Kamla Persad-Bissessar Thread.

[sammy]

So who to vote for next couple of years? or no sense in voting?

[Football supporter]

None of the above!

[weary1969]

So who to vote for next couple of years? or no sense in voting?

U know d peeps in d US doh say that. They realize non of d parties eh perfect, they support things they do not agree with but at d end of the day they weigh the parties as what they have 2 offer the country and vote. We however, want a perfect govt. WAKE UP PEOPLE IT DOH EXIST.

[Jah Gol]

Vote for the party that actually has a developmental plan for the country. Consider also whose reputation can stand scrutiny.  In a serious country KPB would not even have been considered after her the mess she created as Minister of Education. I won't even mention the catalog of errors and outright immoral acts that she has committed as PM.

[Bourbon]

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/34_questions__with_answers-171639901.html

1.Why was Section 34 proclaimed early?

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is a strong, caring, brilliant leader.

2. What is ten times three plus four?

A result that ensures non-black, non-poor, non-young men don't go to jail.

3. Why didn't anyone in Cabinet ask why Section 34 had to be proclaimed early?

Free jumbo shrimp.

4. Did Attorney General Anand Ramlogan know it would be futile to appeal the extradition judgment because Section 34 was coming?

The AG is not a criminal lawyer, a criminal, or waxed.

5. Did AG Ramlogan know that Ish and Steve were suing the State for $76 million in lawyers' fees?

The AG was an outstandingly successful lawyer before he was AG, and an astute buyer of buildings after.

6. What Government is on spin cycle 24/7?

Get white collars really clean with Detergent 34.

7. What is two times ten plus 14?

A number which sums up Herbert Volney's judicial record.

8. Who brought in Herbert Volney to be a candidate in the 2010 election?

Persons who were impressed with his judicial record.

9. Why did UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar present Volney as the candidate for St Joseph?

Ms Persad-Bissessar is a fearless, brave, and courageous leader.

10. How does AG Ramlogan being on vacation for four days absolve him from responsibility in the months-long drafting and proclamation of Section 34?

Every MP was responsible, including Patrick Manning who showed what Calder Hart, Juliana Pena, and Andre Monteil could get away with.

11. Why is COP leader Prakash Ramadhar satisfied with the Prime Minister's action in the Section 34 scandal?

Ramadhar is very handsome.

12. Why hasn't anyone resigned from the Government over Section 34?

The COP represents new politics of principle, which is just like the old lack of principles.

13. Who changed "may" to "shall" in Section 34?

Every MP in Parliament is responsible, but Cabinet was misled.

14. Why is the Government holding a "pre-Budget rally"?

The People's Partnership is the most competent, innovative, and godly Government this country has ever had.

15. Why does the Integrity Commission not need to explain or justify any judgments it makes?

Because all the Commissioners have integrity or else they wouldn't have been appointed by President George Maxwell Richards.

16. Why does President Richards go on vacation every time the country has a controversial public issue?

Because he needs to rest before the next round of band launches.

17. How do citizens know that President Richards chose persons of integrity to sit on the Integrity Commission?

Because a man with his integrity would have resigned if he ever chose unsuitable persons for such a board.

18. Why did Cabinet agree to the early proclamation of Section 34?

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is a strong, caring, brilliant leader.

19. Why didn't God stop Section 34?

He did, through the strong, caring, brilliant Prime Minister.

20. Why didn't God prevent Section 34 from being re-written?

Mr Volney is a born-again Christian.

21. How did Ish and Steve know to file an injunction under Section 34 even before it was published in the Gazette?

Their lawyers called the Psychic Hotline at $13.65 a minute.

22. Why are Ish and Steve suing the State for $76 million in legal fees?

Their lawyers called the Psychic Hotline for $13.65 a minute.

23. What is 30 plus four?

A figure like 69, without the pleasure.

24. Why wasn't the list of scholarship winners published at once?

Because non-Indian parents might be embarrassed.

25. Why did a black woman bow down in front of Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal?

To embarrass PNM Leader Keith Rowley.

26. What is five times six plus four?

A figure party financiers can agree on.

27. Why did the Chief Justice Ivor Archie say that 2,840 divorce applications in 2011-2012 was a "conspicuous increase", when 2,857 cases were filed the previous year?

Because 17 fewer cases is half of 34.

28. Why did AG Ramlogan say that religious leaders should pay more attention to the rising divorce rate?

Because he was unable to count to 34.

