand that it would have won the May 24, 2010, general election without the PR bells and whistles. From the outset, I knew that it would win and may have even done better had its leaders understood where they stood in terms of public opinion. However, the communication approach that helped them win the election is completely different from what they need to stay in power. They rely too heavily on the mass media. They continue to take people out of the media where they would be more helpful and make them part of the management of government institutions. At the same time, each minister wants to have his/her own PR and this is not co-ordinated. There is not enough face-to-face communication.

The media help set the political agenda but do not change deeply-rooted beliefs and attitudes. Even in an election situation, a handshake is worth more than a billboard.

• People judge a government by its actions and not its communication. The actions of this Government sometimes seem helter-skelter and contradictory. One of the lessons in life is that you cannot please everyone.

• There is information overload and overkill, too many voices competing with one another in the same marketplace of public opinion. Even worse, one of the research findings on public opinion is that when people don’t hear what they want to hear from official sources, they gravitate to who will tell them what they want to hear. Already, people are going back to the PNM or leaving what they believe is the “bacchanal” that is the PP.

• The best message is one that is reinforced in all the media at the same time. Dissonance creates uncertainty and right now there is too much dissonance in the public’s mind.

• Even the Prime Minister (Kamla Persad-Bissessar) will find that she and her ministers are talking too much, too many speeches. Unless the information is new, don’t talk. The worse thing is for people to ask, “Why are you telling me all this?” Or, “How many times they say the same thing?”

• The maverick ministers seem to be competing with each other (it reminds me of the days of Eric Williams)—what I call the “Indian wedding” syndrome. Long ago, when the wedding procession took off from the house, every car competed to get behind the wedding car and there were a lot of accidents along the way. This seems to be the case right now and it will get worse.

• The Government does not seem to have a definite course of action or plan to which it is committed. Communication cannot take place in a vacuum without an action plan to support same, otherwise communication will be about personalities and not about policies.

• The people who benefit from any government intervention (bridge, house, road, whatever) are the people who should be featured and not just the ministers. Let them say how good the Government is. When you beat your own chest and become over-exposed, people turn off because you have turned them off.

• Communication should be used as a means of changing the environment to get something you want or value. There are only two ways of getting what you want through communication. One is by compliance and you cannot get compliance from your own kids anymore. The other is by negotiation. However, that requires looking at the big picture, knowing what you want and knowing, more than anything else, what the other person wants. If communication is not “win-win,” if one of the parties feel they have been screwed in the negotiations, they’re going to get you somewhere down the road.

• There is a point at which you have to stop blaming your predecessor and that has just about expired with this Government. The way I see it, the PM looks like she will soon have to reshuffle her Cabinet. It is clear that based on his handling thus far of the Clico Bailout, the Public Service negotiations and the outstanding monies owed to contractors, her Minister of Finance (Winston Dookeran) is already (from both the internal and external perspective) a failure. Several other ministers are almost as bad. In fact, the naked ambitions of some of them are scaring the population.

• Clearly, the honeymoon is over but fortunately the bride is still beautiful in the eyes of many citizens, but the bloom is fading fast. The biggest danger now is that many of the core supporters of the UNC, COP and the other parties that form the PP are beginning to feel marginalised. The fact is that unless some kind of stocktaking is done and a plan emerges, the PP is doomed to at most five years but right now it looks like three before it splinters and, like Humpty Dumpty, cannot be put together again. The one final problem, and it is the one that I believe will destroy the PP’s and the PM’s popularity, is the PM herself. One recalls the ATM and aid with strings errors. Then there were her public utterances to the Clico policyholders that they could “take it or leave it” and that the “Government is giving them a hand-out.” Fortunately, to her credit, she did some quick damage control by setting up the Bharath-led inter-ministerial committee so the fallout was temporarily contained.

However, the explanations and apologies don’t always help. She therefore needs to understand before it’s too late that you can’t unring a bell, perception is reality, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and the buck stops with the Prime Minister.

Maggie Cromwell
Via e-mail

[DrunkenMaster16]

Better than manning still. But i don't know come next election... Might just have to vote Njac.

[~Vēġó~]

^^^njac is PP too man!!!!!

[ray_S.T.R.A_man]

Another big Anti-PP supporter
Professor of Africana Studies, Wellesley College

Kamla's Casual Carelessness

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 27, 2011

One year ago Kamla Persad-Bissessar was elevated to the leadership of her party. In May of last year she was elected prime minister of the country. Since then she has shown herself to be incompetent; of questionable intellectual maturity, and deficient in judgment. As we enter 2011, I wonder how many persons feel she is steering the ship of state in a positive direction.

