Governing the ungovernable.

Sounds like Guyana...

Jagdeo/Ramotar

By Raffique Shah September 8, 2013

Rather than re-shuffle her Cabinet for a third time in three years, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar should have considered resigning and calling fresh general elections.

By an annual tinkering with her appointees and their portfolios, the PM has all but admitted she is incapable of leading the country, which, really, is nothing to be ashamed of. The great Eric Williams often complained this country was ungovernable. It still is.

In the face of seemingly intractable problems—a crime epidemic, rampant corruption, lawlessness—the PM simply does not measure up. I hasten to add I cannot think of anyone else who stands out as being capable of leading us out of the abyss, although many are offering themselves. For the country's sake, I wish them well.

But having the decency to resign and call fresh elections—some might say stupidity—is hardly the hallmark of politicians anywhere.

For all his shortcomings, Patrick Manning did it twice, but lost on both occasions. I do not recall the precise circumstances that triggered the 1995 election a year before it was due. I think there were rumblings in the ranks of his Government, and there was an issue with House Speaker Occah Seapaul bucking the PNM, which Manning handled badly by putting her under house arrest.

Anyway, he called elections and lost his majority with the memorable 17-17-2 results that saw Ray Robinson throw his two Tobago seats with Basdeo Panday to give the latter his first lien on power. Manning would do a repeat performance in 2010, this time bowing to public pressure over some very stupid things he did, and losing badly to the People's Partnership.

Panday, too, facing a rebellion in his ranks in the aftermath of the 2000 elections, returned to the polls in 2001, which resulted in the historic 18-18 tie, following which Robinson named Manning Prime Minister.

Except for Manning in 2007, politicians in this country have always ignored public opinion or their own failings, clinging to power until the last hour, until they are routed from office the way George Chambers was in 1986 (33-3) or Robinson in 1991 (winning only two seats).

In this instance, Persad-Bissessar has exhibited extremely poor judgment in selecting many of her ministers (and sundry other appointees), hence the need, as she saw it, for repeated “realignments”.

Playing musical chairs with as critical a ministry as National Security, more so in the face of runaway crime, is a sad indictment of her leadership. Four ministers in as many years must be a world record of sorts.

In appointing Captain Gary Griffith to the post, she said what is needed is someone with a military background. But she had that before: John Sandy was a retired brigadier who had some 40 years of military experience, someone who held command positions far higher than Griffith did.

Yet she removed him after only one year to put Jack Warner, who, if we believe the police, was the best minister ever. Matters not that the crime spiral continued under his watch, much the way it has done for more than a decade—short respites punctuating long, murderous binges. The police, and, I guess, members of the other services, liked Warner because he pampered them, pandering to their every wish.

His “success” had nothing to do with reining in crime, although he now speaks of a hundred initiatives he had recom­mended that Cabinet failed to support or implement. If we are honest in appraising reasons for the crime epidemic, we must conclude the police, or significant elements in the service, are very much part of the problem. If he does not already know it, “action man” Griffith will soon face this humongous institutional obstacle that all his predecessors did.

Another aspect to the PM's latest re-shuffle that I find puzzling is that it came on the eve of the presentation of the 2013-2014 budget. Debate on the Appropriation Bill will begin within a week of the new ministers familiarising themselves with their new ministries. Clearly, they will not be able to make informed contributions on matters relating to their portfolios—unless they parrot briefs prepared for them by public servants.

In a related issue, stakeholders in the tourism sector lamented the change in line ministers just when Stephen Cadiz was getting to understand issues they face and was about to implement measures to boost the sector.

The PM also made some rather strange statements about a “new era of my Government”, about a “lift-off”. If it has taken her three years to “lift off”, when, pray, do we see the flight? I think what we are witnessing are the desperate actions of a drowning Government.

But it would have been so much more honourable to have faced fresh elections and lost. Manning returned from the dead. Chambers and Robinson did not. Therein lies a lesson for those who are brave enough to venture to govern this ungovernable country.

PP Loses Ground

Rowley: Youth will take us to 2015

Gail Alexander

Published: 

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley is hugged by a supporter at Balisier House last night. PHOTO: MARCUS GONZALES

PNM leader Dr Keith Rowley is hugged by a supporter at Balisier House last night. PHOTO: MARCUS GONZALES

The Opposition People’s National Movement continued this year’s victory streak in yesterday’s local government elections, winning eight regional corporations, including retaking five it had lost in the 2010 local government polls. “We have won this election, we are on the way to winning the general election...the Prime Minister should call the general election now, having lost her mandate,” PNM leader Keith Rowley said at 10 pm at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain.