29. Why do religious leaders think that T&T's 1-in-7 divorce rate is high?

Because 33 out of every 100 adults get married, so person 34 is fornicating.

30. Why was Jack Warner chosen to be National Security Minister?

Because laws against three-quarter jeans with a white vest would reduce crime.

31. What is Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams doing to reduce crime?

Acting.

32. Why was Vidwatie Persad Newton chosen to be the Prime Minister's personal assistant?

Because Kamla cares about the family.

33. Why was former journalist Sasha Mohammed chosen to be the Prime Minister's event planner at $30,000 a month?

Because journalists deserve to get National Awards when they assist such a strong, caring, brilliant leader.

34. When will Kevin Baldeosingh's naturally curly hair get straight?

When he realises that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is a strong, caring, brilliant leader.

[zuluwarrior]

Iheard Richard Nooray saying the project manager told the people in the rally she took vat off food stuff ,wheh he richard checked he said the food stuff did not have vat before the budget.

[Bourbon]

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/Window_into_the__siege_mentality-171958401.html

At a time when the country needs a careful hand, a wise head and a straight tongue, it gets instead non-stop slackness from its most senior political leaders.

On Wednesday night, five gossiping men paid handsomely in cash for the dishonour of spending 60 unrestrained minutes on primetime television, peddling mauvais langue and innuendo in an unbelievably vulgar display of self-indulgent flippancy.

Even if he knew how to, the moderator was in no position to help them, cast as he was in the role of facilitating insider. And if there were communications strategists behind the scenes, well let's just say Keith Rowley and the People's National Movement (PNM) owe them big money for rebranding and resurgence.

And the Prime Minister: Did she really approve this message? Could she have been party to this strategy of silencing the media by naming and shaming journalists—female journalists in particular?

She, whose personal life has been the target of such fantastical gossip and rumours that some are prepared to explain her blunders as the result of blackmail? It is unthinkable that she could be party to letting this gang of men loose on the private lives of public women.

What irony that a Prime Minister and Cabinet that have so stoutly defended Jack Warner on the grounds of innocence until proven guilty in court, should so fulsomely embrace a strategy of throwing mud- any mud- till it sticks.

To viewers with the stamina, the one-hour United National Congress (UNC) show would have had all the fascination of a train wreck presented in slow motion. But it yielded so much more.

In 60 minutes, we got a rare and privileged window into the workings and psychology of the siege mentality, an affliction to which one government after another has succumbed since Independence.

The specific dynamics by which our political parties go from riding into office on the euphoric wings of public adoration, to being kicked from office amid howls for blood is a prime area for study in bringing greater clarity and understanding of our relationship with power and its institutions.

To those so inclined, Wednesday night's televised performance- mockingly advertised as a panel discussion given that all five were there to promote a common position -offers priceless research data. It was a public marker of that moment when regimes, having lost control of the public agenda, lose touch with reality.The road after that we know all too well, having witnessed the downward spirals that have ended in a pitting of government against their people.

We know from experience that it is almost impossible to break through the mindset of a government under siege. For them the world is a simple place of simple people, either for them or against them. Even if, by some miracle, there are minds inside the camp strong enough to resist the enveloping unreality, it is doubtful that their voices will cut through the miasma that strangles logic and common sense. The intriguing irony is how well the prescription works to achieve the very end against which it is designed to fight.

We have seen it with every administration past, but none as dramatically presented as in the current case where the Partnership's strategy of attributing every iota of public disagreement to Rowley and the PNM is serving, primarily, to build the profile of the leader and to inflate the significance of the party as the sun in a growing galaxy of anti-government dissent. If the Partnership keeps up this strategy, all points of resistance will eventually decide it is better to ride with the PNM than to walk alone-as in 2010 when the COP, MSJ, NJAC and TOP swallowed their reservations and accepted the role of junior partners to the UNC.

True, the march against Section 34 was a significant success for Keith Rowley. On a timeline, it might well stand as the moment he really became the leader of the People's National Movement, nipping in the bud a rising challenge from within his own party.

In calling the march, he took the political risk of his life, gambling on his reading of the popular mood on Section 34 in a move that could have gone either way. As it turned out, he had judged well enough to settle the leadership issue, at least within his own party.

Having itself misjudged the state of the public mind, the government has responded in ways that have opened up new room for Rowley to begin transcending core party support.

