est. 2007

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Update:Trinidad Election Watch, November 05, 2007~Will The Trend Continue?

Join Barbados Underground and follow the countdown of the 41 seats in the Trinidad and Tobago General Elections 2007 on C-News – The Voice of TnT. Source: Trinidad Guardian Yet another General Election is upon us in the Caribbean and if the result runs true to form the People National Movement (PNM) might be found…

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Join Barbados Underground and follow the countdown of the 41 seats in the Trinidad and Tobago General Elections 2007 on C-News – The Voice of TnT.

Source: Trinidad Guardian

Yet another General Election is upon us in the Caribbean and if the result runs true to form the People National Movement (PNM) might be found wanting when the the final result is posted. In Barbados, Prime Minister Owen Arthur will have an eye on this election result if for no other reason that a PNM defeat will help to feed a public perception that incumbent governments need to be swept from office come hell or high water.

The happenings in T&T must also interest Barbadians because of the geographical proximity and the growing economic interdependence of the two countries. The current debate in Barbados regarding the acquisition of the Barbados conglomerate BS&T by Neal & Massy and Ansa MaCal, the offer by CLICO for Barbados Farms which is a company that owns over 4000 acres of land, the controversial purchase of the Barbados National Bank (BNB) and we can go on makes our point. Whether we agree on what some consider to be the hegemonic behaviour of T&T or whether current events mirror the need to integrate under the ideals of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), events in T&T will create conversation in Barbados.

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Basdeo Panday, Patrick Manning and Winston Dookeran:
Source: T&T News Blog

We have been scanning the T&T newspapers and listening to the news when we can. What is noticeable is the violence and crime. The reemergence of the relic Basdeo Panday who seems to still have the fire in his belly. Our analysis of the situation suggest that the passivity of Winston Dookeran has left the door open for Panday and the UNC. From this distance it looks to us as if T&T for all its economic advancement is a country which will continue to vote along racial lines – we would welcome feedback from our T&T visitors to the blog on this point! The recent polls all show that the race will be very tight so it makes us wonder why Panday – UNC and Dookeran – COP wouldn’t entertain a coalition going into the election to ensure that they can better the odds.

If our observation reflects our naiveté about Trinidad politics please forgive us!

Barbados Underground wish the T&T political parties well. Even though general elections are taking place in a sovereign country the world sees us as one space, one Caribbean. The leaders of our Caribbean continue to advocate that we must move to a single economic space to ensure our survival in the prevailing global turbulence. The ability of any T&T government to manage its cosmopolitan environment must interest Caribbean neighbours. If we can’t manage the diversity on the domestic front how can we hope to do it under a CSME umbrella!

Check-out Allyuh.com blog to follow all the election coverage.

80 responses to “Update:Trinidad Election Watch, November 05, 2007~Will The Trend Continue?”

  1. No Name Avatar
    No Name

    Adrian my friend leave me out of your opinions as you and me think very differently.

    I never got involved with you. You came to me not me to you

  2. Adrian Hinds Avatar
    Adrian Hinds

    No Name // Nov 6th 2007 at 5:00 pm

    Adrian my friend leave me out of your opinions as you and me think very differently.

    I never got involved with you. You came to me not me to you
    ——————————————————–
    and i shall continue…….not your friend, you are not in my opinions, for these two things would require some knowlege of who you are; I don’t know you and don’t care too. 😀

    ….let the term White shadows define a behaviour more so than a skin trait and you will not think that you have discovered something new in Fruendel Stuart’s comments, and voltaire’s comment cannot be honestly applied to you. 😀

  3. Idjut Avatar
    Idjut

    BU = FOOL

    The results from the Trinidad election have been released.

    You blasted idiot.

    The name been edited by BU to match the comment.

    David

  4. trini Avatar
    trini

    So the results of the elections: PNM – 26, UNC-A – 15, COP – 0.

    I voted for the COP and I do not regret it. If elections were held again tomorrow, I would vote the same.

    As a young professional, voting only for the second time, I decided to go with the party that:

    ~ Seemed to have the most integrity. Both the PNM and the UNC have had a number of corruption scandals associated with their members and I am sure there are more to be uncovered.

    ~ Had a good mix of experienced candidates and fresh faces and moreover had a candidate for my area that I thought would best represent me and my fellow residents. Most Trinis do not vote with the candidate in mind, they vote for the party.

