Independent Liberal Party (ILP) Thread.

[weary1969]

Voters choose their preferred poison at the time of the particular election, not subsequent to it. To harp about the repercussions of having voted in a particular government is proper fodder for opposition voices and disgruntled former political bedfellows (like Jack). Even individual voters may regret where they put their X, but part of their democratic responsibility is to live with such consequences as they emerge.

However, to not accept that the electorate made a properly informed, majority decision at the time of the Gen Election polls is to not accept that, for some voters, an unpleasant odour emanated from the PNM at or about the time the elections were called ... and that for other voters there was an overwhelming compulsion to vote otherwise (whatever their motivation, pernicious or benign) ...

A discriminating sense of smell (as yuh putting yuh X) could be informed by objectivity, subjectivity, ignorance or indifference. Whatever the basis for one's choice, any of those four things spells doom in a two-party structure. There are always losers and winners on the political stage. Some of them at the bottom of the food chain, some of them at the top.  It's predictable that those embedded in political patronage arrangements will suffer. It's time to shake that cycle ... even if it means initially having multiple patrons. Repossession from Courts and unemployment go hand in hand with that patronage. It is a product of consequences rooted in Westminster, not vindictiveness bred in Andhra Pradesh.

Success of the PP government at the polls was a good thing for democracy and political maturity in Trinidad & Tobago. Point blank! This is a distinct matter from whether it ultimately was (or proves to be) a good thing for the economy, international prestige, financial markets, domestic policy and the national welfare, state security, regional harmony, public confidence, and so on.

Did Patos/the PNM "deserve" to get booted out of office? Yes, because the party as a collective, and Mr. Manning as the embodiment of that PNM government, governed in such a manner as to raise issues regarding that government's efficacy in office. The PP may be making egregious governance decisions now, but this does not negate the validity of the choice made by voters at the time of the Gen Elections.

This is the crux of my disagreement with Weary's position.
mla

I have no problem if yuh showing Patos and co d door but for Kamla and co. In 1995 I could understand but after there astute and corrupt free tenure people but them back in power and now surprise bout racism and nepotism. Well I saw them operate and I see PNM operate both leave a bitter taste in my mouth but d UNC/PP makes me want 2 puke. So until another NAR emerges I will vote for the people that doh make me want 2 vomit. 

[mal jeux]

Voters choose their preferred poison at the time of the particular election, not subsequent to it. To harp about the repercussions of having voted in a particular government is proper fodder for opposition voices and disgruntled former political bedfellows (like Jack). Even individual voters may regret where they put their X, but part of their democratic responsibility is to live with such consequences as they emerge.

However, to not accept that the electorate made a properly informed, majority decision at the time of the Gen Election polls is to not accept that, for some voters, an unpleasant odour emanated from the PNM at or about the time the elections were called ... and that for other voters there was an overwhelming compulsion to vote otherwise (whatever their motivation, pernicious or benign) ...

A discriminating sense of smell (as yuh putting yuh X) could be informed by objectivity, subjectivity, ignorance or indifference. Whatever the basis for one's choice, any of those four things spells doom in a two-party structure. There are always losers and winners on the political stage. Some of them at the bottom of the food chain, some of them at the top.  It's predictable that those embedded in political patronage arrangements will suffer. It's time to shake that cycle ... even if it means initially having multiple patrons. Repossession from Courts and unemployment go hand in hand with that patronage. It is a product of consequences rooted in Westminster, not vindictiveness bred in Andhra Pradesh.

Success of the PP government at the polls was a good thing for democracy and political maturity in Trinidad & Tobago. Point blank! This is a distinct matter from whether it ultimately was (or proves to be) a good thing for the economy, international prestige, financial markets, domestic policy and the national welfare, state security, regional harmony, public confidence, and so on.

Did Patos/the PNM "deserve" to get booted out of office? Yes, because the party as a collective, and Mr. Manning as the embodiment of that PNM government, governed in such a manner as to raise issues regarding that government's efficacy in office. The PP may be making egregious governance decisions now, but this does not negate the validity of the choice made by voters at the time of the Gen Elections.

This is the crux of my disagreement with Weary's position.
mla

I have no problem if yuh showing Patos and co d door but for Kamla and co. In 1995 I could understand but after there astute and corrupt free tenure people but them back in power and now surprise bout racism and nepotism. Well I saw them operate and I see PNM operate both leave a bitter taste in my mouth but d UNC/PP makes me want 2 puke. So until another NAR emerges I will vote for the people that doh make me want 2 vomit. 

get some gravol (or squeeze some lime and smell) and organize. pnm under pitbull not ready to take over and jw may just be sneaking in.