For Keith Rowley, this has been the greatest challenge of all. Brought into politics as part of Patrick Manning's New PNM of professionals in 1987, his CV has lacked the community grounding of the career politician, while his politics- Tobagonian by culture and West Trinidad by style- has limited his national appeal, notwithstanding his reputation as a socializer across all lines.

Now, with the strategic decision to train all its ammunition on him, the UNC has succeeded in singling him out for national attention, thereby catapulting him to the top of the heap on an issue of broad public outrage across the land.

The even bigger strategic mistake of the People's Partnership, however, stems from its confidence in the conquering power of money, a view drawn from the UNC's analysis of what it takes for a Caroni/Naparima-based party to cross the political rubicon of race and class in T&T. (See "Old Strategy, New Game" in tomorrow's T&T Review).

Much is made about the prevailing "Eat Ah Food" political culture exalted by the Persad-Bissessar/Warner administration which would seem to prove, with nauseating regularity, the principle that everyone has a dollar price. Those inclined to accept this view of us fail to take into account the history of Caribbean people which has been shaped not only by those who have called a price, but more powerfully by those who have been willing to pay the price.

This is the real meaning of the national revulsion over Section 34. It is not that we don't condemn all for sleeping on the job and being cavalier over matters of the highest import. We do and we worry because it shows the depth of the rot. But our unstoppable outrage stems from the fear that our weakness could have been exploited in the name of the basest worship of money.

If the Partnership administration understood the full implications of this, the last thing they would be doing now is throwing around money and provoking the spirit of the politics of principle, of which the youth is always in the vanguard.

[Bourbon]

Iheard Richard Nooray saying the project manager told the people in the rally she took vat off food stuff ,wheh he richard checked he said the food stuff did not have vat before the budget.

Yuh mustnt rely on wha people say. Go and find it for yuhself.


http://www.ird.gov.tt/uploadedfiles/VAT%20Act%20sch%202.pdf

Start dey.

[weary1969]

Vote for the party that actually has a developmental plan for the country. Consider also whose reputation can stand scrutiny.  In a serious country KPB would not even have been considered after her the mess she created as Minister of Education. I won't even mention the catalog of errors and outright immoral acts that she has committed as PM.

We not serious that is y we in this hott mess.

[lefty]

Vote for the party that actually has a developmental plan for the country. Consider also whose reputation can stand scrutiny.  In a serious country KPB would not even have been considered after her the mess she created as Minister of Education. I won't even mention the catalog of errors and outright immoral acts that she has committed as PM.

We not serious that is y we in this hott mess.

my hope is, if people do decide to bring back d pnm "provided that another viable option doh present itself" dat we keep up d pressure until our political parties have no choice but to govern responsibly and most importantly governing for the benefit of all or risk being thrown out on their collective asses...........ah mean is high time dat we kill this shitty type of gov't once and for all and force govt to truly be accountable to the people

[pardners]

Vote for the party that actually has a developmental plan for the country. Consider also whose reputation can stand scrutiny.  In a serious country KPB would not even have been considered after her the mess she created as Minister of Education. I won't even mention the catalog of errors and outright immoral acts that she has committed as PM.

We not serious that is y we in this hott mess.

my hope is, if people do decide to bring back d pnm "provided that another viable option doh present itself" dat we keep up d pressure until our political parties have no choice but to govern responsibly and most importantly governing for the benefit of all or risk being thrown out on their collective asses...........ah mean is high time dat we kill this shitty type of gov't once and for all and force govt to truly be accountable to the people

I agree.  The only problem is that 2 years again is plenty time for people to forget what happening today.  With the proper PR from this govt they will attempt to spin it so that the people forget about all their failures...and even blame the PNM for the PP failures...The sad thing is that they have already convinced at lot of the masses.

[lefty]

Vote for the party that actually has a developmental plan for the country. Consider also whose reputation can stand scrutiny.  In a serious country KPB would not even have been considered after her the mess she created as Minister of Education. I won't even mention the catalog of errors and outright immoral acts that she has committed as PM.

We not serious that is y we in this hott mess.

my hope is, if people do decide to bring back d pnm "provided that another viable option doh present itself" dat we keep up d pressure until our political parties have no choice but to govern responsibly and most importantly governing for the benefit of all or risk being thrown out on their collective asses...........ah mean is high time dat we kill this shitty type of gov't once and for all and force govt to truly be accountable to the people

I agree.  The only problem is that 2 years again is plenty time for people to forget what happening today.  With the proper PR from this govt they will attempt to spin it so that the people forget about all their failures...and even blame the PNM for the PP failures...The sad thing is that they have already convinced at lot of the masses.