    ~ Had a unique take on the issues of importance (see highlights of their manifesto). The PNM and the UNC both had their chance/s (the PNM has had over 25 years of governance experience) and had mucked it up. Crime is increasing, food prices are exorbitant, the quality of health care and education is deteriorating.

    ~ Did not exploit race as an issue (I am of mixed descent, but look more like…)

    ~ Did not act like it was a divine right to govern T&T (PNM’s slogan “This is PNM country” and UNC’s “COP is splitting the vote” argument bordered on arrogance)

    The people have spoken and those that voted for the other parties apparently considered other perhaps, less lofty things. I have heard of comments like “dem can’t govern we” (pitting one race party against the other) and sensed people’s (both big business and the small man) fears about the loss of contracts, jobs and opportunities (whether rightfully gained in the first place or not).

    The first-past-the-poll system fails, like it always does, to make every vote count. More people voted against the PNM than for it. Less people voted in this elections than the last one. Less than half our total population decided the future of the whole.

  5. David Avatar
    David

    Trini when you voted for COP did you think that they had a realistic chance to win? Do you think there is room for a third party in T&T politics?

  6. Leviticus Avatar
    Leviticus

    BY HARTLEY HENRY

    HOLD THAT FINGER, Mr Prime Minister! Do not take the result of the Trinidad and Tobago election at face value. The temptation is great, I know, to forge ahead with a mid-December general election, but my advice is that you dig beneath the surface to better appreciate what happened in Trinidad a few days ago.

    First, it was not a third-term government seeking reelection in Trinidad and Tobago. A party by the name of the People’s National Movement (PNM) was going up for reelection but the slate of candidates that was presented to the people of Trinidad and the Cabinet that will be sworn in next week is, for all intents and purposes, a brand new government.

    Patrick Manning, though not a fan of mine, demonstrated true political skill and savvy when he dumped two-thirds of his non-performing ministers and back-benchers and brought about real and meaningful change from within.

    Analysts in Barbados need to be aware that more than two-thirds of the PNM’s slate of candidates were first-timers. They were not associated in any way with the morally, intellectually and ethically bankrupt group that presided over the two previous PNM administrations, under the same leader. A renowned pollster out of Jamaica suggested to Manning that he needed to dump some of the deadweight he had around him and he did just that, including the unceremonious “let go” of his deputy, Kenneth Valley.

    Some months ago, Mr Prime Minister, I wrote suggesting that several, indeed the vast majority, of your ministers were not performing and that your back-benchers were merely warming seats in Parliament and counting down to pension eligibility status. You are persisting with that group of non-performers and you will, I predict, suffer the same fate as Portia Simpson-Miller in Jamaica, who attempted to foist a tired and discredited team of ministers on the public of Jamaica for a fifth straight term.

    Patrick Manning triumphed in Trinidad on Monday because he did not rely on tricks and sleight of hand. He came straight with the voters of Trinidad and Tobago. He had unfinished business to conduct, but the team around him was not performing and he levelled with the voters of Trinidad and asked for one more opportunity to get it right. The voters gave him that opportunity on Monday night.

    You, Mr Prime Minister, have a bunch of ministers who have ceased to perform. Every social and economic sector in this country is under-performing.

    On the back of it we are told don’t worry about Hardwood, forget about Gems and keep hope alive for Edutech.

    Like Mr Manning, you have a treasury that is full of money, but you are not using that money to ease the strain on working Barbadians. Your Minister of State’s response to concerns about a skyrocketing cost of living is that people are hanging their hats too high and trying to live lives that are beyond their means. What arrant nonsense!

    Working Barbadians are finding it hard, if not impossible to make ends meet. Go on the industrial estates, the farmlands of St George, St Thomas and St Joseph, the department stores on Broad Street, the housekeeping departments of most hotels on the South and West Coast and identify for me the ordinary Barbadian that is living beyond his or her means. People are catching hell in this country and they need help!

    You are going to lose the next election, Mr Prime Minister, because you failed to fire ministers of Government who are disconnected from the people and from the reality of life in Barbados today. They are not representing their constituents and they are not performing in their ministries.