[weary1969]

Voters choose their preferred poison at the time of the particular election, not subsequent to it. To harp about the repercussions of having voted in a particular government is proper fodder for opposition voices and disgruntled former political bedfellows (like Jack). Even individual voters may regret where they put their X, but part of their democratic responsibility is to live with such consequences as they emerge.

However, to not accept that the electorate made a properly informed, majority decision at the time of the Gen Election polls is to not accept that, for some voters, an unpleasant odour emanated from the PNM at or about the time the elections were called ... and that for other voters there was an overwhelming compulsion to vote otherwise (whatever their motivation, pernicious or benign) ...

A discriminating sense of smell (as yuh putting yuh X) could be informed by objectivity, subjectivity, ignorance or indifference. Whatever the basis for one's choice, any of those four things spells doom in a two-party structure. There are always losers and winners on the political stage. Some of them at the bottom of the food chain, some of them at the top.  It's predictable that those embedded in political patronage arrangements will suffer. It's time to shake that cycle ... even if it means initially having multiple patrons. Repossession from Courts and unemployment go hand in hand with that patronage. It is a product of consequences rooted in Westminster, not vindictiveness bred in Andhra Pradesh.

Success of the PP government at the polls was a good thing for democracy and political maturity in Trinidad & Tobago. Point blank! This is a distinct matter from whether it ultimately was (or proves to be) a good thing for the economy, international prestige, financial markets, domestic policy and the national welfare, state security, regional harmony, public confidence, and so on.

Did Patos/the PNM "deserve" to get booted out of office? Yes, because the party as a collective, and Mr. Manning as the embodiment of that PNM government, governed in such a manner as to raise issues regarding that government's efficacy in office. The PP may be making egregious governance decisions now, but this does not negate the validity of the choice made by voters at the time of the Gen Elections.

This is the crux of my disagreement with Weary's position.
mla

I have no problem if yuh showing Patos and co d door but for Kamla and co. In 1995 I could understand but after there astute and corrupt free tenure people but them back in power and now surprise bout racism and nepotism. Well I saw them operate and I see PNM operate both leave a bitter taste in my mouth but d UNC/PP makes me want 2 puke. So until another NAR emerges I will vote for the people that doh make me want 2 vomit. 

get some gravol (or squeeze some lime and smell) and organize. pnm under pitbull not ready to take over and jw may just be sneaking in.

I refuse to believe that TNT citizens that dotish 2 vote for Jack and his croonies 2 be there PM. As 4 d pitbull if u feel under Rowley we will have people printing their on Certificates, another emailgate then he eh ready. Once d blatant nepotism and scandal eh continue on Rowley things would be better.

[Bourbon]

Success of the PP government at the polls was a good thing for democracy and political maturity in Trinidad & Tobago. Point blank! This is a distinct matter from whether it ultimately was (or proves to be) a good thing for the economy, international prestige, financial markets, domestic policy and the national welfare, state security, regional harmony, public confidence, and so on.

Expound on this for my enlightenment please. Cause...I interpreting it to mean that one party replacing another in government is a good thing..regardless of the consequences. By the very nature of an election...a party can be ejected and another installed. Nothing new there. How could it be a distinct matter from where it proves to be a good thing for the country or not?

[weary1969]

Success of the PP government at the polls was a good thing for democracy and political maturity in Trinidad & Tobago. Point blank! This is a distinct matter from whether it ultimately was (or proves to be) a good thing for the economy, international prestige, financial markets, domestic policy and the national welfare, state security, regional harmony, public confidence, and so on.

Expound on this for my enlightenment please. Cause...I interpreting it to mean that one party replacing another in government is a good thing..regardless of the consequences. By the very nature of an election...a party can be ejected and another installed. Nothing new there. How could it be a distinct matter from where it proves to be a good thing for the country or not?

Consequences there has been no consequences since these jokers come into power. As d Yanks does say are u betta off now than 4 yrs ago. No need to ask us we so happy we swinging from d rafters and do cartwheels.

[Bakes]

Expound on this for my enlightenment please. Cause...I interpreting it to mean that one party replacing another in government is a good thing..regardless of the consequences. By the very nature of an election...a party can be ejected and another installed. Nothing new there. How could it be a distinct matter from where it proves to be a good thing for the country or not?

As long as people vex enough tuh reject "same" in favor "other" dat is ah good thing.  Never mind that "other" might be wuss dan "same."