There was great euphoria when Kamla took over the reins of government. She seemed to be a breath of fresh air and the start of something new. It is said that she rules by consensus (even the selection of the ministers of government was done democratically-much different from the way it was done in the past), and she genuinely welcomes her colleagues' input.

Then she began to send mixed signals. While we welcomed her doing away with the illegal procedure of having nonelected officials act as prime minister in her absence, she made the whole exercise into a pappy show by giving everybody a seven-days. Thus Jack Warner, Winston Dookeran, Errol McLeod, and Vernealla Alleyne Toppin acted as prime ministers.

These appointments, in varying degrees, made many people scratch their heads in wonder. Although C. L. R. James, our astute political thinker, argued that every cook can govern, one wondered how equipped some of these persons were to lead our country if a major crisis were to occur under their watch.

The prime minister's ministerial choices have also been a bit mind-boggling. We've seen raucous outbursts by the attorney general (keep in mind our country needs only a prime minister and an attorney general to run the country); the intemperance of Anil Roberts who has not yet discovered that he ought to comport himself in a manner that reflects honorably on his office; and the quickly disappearing specter of Therese Baptiste-Cornelis Baptise whose fall was quicker than her rise. One can even forgive the peripatetic Surujatan Rambachan if he realizes that the foreign minister of T&T ought not to be an advocate of Hindu interests at home and abroad.

When one examines the PM's decisions, one wonders at her casual carelessness. It took some time, but gradually we came to realize that she isn't up to the job. What we could not have known is that as democratic as the prime minister's gestures seem they mask an inability to lead, an intellectual sloppiness, an equivocal mode of operation; and an inability to inspire confidence in our nation's future.

In the course of time, her masquerade began to unravel; then her ill-fated decision to select Reshmi Usha Ramnarine as the director of the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) blew her cover. Not only did it demonstrate her ineptness, it left one wondering what could have made her select a young woman only thirty years of age, a junior communications technician who was ill-equipped to carry out such a sensitive task.

This is the same prime minister who got up in the House of Representatives months ago and castigated Patrick Manning for using the SIA for nefarious purposes. She even accused him of spying on the president although she has yet to tell us where and how she obtained that information. This is one instance in which the PM can neither claim ignorance nor lack of awareness about the ramifications of an office she claims was (ill)used in the past.

Just think about it. The head of the SIA is called upon to coordinate the activities of the security agencies in the country. Only three persons can order the wiretapping of citizens: the police commissioner; the head of the Defense Forces, and the director of the SIA. This young lady, bereft of any sophisticated experience about security matters and whose ambition was to seek "a challenging management position with a technology-driven organization" was given the enormous authority to spy on the whole country without anyone's supervision.

No thinking person would entrust such a responsibility upon the shoulders of a thoroughly inexperienced person no matter what Roodal Moonilal, Rambachan, John Sandy, or Prakash Ramadhar have said by way of justification. It is difficult to see how they, honorable men, could support such an appointment in good conscience. Could it be that in spite of the prime minister's presumed outrage at Manning's use of the SIA she selected this young woman so that she could act in as reprehensible a manner as Manning did?

What started out as a great experiment, filled with democratic possibilities, is turning out to be a nightmare, a disaster just waiting to happen. No amount of public relations or the distribution of hampers can obscure the stunning missteps the PM has made and is likely to continue making for the good reason that there are no substitutes for good judgment; intellectual astuteness, and the capacity to manage a large bureaucracy, called the government, efficiently.

In fact, this year it will be interesting to see how she manages an economy that is facing serious challenges; starving for confidence; and desirous of industrial peace, all of which are important as it seeks to recover. I am not convinced she has the managerial skills or the competency to supervise and administer an economy as large as ours. With every decision she demonstrates that what she lacks in technical preparedness cannot be undone by splendid polemics and a "let's be nice to everyone" approach.

There is no doubt the prime minister and her colleagues are good at stage acting and public relations. They are astute at using social networking and the government information apparatus to present themselves in the best light. They even reveal a joie de vivre that is evidenced in their in-your-face extravagance. Basdeo Panday's description of the PP government captures things best when he said: "The PP is a functioning government. They like to have plenty functions."

The PP should have learned from Manning's deception of himself. Trinidadians and Tobagonians are a smart bunch of people. You can only fool some of them some of the time. Sooner or later they discern the shortcomings of offending parties and send them packing.

The PM must know that even the road to hell is paved with good intentions. They are not the most important prerequisites for good governance. Mature judgment and competency matter more. These qualities are lacking badly in our prime minister.