    You said in your party address two Sundays ago that you recognise the problem of high prices and you would endeavour to do something about it. We all know that was mere politicking. Nevertheless, your sidekick came one week later and said “do not blame the Government”; stop putting milk in your coffee; stop putting cheese between your two slices of bread; stop brushing your teeth with Colgate and use blue soap instead. This is the type of demeaning arrogance that Patrick Manning moved away from and which created the basis for his return to office. This is the type of arrant nonsense that will bring about the downfall of this Barbados Labour Party government. Mark my word!

  7. trini Avatar
    trini

    Reply to David’s “Trini when you voted for COP did you think that they had a realistic chance to win? Do you think there is room for a third party in T&T politics?”

    Not for a moment did I think that they would win. But I had hoped that they would form the Opposition. I suspect that many COP voters shared this thinking and it is telling that so many would vote for an intended “loser” (to use the PNM’s terminology).

    In its role as the Opposition, the UNC failed to serve the best interests of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Its members got caught up in the petty aspects of politics – name-calling and all that – and forgot their primary function. At times, they appeared to block / stall the work of the Parliament just because they could. Where they could have sought compromises, they did not. Where they could have offered solutions to thorny issues and problems, they did not.

    It pains me that so many people could have still voted for the UNC-A, knowing its track record (new name, same party), knowing that its leaders at the time (Panday and Warner) have been under a cloud of suspicion concerning corruption. There is no doubt in my mind that the race card won the UNC-A the position of Opposition.

    There is room for a third party, but only in as much as it eventually takes the political space occupied by another.

  8. David Avatar
    David

    trini we must confess that we are somewhat confused. To many looking in from outside it is generally accepted that voting in T&T takes place along racial lines. We even got this admission from Patrick Manning during the campaign. Why would you and the 100,000 Trinigonians who voted for COP not have anticipated that it would have split the Indian vote? The result therefore is what you have gotten.

  9. trini Avatar
    trini

    A great deal of Trini politics is about race. Yet, the realities of Trini life are largely not. Regardless of race, we are all plagued by the similar woes, be it crime, poor health care, unreliable water and electricity supply…

    Class, of course, is another issue altogether.

    You can never predict what happens when people wake up on the morning of elections, what takes place in the solace of the voting booth.

    There were so many people on the voter’s list who were undecided up to the day before / day of elections.

    Those people could have made a difference if apathy did not get the better of them (the campaign to encourage Trinis to just come out and vote was incredibly weak).

    The COP support base (at least from my own observations) was not Indian in nature, but crossed race and class lines. I cannot see how people can deny the role that a party like this can play in bridging the divide.

    To answer your question simply (and to stick some cool non-regional poetry in):

    “Hope is the thing with feathers
    That perches in the soul,
    And sings the tune without the words,
    And never stops at all”

    (E. Dickinson)

    Hope when Barbados has its turn at elections, that you may have learned something from the Trini experience: focus on the important issues – national not personal, do not let race and class dominate, overcome voter apathy.

    Think this is the end of my commentary on Trinbago Elections 2007. What is done, is done. Trinis just have to wait, watch, listen, speak up.

  10. Puzzled Avatar
    Puzzled

    Trini what does UNC-A mean? Trini you must admit if UNC-A? and COP were united PNM would have lost. Are Indians the majority race in Trinidad and by how much?

  11. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Don’t beleieve the spin written by Trini.

    Cop is in effect an indian party made up of primarily indian voters and a sprinkling of afro and white and mixed group persons as window dressing,and in a desperate attempt to win the afro trini vote.

    Dookeran is just as racist as Panday, evidenced by who he surrounded himself with – Devant Maraj,Hulsie Baggan (a candidate), and Sat Maraj.

    Those 3 persons have been extremely foul in their prnouncements against afro trinis -for e.g. sat maraj says if his daughter marries an afro trini – he would disown her.
    His grandson a police officer if you please, was just acquitted for pulling out a gun and blowing out the brain of a 16 year old school boy at a party because he said the boy bumped into him.The indian Judge over and over kept telling the members of the jury before they deliberated what a good boy he (Maraj grandson) is.

    Hulsie bhaggan – a COP candidate – 3 or 4 years ago accused afro trini men of raping indian women in Caroni.
    For those who don’t know Caroni is a part of Trinidad which is exlusively inhabited by indians.
    When she made that charge – Huslsie bhaggan was at the time a Member of Parliament for Caroni for the UNC Party.

    It was later discovered that the rapists were in fact indian men wearing afro wigs – Hulsie baggan never apologised to the afro trini men who were beaten up or suffered by that statement.