 

 

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s People’s Partnership, though losing overall to the PNM, retained at least five UNC “heartland” corporations and staved off adversary Jack Warner’s Independent Liberal Party. “The UNC has retained its base,” a beaming Persad-Bissessar said at 9.30 pm, speaking alongside successful candidates in Siparia. “We’ve held our base. This isn’t a Government or Opposition victory, it’s a true people’s victory.”

 

This is the Partnership’s third successive defeat after the January Tobago House of Assembly election, which the PNM won, and the July Chaguanas West by-election won by Warner. Yesterday, however, Warner’s ILP, which failed to capture any corporations, won only two of the eight seats in the Chaguanas borough and his Felicity stronghold in Chaguanas West returned to the UNC. 

 

 

Of the remaining six Chaguanas seats, the PP and the PNM each took three. ILP chairman Robin Montano conceded overall defeat as early as 9 pm, saying, “The results show the country has retreated to tribalism...so we have failed. It’s clear from the results we didn’t win. But we’ll try again tomorrow.” Warner later said the ILP has become T&T’s third political force, is “here to stay” and would continue building.

 

The PNM, which last controlled corporations prior to 2010, yesterday returned to majority control in a trend established as early as 8.15 pm, when the party took the Diego Martin regional corporation. Former UNC corporation chairman Anthony Sammy conceded at that time.

 

 

Results by corporation The PNM retained Port-of Spain, San Juan/Laventille and Point Fortin and re-took the corporations of Diego Martin, Tunapuna, Arima, Sangre Grande and San Fernando, which the PP won in 2010. The PNM also picked up seats and increased votes in what were traditionally non-PNM areas. Rowley particularly noted the PNM’s win in Chaguanas. The 11 corporations the PP won in 2010 fell to five: Penal/Debe, Siparia, Princes Town, Rio Claro/Mayaro, and Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo.

 

 

What next in Chaguanas? The focus now falls on Chaguanas, where both the PP and PNM won three seats. The ILP, which won two seats, holds the balance of power there. ILP’s support yesterday came mainly from north Caroni. However, there was a swing back to the UNC in Felicity, which was Warner’s stronghold in Chaguanas West.

 

PNM public relations officer Faris Al-Rawi told the T&T Guardian that while the PP and the PNM picked up three seats each, the PNM received the most votes and therefore potentially could control the Chaguanas corporation. UNC party officials said there might be some “leveraging” for control of that corporation. But they didn’t believe the UNC would want to link with the ILP. 

 

On whether the ILP would form an alliance with the PNM, chairman Montano told the T&T Guardian, “If I had my way, the answer would be no. But the party hasn’t met on this. But as far as I’m concerned, I’d say no.”

 

 

Voting today in Point While the PNM won seats in Point Fortin, last night’s outcome is minus results for two of the six polling stations in Point Fortin, after the Elections and Boundaries Commission suspended voting at a Guapo and a Mahaica polling station after finding a number of electors had voted using the wrong ballot papers. Voting will resume at the two stations today  from 6 am to 6 pm. 

 

 

EBC chief elections officer Ramesh Nanan said the procedure of doing the vote on another day was not unprecedented, since a similar incident occurred in the 2003 local government elections. The Movement for Social Justice failed to win any of the 16 seats among seven corporations the party contested. Nor did any of the two smaller parties or four independents who participated.

 

 

Elections by numbers  Rain put a damper on yesterday’s elections, which saw a  very low voter turnout. Preliminary estimates put the turn-out  around 263,000 out of Trinidad’s 1,036, 721 electorate. EBC stated it would give an official figure today. After lines earlier in the morning at some venues, by 1.50 pm yesterday a 22 per cent turn out was reported in some places, with a surge in the evening. There was high police visibility throughout Trinidad for the exercise.

 

Preliminary figures indicated the PNM received approximately 116,000 votes nationally, to the PP’s 84,000 and the ILP, 62,000. The EBC’s Nanan said on the basis of last night’s results, the EBC will work out the allocation of the 56 aldermen for the respective corporations over the next three to four days using the mathematical formula under the new proportional representation system.

 

 

PNM preliminary figures

Arima: 7/7 seats Diego Martin: 10/10 PoS: 12/12 San Fernando: 8/9 San Juan/Laventille: 12/13  Sangre Grande: 5/8  Tunapuna: 11/15 Point Fortin: 4/6

DEADLOCK

By Andre Bagoo Wednesday, October 23 2013

EXACTLY who will control the municipal corporation of Chaguanas was yesterday still up in the air as it emerged that Monday’s Local Government Elections likely resulted in a perfect deadlock between three parties: the People’s National Movement (PNM); the United National Congress (UNC) and the Independent Liberal Party (ILP).