[Bourbon]

Expound on this for my enlightenment please. Cause...I interpreting it to mean that one party replacing another in government is a good thing..regardless of the consequences. By the very nature of an election...a party can be ejected and another installed. Nothing new there. How could it be a distinct matter from where it proves to be a good thing for the country or not?

As long as people vex enough tuh reject "same" in favor "other" dat is ah good thing.  Never mind that "other" might be wuss dan "same."

My thoughts exactly.

And how can you evaluate if something is the same or isnt if the consequences are not considered? Look at Animal Farm....the George Orwell edition and the Trinidad and Tobago edition.

[asylumseeker]

Success of the PP government at the polls was a good thing for democracy and political maturity in Trinidad & Tobago. Point blank! This is a distinct matter from whether it ultimately was (or proves to be) a good thing for the economy, international prestige, financial markets, domestic policy and the national welfare, state security, regional harmony, public confidence, and so on.

Expound on this for my enlightenment please. Cause...I interpreting it to mean that one party replacing another in government is a good thing..regardless of the consequences. By the very nature of an election...a party can be ejected and another installed. Nothing new there. How could it be a distinct matter from where it proves to be a good thing for the country or not?

There are several aspects to this. One is that the comment isn't simply a question of rotating governments or succeeding governments. It's inherently about the composition and character of the replacing government via the ballot. Just as there was an enhancement of the nation's democracy and political maturity upon the NAR taking office and in subsequent years when Mr. Panday became PM, the ascendancy of the PP and the actualisation of coalition politics in determining governmental composition are reflective not only of political expediency, but also of a maturing democratic body politic post-1962.

That is a distinct consideration from the consequences of actual governance and public policy making. One concerns entry into office in the abstract. The other is preoccupied with the consequences of such entry after the democratic choice has been made by those on the electoral roll.

[asylumseeker]

And by the way, if we don't subscribe to one party replacing another party "regardless of consequences", we then enter into an anti-democratic posture that sets a platform for justifying "regime change". It happened in Egypt under Morsi. Consider that.

[Bakes]

And by the way, if we don't subscribe to one party replacing another party "regardless of consequences", we then enter into an anti-democratic posture that sets a platform for justifying "regime change". It happened in Egypt under Morsi. Consider that.

Not at all.  This isn't about not subscribing to "one party replacing another party" it's about automatically concluding that peaceful transition of power is automatically the best result for the nation.  This of course is not to suggest that such peaceful democratic processes should be frustrated as you suggest.. that should ALWAYS be welcomed.  It is about looking past the process and analyzing the resultant product.  You could have the best process in the world but if your product is crap how is that a 'good' thing?

[Bourbon]

It's inherently about the composition and character of the replacing government via the ballot. Just as there was an enhancement of the nation's democracy and political maturity upon the NAR taking office and in subsequent years when Mr. Panday became PM, the ascendancy of the PP and the actualisation of coalition politics in determining governmental composition are reflective not only of political expediency, but also of a maturing democratic body politic post-1962.

Again...expound on this for my enlightenment. I must confess that at 26 years of age I would not have had the degree of awareness through those times to adequately appreciate it in the manner those who would have.

I putting it in my own words based on my limited understanding.

In short...a PNM govt was plagued with mismanagement, a poor economy and leadership void....and was routed. Election marked by the unification of discontent and disgruntled citizens. The government that succeeded them was removed from office at the next general election....for various reasons..depending on who you ask.

A PNM government, with little real reason to call an election.....did.....and was removed by alliances..under the mantra of "National Unity", of varying degrees. Came in at a good time.....yet....was plagued by infighting...corruption..and a host of others. Questionably survived the next general election...(I say questionably because of matters like voter padding etc)...collapsed and caused another.


Again..a PNM government gave it away. Things werent great...but....with a touted platform of "Change"...resulting in what we have now.


Common points:
PNM government removed.
Electorate rallied together under a common banner...and realising that they bought into hype that didnt deliver.
PNM government (at least in the first two) returned to office.


What else I missing?
Its interesting to note that on all those occasions..the succeeding government undermined itself. In fact you could go back to consider the fact that the government that was disposed undid itself by its manner of governance.


What merits and maturity in the democratic process were experienced? And I asking this genuinely trying to understand.

[asylumseeker]

...However, to not accept that the electorate made a properly informed, majority decision at the time of the Gen Election polls is to not accept that, for some voters, an unpleasant odour emanated from the PNM at or about the time the elections were called ... and that for other voters there was an overwhelming compulsion to vote otherwise (whatever their motivation, pernicious or benign) ...

That's quite the assumption...

In responding, I'll pose this question: what's considered full employment?

[asylumseeker]

Bourbon, see if the following helps. Sometimes examples are more beneficial than abstract discussion.