    As for Devant maraj – I won’t know where to start – in one word – that man is a RACIST – he hates persons of african descent.His latest remark on a COP platform was to warn the indians in Chaguanas that the PNM was going to build houses in their (indian) areas and”all a dem” meaning the niggers will come down and live in their districts – so he was warning them to object to ‘dem people’ from laventille coming in.

    Yet he (Devant Maraj) spoke on Winston Dookeran’s platform and was reported in the papers many times as having close talks with the COP leader.

    Even Winston Dookeran when he spoke on the campaign in prodominantly indian districts changed his Mr ‘nice guy’ image and descended into a few choice racial remarks against afro trinis.

    Note,a large percentage of the COP candidates were former UNC candidates and UNC members.

    Let no one fool you Dookeran could not even win his seat because he is a hopeless shadow of Panday – Yes there is no evidence he stole public funds – but the evidence is underneath he thinks just like most of those UNC and ‘Panday- like’ politicians where race is concerned.

    I am glad he lost big time – NOT A DAMN SEAT FOR THEM.

    DAMN WOLF IN SHEEP CLOTHING.

  12. David Avatar
    David

    Anonymous~your comment fits what is our understanding of the situation in T&T. If what we are saying is correct it raises the concerns which many Barbadians have regarding the rising Indo-Guyanese population in Barbados. Trinidad is a good example of a mature society where Indians, Blacks, Chinese, Syrians and many other nationalities reside but up to now they continue to struggle with harmony between the races.nationalities.

    In Barbados we continue with an open door policy and no planning!

  13. Avatar
    Anonymous

    My sentiments exactly David!

    Pray tell me what is the possibility of the indian guyanese coming to barbados living in harmony with afro bajans when the indians and africans in trinidad and in Guyana and in Fiji and in Surinam, have been living side by side for centuries – and race relations have never been worse.

    Indians Guyanese just waiting to accumulate lil money,get their bajan residency or citizenship – and then SHITE pon bajans.

    For the most part with few exceptions INDIANS GENERALLY DONOT LIKE PERSONS OF AFRICAN DESCENT – They are taught from young not to spoil their race by marrying with a person of african descent.

    Note, I didnot say black,because strangely although you will find some indians that are blacker than midnight they don’t see themselves as black.

    They tend to do whatever it takes to get ahead,so as you would have seen here in barbados – the indo guyanese who back in their country Guyana – reviled and discriminated against afro guyanese – yet they will come to barbados and do the lowest of act with an afro bajan just to stay in barbados.

    My only hope is that David Thompson has plans to send these people back to Guyana – they must not at any cost be allowed to stay here – labour shortage or no labour shortage.

    Immigration officers need to be increased,and every day raids need to be done with fines be given to bajans habouring them.

    Also immigration officers found colluding with these illegals to circumvent the law should be dealt with harshly also.

    We are talking about the future and stability of our country,and bajan men love for ‘long hair women’ – should not cause us to sacrifice our country – because of lust.

    Barbados is at the crossroads – and desperately needs ‘Tough Leadership’ – right now!

  14. Straight talk Avatar
    Straight talk

    Oh dear me!

    Lord come soon.

    The pressure is not even on yet but the divide lines are being erected.

    Why cant I explain to Anonymous that these incomers are arriving here for the very same reason why we proudly admire our sons and daughters flying the coop, and sending their loving remittances back to a grateful Bim from US,Canada and UK.

    How can we boast that our children are prospering so in a foreignland, yet deny that same opportunity to our less fortunate Caricom citizens.

    Double standards will bring double shame upon our proud and supposedly educated country.

    Embrace change and the power it gives to the underprivileged.

    Be like Christ.

    Love thy neighbour.

  15. Avatar
    Anonymous

    All I will say to you straight talk is that bundle of rubbish you just spout there is what got the african descendents where they are right now around the world – AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HEAP.

    My information is not for people like you – who probabaly got some reason to maintain that satus quo – however I am speaking to those who have an open mind and are concerned about the future direction of this country.

    Not for people who bread buttered on both sides with ham and cheese pon top.

  16. David Avatar
    David

    Straight Talk we have discussed this issue at length on previous topics…just do a search using key words ‘ immigration’ or ‘Guyanese’. We totally disagree with you. When Barbadians migrated to foreign lands in the 50’s and 60’s they went to countries which could absorb them both economically and socially.