Professor Cudjoe's email address is scudjoe@wellesley.edu

It don't take no academic genius to see the man is a big racist.
Boy it must hurt alot of people to see Kamla as Prime Minister

Haters keep hating

[zoom rader]

Professor Cudjoe has also been a racist along with his cult movement PNM.
Yes and does hurt alot of PNM cult members to Kamla as Prime Minister
Some of these cult clown members dont even live here yet still they cut and paste lies, mistruths and daily bombared tuner with propaganda.

[brickman]

Cujoe is a racist kant who lost alot of respect with his sh!t talk last election,must be looking for rowley to give him a seat to run for next time so singing for his supper,fack he!!

[zoom rader]

Cujoe is a racist kant who lost alot of respect with his sh!t talk last election,must be looking for rowley to give him a seat to run for next time so singing for his supper,fack he!!

There are other clowns on tuner that would tell u that cujoe sees a diffrent view. These same clowns tell us that a certain PNM cult member also sees a diffrent view.

[wagonrunner]

look another racist here.

Rumshop Politics - Raffique shah

During the formative years of the United Labour Front (ULF), circa 1975/76, I learned some harsh lessons in "politics by vaps" courtesy an often-tipsy Basdeo Panday. Those occurrences come to mind as I watch amazing scenes played out on the national stage. Since the lead actress is Panday's successor, Prime Minister and UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who has publicly stated that Bas is her "political guru", maybe there is a nexus between what happened so many moons ago and what is happening today.

Without going into details of how the ULF was almost stillborn, or attempting to debunk the myth that Panday alone founded the party, I shall relate incidents that are relevant to today's muddled politics. Before the ULF formally became a political party in March 1976, it was an alliance of four vibrant trade unions. The principal leaders were George Weekes, Panday, Joe Young and me. In many ways, not the least being my age (I was not yet 30), I was the baby among veterans.

Weekes, a father figure to me, persuaded me to sacrifice some principles I held firmly to, on the altar of what he saw as political progress. I saw it as political expediency, but "PG" (as Weekes was fondly called) had me commit myself to the embryonic ULF. Before the labour group morphed into a political party, "PG", Bas, Joe and I would hold meetings with our union supporters in districts like Barrackpore, Penal, Rio Claro—mostly in Central Trinidad and the Deep South.

It was customary after such meetings that we would stop off at some village rum shop. I was never a drinker of note: one or two drinks of rum-and-coke were my limit. "PG" was more seasoned, and Bas more adventuresome. By this I mean Bas did not consume much alcohol, but two or three drinks would send him into the tipsy zone. Anything more than that, we'd be looking for Vishnu (his nephew) to drive his Kingswood, to ensure he reached home safely.

At every village rum shop, one is sure to encounter a "mayor" or other spokesperson, who, sufficiently plied with liquor, would expatiate. One or two such characters would come to our table and reel out their ideas, some worthy, others gibberish or rum-driven-tatah. But as good leaders, we would listen. Bas, however, would often take these exchanges several steps higher.

"My brother!" he would say, "You sound like a very intelligent man. What's your name? Where do you live?" "John Singh, sir! I live in Lengua!" the now excited drunk would respond. "John, come to my office tomorrow...I want to interview you...you seem to be a good candidate for county council elections!" The drunk, buoyed by Panday's liquor-fuelled praises and invitation, would show his appreciation by offering to replenish our supplies.

Multiply the scene described above by 100, and you get a better picture of our plight. General elections were more than a year away, and no one knew when local elections (called county councils then) would be called. But Bas was already sharing "seats" in rum shops. George and I treated his foibles as "rum talk", paying little attention to his promises. Only later would they return to haunt us when some of these characters actually turned up for screening as candidates.

In instances, Panday insisted that these sometimes-dubious characters be accepted by the ULF's screening committee, or he would take his marbles and walk. His attitude brought the party to the brink of collapse before the 1976 general elections. He would wreak more havoc by the time local elections came around in 1977. He saddled us with candidates whose only merit, if it could be so described, was their blind loyalty to Bas. Less than a year later, I had had enough of his shenanigans, and the rest is history. I never looked back, and he kept moving forward.

In today's confusing tragedy of errors that seems to be a fixture in the UNC-led coalition government, I wonder if what we are witnessing is not a replay of a 35-year-old comedy. What criteria are being used to appoint persons to some of the most critical positions in the State apparatus? I do not wish to beat up on Reshmi Ramnarine, since hers is not the only questionable Government appointment. In fact, I feel sorry for her. Clearly, she is the victim of horrendous intra-coalition bungling.