What political maturity means in a Bahamian Context

by S3S

Another landmark General Election was held successfully in The Bahamas yesterday, 07th May, 2012. I am happy to report that this particular Election, unlike the 1992 Election, demonstrated a coming of age for the Bahamian people (c.f. 1992, when we embarked on a course of political maturity, having harboured a single political party for far too long, so were mere political adolescents in the process).

What 2012 shows, however, is that the process is complete and we, as a people, are finally mature politically. How might political maturity manifest itself? We could point to the low or non-existent level of election-related violence; or we could express our maturity in terms of the reported efficiency with which the elections were held (and the apparent absence of political corruption); or we could look to the inherent challenges of a naturally fragmented geographical country that we routinely overcome. However, I choose to focus on the more pervasive issue of how we deal with change, the main recurring phenomenon in all of our lives. In The Bahamas, we are actively involved in our politics, however, we do not invite change for the sake of change but neither are we intimidated by the prospect of change, if change is required (as it could have been argued in the instant case of 2012).

I'm certain that many other factors might encroach into a discussion of national political maturity, particularly that regarding a small island developing state, but I am happy about my concise explanation which encapsulates our situation well, and should do so going forward, as it evidences further advancements in our maturity.

http://www.weblogbahamas.com/blog_bahamas/2012/05/what-political-maturity-means-in-a-bahamian-context.html

South Korea enters a new political era

South Korean commentators are heralding a new political era after polls which gave a liberal party control of parliament for the first time. "Many Koreans must have woken up this morning to find that the nation's political landscape has undergone a major quake," said the Korean Herald.

The left-leaning Uri Party won 152 seats in the 299-seat National Assembly, giving it a slim majority. The result is a boost for President Roh Moo-hyun, who was impeached last month. Mr Roh is not a member of the Uri Party, but it is made up of reformist legislators loyal to him.

"Our people wrote a new history of elections," Acting President Goh Kun said in a televised address. "With this election, I hope a new era of politics of coexistence and co-operation will be born," he said.

"The election results have shown political maturity, This will greatly help the economy's international credibility," said Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Hun-jai. Months of political infighting culminated on 12 March in a vote to impeach President Roh by the then conservative-controlled parliament.

The main charge against Mr Roh was that he violated his neutrality as president by publicly supporting the Uri Party, but analysts say the charges against Mr Roh were relatively minor, and the stand-off had more to do with jockeying for power ahead of the elections.

The Uri Party pledged no dramatic shifts in foreign or economic policy, but did urge the parties that unseated Mr Roh to withdraw their impeachment vote. "Although there is a legal process, the impeachment is a political product of the National Assembly and is a political issue," said Chung Dong-young, leader of the Uri Party.

Mr Roh's powers have been suspended until the Constitutional Court rules, by mid-September, on whether to uphold that vote. Many analysts believe it will take the election outcome into account. If Mr Roh is returned to power, the BBC's correspondent in Seoul, Charles Scanlon, says he will be in a much stronger position to push through his liberal agenda.

Mr Roh came to office promising a foreign policy more independent of the US, but during his first year in power he has pursued more pragmatic policies, including co-operating with Washington's hard line on North Korea.

...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3631103.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/debates/african_debates/1066750.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1065113.stm

Multiple challenges for Kenya's new leader
By Karen Allen BBC News, Nairobi

"Uhuru [Kenyatta] has won the presidency. It's done. Let's move on." The son of Kenya's first independence leader may not have secured Francis Odera's vote but, like so many other Kenyans, this middle-aged Nairobi resident is just relieved the election has concluded peacefully.

Now he and others believe it is time to return to work and do what Kenyans do best.

Kenya did not burn, in most places riot police remained idle for much of the day, revellers and those licking their wounds showed restraint and Mr Kenyatta and his challenger Raila Odinga drew praise from many Kenyans for statesmanship in their respective speeches.

Yet, as one Kenyan friend put it, there has been a "revolution in Kenyan's political maturity but not a revolution in the leadership".

Kenyans have pinned their hopes on a new constitution, which dilutes the power of the presidency and offers a degree of devolution. Most agree that it was a vital ingredient that helped to avoid a repetition of the violence of five years ago. Kenyans have a right to be proud.

Millions of Kenyans are excited at the prospect of having the youngest leader ever - Mr Kenyatta is just 51.

...