I tink yuh ever estimate this bunch of buffoons plus it seems dat people startin "all be it very slowly" to look past d "eat ah food" politricking, due mostly to the disgusting nature of the propaganda we have to absorb....I feel for d people dat doh have cable........um gov't have ah override clause in cable TV concession contracts ..... if so watch out 

[Bourbon]

http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-10-10/opposition-mp-lake-asphalt-contract-m-deal-linked-minister%E2%80%99s-relative

$m deal linked to minister’s relative



A Lake Asphalt Ltd (LATT) contract was shifted from a Brazilian firm to a local firm allegedly owned by the close relative of a government minister, Opposition PNM MP Fitzgerald Jeffrey has said. Jeffrey, MP for La Brea, spoke about the situation during Monday night’s House of Representatives budget debate. He said the chairman of LATT was said to be a close relative of a senior Cabinet Minister and also a close friend of the Prime Minister.

 

Jeffrey added that the shift of the contract to the local firm incurred extra cost for LATT. He said: “I come to a scandal that warrants urgent attention, Lake Asphalt (1978) Ltd. There is a questionable operation at Lake Asphalt.” He said Lake Asphalt usually imports hardboard from a company called Pegasus from Brazil.

 

“They have been doing that for the past five years to make their ballast,” Jeffrey said. He said early this year, the chairman of the board, “who it is said to be a close relative to a senior Cabinet Minister, and is said to be a close friend of the Prime Minister, authorised the board and the CEO to stop importing the hardboard from Pegasus in Brazil and instead purchase the hardboard from a company called Fastec that is owned by a close relative of another minister in Government.”

 

Jeffrey said: “The cost of the hardboard from Fastec is twice as much as the hardboard from Pegasus. The quality at Fastec is inferior to the hardboard that is coming from Brazil. “As a matter of fact, Fastec hardboard has a 20 per cent rejection rate because the strength of the board is inadequate and difficult to work with.” He said earlier this year, the asphalt company spent $1 million more for hardboard from Fastec than it would have had to pay if it had imported from Brazil.

 

He added: “They had to pay an additional $300,000 to produce the drums, so, $1.3 million extra that this company, that is employing 185 persons only, had to pay. “What is more staggering is that the chairman has ordered the CEO and the board to double the importation from Fastec.”

 

Jeffrey said it would cost Lake Asphalt $2 million extra to import the hardboard and $500,000 extra in production costs. “That is a cause for concern,” he added. LATT chairman Kuralal Rampersad and Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine did not answer cellphone calls yesterday.

 

Jeffrey said he also had information that a former senior LATT official went to Canada to set up a company to buy raw asphalt from LATT which was to be refined and sold, undercutting LATT’s product. Jeffrey claimed that was intended to rundown LATT in order for it to be sold.

 

Jeffrey said under the UNC, attempts were made to sell Lake Asphalt to one of the party’s financiers. Jeffrey added: “It took the population of La Brea to march around La Brea several times to stop the sale. I am putting Lake Asphalt on notice that the people of La Brea will stand by again if it happens again that they have to do that.”

 

Jeffrey called on Government to say if there was a plan to make Port-of-Spain deteriorate since Government was moving many ministries out of the capital, saying an El Socorro building was being rented out for government offices. He added: “There is a new development along the El Socorro Road in San Juan where buildings, once used to sell car parts, are being converted into office space and rented for as much as $80,000 a month.”

 

The budget debate is expected to end today, House leader Roodal Moonilal said yesterday. Debate begins in the Senate at 10 am on Monday.

[D.H.W]

[Bourbon]

And me eh care wha nobody say.....I eh vex with dat...dat is money well spent.

Yuh know wha it is to be good for little to nothing...and den on top of dat...yuh hard on the eyes?

[Jah Gol]

KPB is imminently lampoonable but I don't know if that was necessary.

[Bourbon]

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/NAME_GAMES-173984841.html




Both the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Lake Asphalt of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) said yesterday they did not know who owned a local company awarded a multi-million-dollar hardboard contract.

They only did so after being pressed by the media.

They, however, confirmed the local company was being paid millions more for hardboard than the usual supplier—an international company in Brazil.