  17. Straight talk Avatar
    Straight talk

    David:

    Barbados is also absorbing these immigrants econonomically and socially.

    The very fact of their being here and not being a burden on the state testifies to their economic contribution to the country taking the opportunities being available to them which are not being filled for whatever reason by our own workforce.

    I see no physical signs of social unrest regarding the Guyanese influx.
    Admittedly I hear the stories of crime levelled against them, but few of these cases reach court, and in those that do usually involves illegal immigrants which I admit is a major problem for Barbados, not Guyana. I am all for stricter enforcement and inspection.

    I am old enough to remember the discrimination levelled towards our people when we emigrated for a bright new future in lands of opportunity.

    The racism we found there was born out of the same irrational fear I sense from some of your contributors and as time passed and experience gained those who persevered through that wicked treatment earned respect and gained acceptance.

    In fact, through their hard work and attitude, dare I say “Pride and Industry” they changed their host nations’ whole attitude towards multiculturism and mutual respect.

    So, show me examples of Bajans being unfaired or socially troubled by legal Guyanese, and we can discuss this issue on facts, not on xenophobic innuendo.

  18. David Avatar
    David

    Straight Talk several commenters including BU have cited countries which is struggling with race relations i.e blacks and indo-Indian mainly, and we have been consistent in advising the powers that be that migration to our small country must be managed to ensure we maintain a balance. If that makes us xenophobic so be it.

  19. trini Avatar
    trini

    I thought that my contribution would end with my last entry, but reading what others have written after me, have compelled me to add more to the mix.

    With reference to Anonymous’ take on my “spin.” I shared my own justifications for voting for COP. I am sure that other Trinis can offer just as compelling reasons for voting for the other parties and can cite shocking / if not appalling attitudes and policies of the opposing parties and their candidates. Every person thinks his/her point of view is the right one.

    David, to answer your question – the population of T&T (%) in 2000, was as follows:

    African Descent – 37.5
    East Indian Descent – 40.0
    White – 0.6
    Chinese – 0.3
    Mixed – 20.5
    Other – 0.3
    Not stated – 0.8

    Source: http://www.cso.gov.tt

    As you can see, with a total population of approximately 1.3 million, it has made for and and will continue to be a tight race when people vote according to race.

    The UNC-A was merely and alliance of the UNC (an Indo-Trinidadian oriented party) with other small politically-conscious groups in Trinidad and Tobago. It was formed in the last few months leading up to this last elections.

    I prefaced my statement about the composition of the COP, with “at least from my own observations.” I never felt the COP to be an “Indian” party and I can say that with all honesty as a person of mixed descent – Indian, Black, Chinese.

    Of course, others are sure to disagree with that.

    From a campaign strategy perspective, it is understandable, that the votes gained by the COP, were taken from the UNC. The PNM was formed in 1956, it is a professed Afro-Trinidadian oriented party (even Anonymous cannot deny that). Most of its supporters have been “PNM from the womb” and say that they will be so until “the tomb.” It would have been very hard for a fledgling party like the COP to easily encourage long-standing PNM representatives to “cross the floor,” change the voting stance of persons that have voted for the party their entire lives. The UNC, however, (the pre-cursor of the UNC-A) was formed in the mid 1990s and perhaps its membership would have had less of a visceral tie to the party.

    To my knowledge (again, another prefacing statement), the COP, as all parties ought to have done, targeted its campaign towards all Tribagonians, supporters of the PNM and UNC alike. Perhaps if the COP sticks around long enough for the next elections, changes up its line-up (all candidates are not created equal Anonymous), it can make significant in-roads into the PNM support-base too. I am totally fed-up with race politics!

    With that being said, the PNM is a minority government. IF the COP and the UNC-A had joined forces (which to me, and many others, would only have been MINIMALLY acceptable, if the UNC-A’s corrupt leadership by Panday and Warner had gone by the wayside), the votes would have amounted to some 20 seats, leaving the PNM with 21. As it stands, those of us, who voted COP remain with absolutely NO REPRESENTATION in our country’s Parliament (but as was pointed out numerous times, we voted so).

    Interesting statistics: “The UNC-A got 194,425 votes (29.73 per cent) and the COP 148,041 (22.64 per cent) on Monday, a combined total of 342,466, 52.38 per cent of the total 653,800 votes cast, seven per cent more than the PNM.”

    Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161230770

    But enough about T&T!

    What really encouraged me to write some more was the vitriol that Anonymous has spewed concerning Indo-Caribbeans: “For the most part with few exceptions INDIANS GENERALLY DONOT LIKE PERSONS OF AFRICAN DESCENT.”

    I wonder whether Anonymous knows and likes any Indo-Caribbean person at all. In my own experience, problems in Trinidad and Tobago have found ferment amongst people who have little to no REAL and MEANINGFUL interaction with other ethnicities (it is entirely possible to stay insular in a cosmopolitan society) and stems from ignorance. This has been exploited by political parties as a convenient rallying point (fear of THE OTHER, like beings must stick together) and perpetuated by the media.

    The social, political and economic problems that the European Union countries (always admired by us post-colonial countries…) have attributed to immigration, stem from lack of planning (I agree David!) and a failure to implement policies concerning cultural sensitivity training (for the host countries and the incoming immigrants).

    Reading about Barbados’ so-called issues with Indo-Guyanese immigrants (skilled or not) and Trinidad’s own hullabaloo about Chinese labourers makes me wonder about our readiness as a region for the implementation of the CSME’s policies on the free mobility of labour, the exchange of skills. Some Caribbean countries desperately need to supplement their work-force in certain sectors. Will those of us who migrate to other islands in the hopes of making a contribution (and a dollar) and do not look Black, Indian, etc. (look like the majority group/s) face the hostility of people like Anonymous? Are White, “educated,” persons in management positions in multi-national corporations operating in the Caribbean, the only acceptable migrant group?

    Caribbean people (regardless of colour) are not exactly welcomed with open arms where ever we go. Why should we feel a-how about such treatment when we cannot even manage tolerance at home towards fellow human beings?! (Way to go Straight Talk!)

  20. On COP’s Chances and Third Parties (After the Fact…) « Mango and Mosquito

    […] trini // Nov 9th 2007 at 3:38 pm […]

  21. Final Words on Elections, New Thoughts on Race Relations in the Region « Mango and Mosquito

    […] trini // Nov 11th 2007 at 10:56 pm […]

  22. trini Avatar
    trini

    Correction: Trini last entry began with a response to Puzzled concerning the meaning of UNC-A and the population composition of Trinidad and Tobago (not David as previously indicated).

  23. Avatar
    Anonymous

    My Dear Trini

    Your above post which is riddled with inaacuracies can perhaps fool some bajans who are naive,and have failed to examine what is going on in neighbouring countries with plural societies and even an examination of similar countries further afield.

    First of all I quite distinctly remember reading in the Guardian newspaper about 3 or 4 so years ago of the most recent census taken which put the afro and indo population at about .7 of a percent difference between the 2 ethnic groups.

    It was something like 43.x% african and 44.x %indian.

    This stood out in my mind because I can quite clearly remember there were comments in some quarters as to how come the mixed group percentage had increased significantly – yet it affected only the afro trini group and not as significantly the indo trini group.

    This is a relevant observation given that in TnT the majority of mixing takes place between indians and africans – with the result being known as a Dougla.

    Secondly,don’t just glibly tell us that”other groups can cite appalling attitudes of the other parties” – you cite them for us if you are going to use that argument as a defence.

    The things I have mentioned of the Cop persons and the UNC (ie their blatant hatred and disparaging remarks against blacks), cannot be said of the PNM.
    So much so that afro trinis have accused Patrick Manning and consequently the PNM party of ‘always pandering and catering to the indo trins’ e.g the caroni land give away and the largest severance package ever to public sector workers – ie those said caroni workers.

    You say the PNM is an afro-professed party – SO-O -O -O – what is the UNC and COP?Not indian based parties with an UNC ’til I die attitude.

    Even so this ‘afro-professed’ party as you call it from the ealy days of its founder Eric williams, took a virtually unknown,semi- illiterate coconut vendor (kamulladin Mohhamed) and brought him into the party – giving him senior cabinet positions. Right now his niece is a deputy leader of the PNM,even though in the past she has called Manning a dictator,and her brother was a candidate for the COP.

    Added to that even to this day indians are welcomed in that party and are given high positions in the PNM party and in the cabinet.