I rather suspect that much the way Bas screened drunks in rum shops, certain powerful People's Partnership officials are interviewing potential office holders at cocktail parties. Everybody is high like the proverbial kite, and someone on higher heights says, "Come and see me in my office tomorrow, darling! You look eminently suitable for the position of ambassador to the Pitcairn Islands or Tokelau." How else does one explain some of the appointments the Government has made thus far? Possession of a party card? Texture of hair or colour of skin? Or how much money one is prepared to plough into the People's Partnership's coffers?

Whatever methods they are using in appointing persons to sensitive or strategic positions, clearly there are no logical guidelines. This seeming chaos at the highest levels of government has led to embarrassment, to minister after minister having to change tunes before they are even sung, to withdraw appointments, to apologise almost every week, as I wrote in my last column.

When the People's Partnership got rid of Patrick Manning, I thought, "Good riddance!" Now I wonder about that.

[Keyser Soze]

interlectual blow Wagonrunner....

[eliteauto]

so ....I read the article posted by Dr Cudjoe, a noted Afrocentric and all I see is opinions no different from those espoused by all races concerning the current state of governance in T&T, I find it quite funny that having made no mention of race both ray_S.T.R.A_"one post and run" man and zoom "ostrich" rader see racism in his comments I suspect both are rumshopologists who cry racism to cover their own racist ideologies

[wagonrunner]

interlectual blow Wagonrunner....

nah man. once yuh cannot blindly follow the Kamla, you are a racist.
that being the "prevalent logic", i gladly take the title, as have others.

This party's merit, was the claim of transparency and accountability.

I dunno how much Johnny Walker Green (bay rum for the uninitiated) yuh hadda be batting, for "let's move on", and "blame she, and forget it", to be accepted as what's in bold.

IMO yuh hadda choose to be a blind and follow lackey, or very accustomed to being dishonest, even with yourself, to think so.

[Soundwave]

interlectual blow Wagonrunner....

nah man. once yuh cannot blindly follow the Kamla, you are a racist.
that being the "prevalent logic", i gladly take the title, as have others.

This party's merit, was the claim of transparency and accountability.

I dunno how much Johnny Walker Green (bay rum for the uninitiated) yuh hadda be batting, for "let's move on", and "blame she, and forget it", to be accepted as what's in bold.

IMO yuh hadda choose to be a blind and follow lackey, or very accustomed to being dishonest, even with yourself, to think so.

[Greypatch]

fellas

[Greypatch]

[~Vēġó~]

luvvin that rumshop politics article...bleh at anti-****** cudjoe....

[Morpheus]

LoL. I can't believe some people still deny that is "Blind PNM followers" that voted the PP into government. How you think they won so many "PNM strongholds"?

I always maintain I eh care who (party/race,etc) in Governmennt, as long as they are doing theirs jobs....in the correct way of course.

Oh gosh I in another political thread :-/

[zoom rader]

so ....I read the article posted by Dr Cudjoe, a noted Afrocentric and all I see is opinions no different from those espoused by all races concerning the current state of governance in T&T, I find it quite funny that having made no mention of race both ray_S.T.R.A_"one post and run" man and zoom "ostrich" rader see racism in his comments I suspect both are rumshopologists who cry racism to cover their own racist ideologies

You dont or cant read behind words to spot a racist.
Cudjoe is same man that said the reason why afro trini youth fail in school is becuase of Indo teachers dont teach them.
All u do is defend these clowns as being Afrocentric,seeing a diffent view and giving opinions with hidden racist points.
Most tuners know that u are a racist anyway

[AllTrac]

ray_S.T.R.A_"one post and run" man and

PLOI!
loving this

[eliteauto]

so ....I read the article posted by Dr Cudjoe, a noted Afrocentric and all I see is opinions no different from those espoused by all races concerning the current state of governance in T&T, I find it quite funny that having made no mention of race both ray_S.T.R.A_"one post and run" man and zoom "ostrich" rader see racism in his comments I suspect both are rumshopologists who cry racism to cover their own racist ideologies

You dont or cant read behind words to spot a racist.
Cudjoe is same man that said the reason why afro trini youth fail in school is becuase of Indo teachers dont teach them.
All u do is defend these clowns as being Afrocentric,seeing a diffent view and giving opinions with hidden racist points.
Most tuners know that u are a racist anyway

I know several betis that would agree with you fully, they were beaten like Rodney King



everything PLOI

[SUPAstarr]

buh elite all this time we skinnin teet, yuh eh tell mih yuh doh like my kind....wtf is that about

[eliteauto]

buh elite all this time we skinnin teet, yuh eh tell mih yuh doh like my kind....wtf is that about

wha ah go tell yuh boi yuh know how we hadda use allyuh kind so to get ahead

so yuh still stannin security for de loan for meh B15 dread?

[SUPAstarr]

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