The doors to the board-room which holds the 12-seat Chaguanas corporation remained firmly shut at Cumberbatch Street, Chaguanas, as the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) set about the task of formalising Monday’s results.

 
While it was hoped that the allocation of aldermen under the new system of proportional representation might have gone some way toward breaking the dead heat caused by a 3 - 3 - 2/PNM -UNC - ILP result in Monday’s election of councillors, in fact, once tabulation began by EBC officials, it became clear the aldermen allocation would not give one party a clear victory over the other.

So much so, that political party officials began to moot alternative ideas as to how to determine the winner. 
“We may have to draw straws,” said the PNM’s general secretary Ashton Ford,

as UNC deputy political leader Dr Suruj Rambachan also refused to rule out that idea. 

There are eight councillors and four aldermen on the 12-seat corporation.

On Monday, the PNM won three of the districts, entitling them to three of the eight councillors.

These districts included: Enterprise North; Enterprise South; and Edinburgh/ Longdenville.

The UNC won three: Cunupia; Felicity/ Endeavour; and Montrose.

The ILP won two: Charlieville and Munroe Road. (The party won just three districts nationally, with a third at a separate corporation of Tunapuna/Piarco).

But in total, the ILP won the popular vote in the Chaguanas corporation.

According to preliminary figures compiled by Newsday, the ILP took home 11,968 votes, the UNC 10,804 and the PNM 9,003.
Once the statutory quota (the total votes divided by four) is applied, the process results in one alderman for each of the three parties.

The remaining alderman is allocated to the party with the greatest remaining surplus, in this case the ILP, with its lion’s share of votes.

In this way, the ILP gets two aldermen and the other two parties one each.

This takes the result to a deadlock of 4 - 4 - 4.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar was last night quoted as rejecting the suggestion of the UNC entering into any arrangement with the ILP to govern Chaguanas, a traditionally UNC corporation.
“I firmly believe that there should be no negotiations with criminals and so I will not negotiate with criminals,” she said in a television report. The UNC had campaigned heavily on the legal troubles on several of the ILP’s candidates, some of whom are before the courts.

There were other reports that ILP interim leader Jack Warner had been approached by one of the two other parties about an accommodation, however, based on the Prime Minister’s remarks it was unlikely that party was the UNC.  

ILP deputy political leader Lyndira Oudit yesterday stated the ILP had had preliminary discussions on the issue and determined it would take each issue on a “case by case” approach. 

“I think in each case the corporation’s decision will have to be taken on its own merit,” she said.

The use of drawing lots is not unprecedented in Local Government decision making. In 2003, the control of the Rio Claro/Mayaro Regional Corp-
oration was determined by this method after a tie between the UNC/PNM.

A similar thing happened in 1999 at the Siparia Regional Corporation.
Oudit, however, rejected the idea of drawing straws. 

“That is not a tenable position given the importance of the decisions made at such a corporation,” she said. In previous instances, the parties agreed that the drawing of lots would be binding.
At a press conference at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain on Monday night following the announcement of the election results, PNM political leader Dr Keith Rowley was asked whether the party would consider an accommodation with any other political party.

“We have taken no such decision,” Rowley replied. However Rowley, who is also Opposition Leader, stated, “We work with everybody in this country, black, yellow, green or blue, but we are a political party with confidence to stand on our own.”

He said the PNM will work with anyone in the country at the Local Government level “in the interest of Trinidad and Tobago, once decency is the watchword.”

The Chaguanas Borough covers  59.65 square kilometres including the bustling urban centre of downtown Chaguanas, Montrose, Edinburgh Gardens, Lange Park, Felicity, Orchard Gardens, Endeavour, Enterprise, Long- denville, Cunupia, and Carlsen Field.

The corporation has been allocated $91 million in recurrent expenditure in the current Budget year. 
Up to last night, the EBC continued the slow process of finalising results and collating allocations of aldermen under the new system. 
The allocations are made based on the proportions of votes received by each party. 
Under the provisions of the new legislation passed last month introducing the system, the EBC has four days within which to complete its calculations and to write to parties telling them how many aldermen are allocated to them. 
Thereafter, the parties will have four days to respond to the EBC telling them which candidates on its published lists it would like to put forward.

‘National shift’ in politics

By Anna Ramdass  anna.ramdass@trinidadexpress.com

Rev, druggie and the other PPP racists must be trembling in their boots.  Who would ever believe that the PNM would get so many votes in Chaguanas?  That is to Kamla what the Corentyne is to Ramotar, a traditional Indo heartland where many no longer want to vote based on tribe.

And by the way Guyana's demographics increasingly look like TRinidad's as Guyana's Indo population shrinks and the mixed population surges.