    Also the question of a miniority government – who is that brave person who could look into the hearts and minds of these COP voters to say that if an accomodation was sought between the UNC and COP – that some of the COP voters would not have? :
    a) Refused to vote for that UNC/COP alliance or
    b) Voted for the PNM?

    The biggest laugh of all was that remark by you that:”in my own experience problem in TnT have found ferment with persons with no real or meaningful interaction with other ethnicities”

    My friend tell that joke to the man on the moon o.k. – afro and indo trinis live cheek by jowl with each other in trinidad and are intimately aware of each other – hence this high percentage of Douglas – much to the consternation of those purists indians – who abhor mixing (especially of indian and african).

    Maybe you with your proud banner of ‘indian,chineese and african mixture’ – might be the one not understanding the relations between the races in that country.

    Quite simply your argument has no merit.

    Finally I must reject and point out that’ the Trinidad hullaballo about chineese contract workers’ is most definetely not the same as Barbados’ concern about the huge influx of immigrant labour ,and in particular the indo guyanese persons.

    For a start any afro guyanese can tell you of the discrimination and difficulties they suffer daily at the hands of the Basdeo Jagdeo administration and the Indo population who are a clear majority in Guyana.

    Secondly Trinidad is probably 5 or 6 times larger than Barbados,with endless resources and no scarity of precious limited resources like water and land etc.

    Our peculiar issues are clear for all to see.

    Like I said at the begining it is clear your response is meant to fudge and confuse and perhaps even convince those readers who don’t have the facts or have not made any great attempt to study the issue carefully.

    To attempt to create a parallel between bajans migrating to larger countries (e.g. UK and USA) in their dozens and hundreds unlike the tens of thousands of guyenese in this tiny little island – is bogus to say the least.

  24. Rational Response « Mango and Mosquito

    […] Underground.  One writer in particular has taken particular affront to my stance. Anonymous // Nov 12th 2007 at 7:49 am, has deemed my response/s as “riddled with inaacuracies can perhaps fool some bajans who are […]

  25. Avatar
    Anonymous

    David

    Can you please enlightenus if this mosquito and Mango is a blog site?

    Also why are listing their adoption of your posts as new comments?

    Iam not quite clear on these headings that appear on some of the subjects – yet don’t seem to be a new site.

  26. David Avatar
    David

    Anonymous~it seems to us that trini has his/her blog and has elected to transfer the discussion to their blog by ‘pinging’ BU. Readers to BU are essentially being invited to trini’s blog. Its a way bloggers generate traffic to their sites.

    Go and get them anonymous :-). Seriously this is an important topic an we intend to comeback to it again.

  27. trini Avatar
    trini

    Dear David (and others at Barbados Underground):

    Many thanks for allowing me to add to BU’s discussion on T&T Elections.

    My apologies for the pings back to my own blog (mango…). I just started it last week and was unfamiliar with the “ping” function. I have subsequently tried to disable it.

    Hopefully there should be no future, unwanted references.

    To all who responded in some way (positively or negatively) to my comments – thanks for keeping the dialogue open and interesting. I definitely learned several new things about Barbados and other people’s concerns about elections, race, labour etc.

    Keep up the great work BU!

  28. David Avatar
    David

    trini we never objected to you pinging BU and there is no good reason that you should want to turn-off the pinging future that we aware off in your case. What you can do is to update your profile info so that when you comment on other wordpress blogs your name would have the hyperlink :-). That way you can visit other WordPress blogs make your comments and visitors from those sites can link to your blog by following your username.

    If you insist that you want to turn-off the pinging feature you can go to your dashboard and select Manage>Post>Edit and check the options on the right-side of the screen.

  29. Avatar
    Anonymous

    David

    there is an interesting article which you just must read.

    Go into Moving Back to Jamaica blog and click the link to Trinidad & Tobago News Blog – where there is an article on Hinduism and racism.

    The article and comments are interesting – it’s truly a revealing and fascinating look at race relations between Indians and Africans in TnT.

    Thanks,here is the link.

    David

  30. yorubasacredsciencecentre Avatar
    yorubasacredsciencecentre

    Greetings!Thank you for dropping in on our site. We appreciate your interest in what we have to present, and we hope that we will find similar interests in your posts and presentations.May the link between our sites foster an increase in political awareness in our region, and may it foster the tolerance and respect that Caribbean neiighbours should exercise with each other.Oloye Orawale Oranfe

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