In his budget contribution this week, Opposition La Brea MP Fitzgerald Jeffrey said there was a scandal at Lake Asphalt where local company Fastec—which he claimed was owned by a relative of a senior Cabinet Minister—was awarded a contract to supply hardboard to LATT at a higher cost that from the original supplier, Pegasus from Brazil.

Jeffrey also claimed the quality of the hardboard from Fastec was inferior to that of Pegasus.

Hardboard is a type of material used to make drums to store and export asphalt.

LATT chairman Kuarlal Rampersad and CEO Leary Hosein yesterday held a media conference at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad hotel, in Port of Spain, to deny there was a family link in the award of the contract.

Both said they did not know who the owners of the company are who were awarded the million-dollar contract. And only at the end of the news conference, and after the media asked whether they could make a phone call and enquire as to the owners, was that information divulged.

Hosein, after making the phone call at the media's request, disclosed that Fastec was owned by Balvant Nathu-Hari and Angeline Nathu-Hari.

Both Rampersad and Hosein denied they were related to any Cabinet Minister.

Rampersad said the process was above-board, as suppliers were presented with Lake Asphalt's hardboard specification sheet, which detailed the necessary requirements.

He said both Fastec and Pegasus provided hardboard which not only passed the initial control checks, but also displayed good workability in the manufacturing of drums.

So then why was Fastec, which is charging almost 50 per cent more for the product, given preference?

Rampersad said Pegasus had a problem with delivering on time and cost LATT US$3 million in sales in one instance in May/June this year.

Another consequence of later delivery, said Rampersad, was that LATT had to approve overtime and manpower to meet the demands of its customers, or the company faced penalties for not meeting its obligations.

LATT, he said, also had problems with Pegasus breaching payment terms and there were concerns about the company's stability.

Rampersad said a decision was taken to de-register Pegasus because of "breach of payments and questionable activities".

An internal audit, he said, was conducted, which found that Pegasus was not a timely supplier.

Rampersad said Fastec delivers in eight to ten weeks, while Pegasus takes eight to ten months.

With respect to the family link, Rampersad said neither the CEO nor any board member was related to Cabinet ministers.

"Let me state for the record that I am not a relative with any senior member of the Cabinet. People have told me that my line Minister Senator the Honourable Kevin Ramnarine and myself do share a similar resemblance, but that is all. I have never seen him at a family function," said Rampersad.

Questioned on who owned Fastec, Rampersad replied, "I think there is the Freedom of Information Act where you can get that information."

Asked whether he could provide the information as LATT is a State enterprise and taxpayers' money was being expended, Rampersad again referred the media to the Freedom of Information Act.

Questioned as to why a company that was charging almost 50 per cent more was selected and whether there weren't other companies with lower costs and faster delivery times, Hosein said the decision was based on the Tenders Committee's "evaluation matrix".

When questioned, neither men could provide the cost of the contract or the duration.

Rampersad said it all depended on the request for supplies from its clients.

Asked how they could be certain of no family link if neither of them knew the names of the owners of Fastec, Rampersad said he did not know and again referred the media to the Freedom of Information Act.

Questioned on whether it was not curious that a due diligence was conducted on Fastec and still they did not know the owners, Rampersad repeated, "As I said, the information, you can apply for that information, you can go through the process... I don't have the information, it's not my responsibility to look into these things."

Asked whether or not either of them could make a phone call to LATT to get the information, both Rampersad and Hosein appeared surprised.

However, at the end of the news conference, just before the media left, Hosein made a phone call and provided the names of the directors of Fastec to the media.

Earlier this week, the Express had contacted Fastec with regard to the company's ownership, but a woman refused to divulge the information.

A search on the Companies Registry found that the directors of the company were the very names which Hosein provided yesterday only after the media persisted.

[Jah Gol]

Ugly, Prime Minister
Originally printed at http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/Ugly__Prime_Minister-180067351.html

By Ralph Maraj
November 19, 2012
Before Divali, I wrote that "Rawan'' rules here, pointing to corruption, political tribalism, decadence and a spreading social swampland in Trinidad and Tobago. The Prime Minister proved me right. At the Divali Nagar, she was raw and "rawanic'', pouring her darkness on the people's lights, blasting the "kurta-clad'' Opposition Leader.

Unbelievable, scandalous and completely without class!

It rendered the rest of her speech "sounding brass'' and "clanging cymbal''; high-sounding hollowness. For she spoke of dharma but was divisive; posed as a gyani but was unenlightened; celebrated Hanuman but was small and mean; touted fearlessness but was as insecure as Kaikeyi, the stepmother who engineered Rama's exile. Ugly, Kamla, ugly! Dressed up nice and so ugly? Thank God for the brave little deyas lit by thousands of ordinary hands. They triumphed over the darkness you invoked.

The UNC will pay dearly for this. Henceforth, Kamla could pull whatever costume from her wardrobe, headpieces and all, for Emancipation or Shouter Baptist Day, she will justifiably be seen as a pathetic masquerader with her contrived cosmopolitanism. She claimed to speak for Hindus; but many, of all sects, reject her rakshas rubbish of that night.

She attacked Rowley because he condemned her bowing at the feet of the Indian president. So let's make it abundantly clear. As Prime Minister of T&T, Kamla must bow to nobody in this universe. Respect the nation you lead. We, the people, demand it. You were not on a personal pilgrimage. In any case, in the Hindu tradition, you bow at the feet of the elders in your family or your pundit or spiritual leader. Not to every elderly Hindu you meet. Then you could be bowing all day, all night.

The then president of India, Prathiba Patil, was not Kamla's ajee, nanee, khakee, mowsie, or any other family elder. She was not a great guru of India. She was merely the ceremonial head of the Indian government as was her predecessor Abdul Kalam. And Patil has gone, replaced by Pranab Mukerjhee.

Kamla called her bowing "a sacred exercise in devotion''. Hare Ram! Devotion? Devotion to whom? Devotion to the president of India? What idiocy! If we follow Kamla's logic and Max Richards were Ramachandra Maharaj, all Hindus would bow to him whenever they meet in "a sacred exercise in devotion''. Ridiculous! Kamla was totally out of place and belittled the nation. She behaved like a country bumpkin.

The Indian protocol establishment has an acute sense of propriety and knowing them, I still hear derisive giggles and guffaws in New Delhi, whenever they remember the spectacle. It will forever remain an embarrassment. And it was all theatre, to make headlines in India. Embarrassing your country to get your picture in the Indian papers? What next?

Therefore discipline this Prime Minister, before she does further damage. She has already got away with too much, from Reshmi to Section 34 and so much in between. People of culture, lead the way. It is your responsibility. National Council of Indian Culture, (NCIC); reject Kamla's uncultured behaviour at the Nagar. Your mandate is to elevate Indian culture. Her attack on Rowley was not Indian culture. It was despicable, divisive darkness. Maintain your respect, NCIC. Condemn her behaviour and don't invite her again unless she issues a public apology.

The same for the Emancipation Support Committee, the Shouter Baptist Movement, the Chinese Association, Syrian Lebanese Organisation and the Dougla Brotherhood, if it exists. Collaborate. Stand up. Give the National Anthem meaning. The Prime Minister insulted every citizen with that ugliness. Discipline her.



Do not invite her to your celebrations without her contrition. Exile her to her residence, office and constituency to do some real work for a change and to exorcise the inner demons that produced those dark utterances. And do not fear the government will withhold funds for your organisations. It is your money and you must have it, with or without the Prime Minister. And if they make the mistake and are vindictive, stand up and be worthy of the history you represent.

Time to discipline these politicians! We are their bosses. Raise the bar. No politician, Partnership or PNM, who acts against the nation, must be allowed to bask in the people's limelight, hugging national celebrations, without doing penance. Take them from the front pages and you terrify them. Publicity is their lifeline. So deny them what they live for. Teach them to focus on the country's challenges. Imagine. This nation has huge problems of declining revenue and mounting debt and its leader is fulminating over Rowley's kurta!





Rowley does not represent the PNM only. He is our Opposition Leader, as Kamla is our Prime Minister. His office is critical to our democracy and we must protect it. And when Rowley deserves it, we must condemn him as I have done several times for failing miserably in his sacred duty to protect the people from Section 34. But we must stand with him when he is abused liked this. He is wise not to respond. Be the victim. People are actually beginning to feel sorry for Keith Rowley!

Insecurity is the cause of Kamla's stupidity. The floating vote has left her, some to the PNM, most parked, and her own supporters are increasingly disenchanted. So to protect the base, she drives a partisan wedge. So shortsighted! She may have corralled die-hard Hindu supporters who weren't leaving anyway, but she stirred displeasure among professional, upwardly mobile Hindus, as well as Muslims and Presbyterians. She is dismantling her inheritance, Panday's carefully crafted Indo coalition, and taking the UNC back to the DLP days. Most backward, Prime Minister; and very ugly.

• Ralph Maraj, former

government minister

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/y1CrrvHgqZc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/y1CrrvHgqZc</a>

Notice how President actually stops her to save her the embarrassment.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/hKvjkAFTRwA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/hKvjkAFTRwA</a>

[Bakes]

Wow... Ralph well tear into she boy.  Well-said.

[truetrini]

hahahahahahaha  Ralph is sour grapes, but he eh lie, he jes embellish a bit  hahahahahahaha

[weary1969]

Ralph boi yuh change Super kaiso yuh ht d ball in POS and end up in India. I luv yuh go b bowing hold night lololol.

[rotatopoti3]

how petty can people be...

not sure how you people show respect to their elders or in their religion...but what I say from this video...is applaudible in this case....

and btw ralph should be d last person talking...

[truetrini]

how petty can people be...

not sure how you people show respect to their elders or in their religion...but what I say from this video...is applaudible in this case....

and btw ralph should be d last person talking...

It may be "applaudible,"  but it was certainly NOT applaudable!

She went as PM not as a pilgrim!

That is far from respect it is obeisant and obsequious and unctuous!   (use google)

[Bakes]

how petty can people be...

not sure how you people show respect to their elders or in their religion...but what I say from this video...is applaudible in this case....

and btw ralph should be d last person talking...

You have tuh be a real idiot to find what she did "applaudible".  Name me one other instance in which you ever see the head of a State attempting to kiss the feet of another.  How come she never try and kiss Max foot?  Or is it only elder Hindus feet she supposed to kiss?  Was Prathiba de only older Hindu she meet in India?  Call that bullshit for what it is... bullshit.

[truetrini]

She could come and kiss my foot too...wait is only 11 inches...

[rotatopoti3]

Name me one other instance in which you ever see the head of a State attempting to kiss the feet of another.

Well Bakes...how many other Hindu women Head of States have had the opportunity to bow to an elder??

TT she did go in the capacity as PM but I dont not see how she acting as any pilgrim... because you bow...

Listen I may not agree with the way she handles her politics but this is not political and should be treated separately..If anything its down to her temperament..and for that I can fully respect that...

If you want pilgrim talk to Kumbayasingh ...look he showing another reason where ah PhD at Oxford does take yuh.... 

[Bakes]

Name me one other instance in which you ever see the head of a State attempting to kiss the feet of another.

Well Bakes...how many other Hindu women Head of States have had the opportunity to bow to an elder??

Fella, she didn't "bow" to no elder... yuh just finding out about this or what?  Is kiss she was bending down tuh kiss de woman foot.  Thank the Hindu gods she had more shame than Kamla than to allow such a disgraceful display.  Again...

1) Name me one other instance in which you ever see the head of a State attempting to kiss the feet of another?
2) How many other elders did she encounter in India... did she try and kiss any of them feet?  It eh have no Hindu elders here in TnT?  How come she never try and kiss their feet?  Not that that would be acceptable either.

Fact is Kamla and she country bookie self went India and ketch ah vaps... she free to kiss as much feet or ass as she want, just not while serving as Prime Minister.  This has nothing to do with politics.

[truetrini]

All the time she spent genuflecting to plant her lips on Jack Warner's ample black ass, maybe she just wanted to give her lips a break???

Better toe jam to ass wind.

[Jah Gol]

I understand that this particular gesture is sacred is Hindus but can we at least acknowledge the fact that President Patil actually stopped her from doing it.

[ProudTrinbagonian]

Does anyone have any video or image of Kamla kissing her feet? 
All I found was her going to touch her feet which is a sign of respect in Hindu-Indian culture.  Then Patil does what is common in Indian culture which is to hold her up and to not allow someone to touch her feet. 

This issue seems to be an exaggeration, and a petty and outdated issue. Should she have done it? Maybe not.
But it was not subjugation, it was a way of showing respect for an Indian symbolic tradition.  When in Rome?

And what about Obama bowing to the Saudi King and the Emperor of Japan? He wasn't demonstrating subjugation but rather showing respect in the respective leader's country.  However as a leader, your country people may not appreciate such actions and the opposition will always use it to their advantage.