A first step would be to reach out to those who did not vote for them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21732733

Political maturity: the need of the hour

The long-awaited day is just around the corner; we are a few weeks away from election day. To citizens of a democracy, election day is meaningful for its ability to elicit hope in all corners of the country. In some circles, there is talk of idealistic, revolutionary change. In others, there are calls for an old guard to lead the way with renewed focus. Knowing us Pakistanis, virtually everyone is bound to have an opinion on the results of the May 11 elections. While these opinions will soon hit a fever pitch, none of them matter if we fail to exercise our most basic right: that of the vote. For all Pakistani voters, the takeaway from this reading is quite simple. Please vote.

But, this piece is not directed at you and I. It is not meant for the voter. Instead, it is an attempt to highlight what is bound to be the greatest challenge for our elected representatives over the next five years.

Yes, competence has been the most disconcerting feature of our democracy for the last five years. We have often shaken our heads in disbelief at decisions that have resulted in a suffering economy and repeated breaches of internal and external security. But, as an electorate, we are surely going to recognise that and vote accordingly when completing our ballots.

Of more concern is the very real prospect of a coalition government. Elections in Pakistan are never a done deal until results are announced but any astute observer will tell you that given our political system and the respective popularities of the various political parties of the country, a divided mandate is most likely.

Historically, coalition governments have spelled doom for progress in a country. Look at the example of Turkey, a country that rightfully features regularly in the Pakistani imagination. Before the ascent of the Justice and Development Party in the 2002 election, Turkey’s economy and social structures were tattered by divisive coalition governments that repeatedly failed to take action in the face of imminent trouble.

Turkey is not the only example. Repeated coalition governments landed Ireland in the mess it found itself in following the global financial crisis. The common thread is that coalition governments lead to a paralysis in decision-making at the highest level. In Pakistan, such a paralysis is the polar opposite of what the country needs.

Thus, if the most likely scenario — that of a coalition government — is realised following May 11, political maturity will be the need of the hour. Political parties will have to forget pre-election rhetoric and move to post-election implementation. This will require the single-largest party to work with other national and regional parties. It will require cooperation.

Unfortunately, such political maturity has rarely been demonstrated in mainstream Pakistani politics. Expectations are obviously low, but I am hopeful that our elected representatives will acknowledge the trust the country has placed in democracy. The stakes are high as the economy cries for better management and the country pleads for more security. None of the patchwork that lies ahead on the road to progress will be easy to implement for anybody involved. But, those we elect to complete the required patchwork will have something to look forward to. For when expectations are low, it is easiest to exceed them.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/535848/political-maturity-the-need-of-the-hour/

News analysis: Political maturity remains elusive in Philippines

MANILA — When Fidel Ramos, the former president, showed up at the presidential palace a little more than a week ago to express support for Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was going through the most trying 24 hours of her administration, he not only lent his weight to the president's efforts to calm a country on the brink of damaging political turmoil. He also underscored the reality here that the same old faces, the same old families and the same old interests continue to hold sway over the political life of this country.To the outside world, it might seem confounding that people like Ramos, who was president from 1992 to 1998, or Corazon Aquino, who replaced the dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, still feel morally obligated to weigh in on national political events.But the reality is that this country of 84 million people, which once boasted an intelligentsia that was deemed the most sophisticated in Southeast Asia, is still going through what one Filipino columnist recently called "the most drawn out political adolescence in modern history. "Why do a few oligarchic families continue to dominate the political life of this former Spanish colony, in a pattern once familiar in many Latin-influenced countries? If there is any consensus coming out of the current political crisis, which began with allegations that Arroyo rigged her election last year, it is that the system has to go, says Manuel Quezon 3rd, a political analyst and historian.

"The problem is, no one agrees what system to replace it with," Quezon said.Experts on politics and governance do agree, however, that the families and politicians who have a lock on government here have been the bane of Filipinos, thriving on so-called patronage politics that keeps democratic processes in a state of dysfunction. The result is a faulty electoral system, a low level of political awareness among the populace and a degree of corruption that has seriously damaged Philippine society and hobbled economic development. All of these factors conspire to push the country near the edge of chaos in a kind of cyclical pattern that has decayed what was once among the region's most promising democracies. Worse, the few new and young leaders who emerge are frequently co-opted by traditional politicians. These new leaders then establish political dynasties themselves or fortify existing ones, perpetuating a vicious circle. Clarita Carlos, an expert on governance and politics at the University of the Philippines, said she believed that Philippine politics merely facilitated the "circulation of elites, people who have mastered how to be economically and socially mobile by taking advantage of the limitations of the system. "As a result, the Filipino political class "has become so inbred that they've become detached from the concerns of the majority," said Quezon, who is himself the grandson of a former president. In a healthy political environment, Quezon said, the oligarchy would relinquish power to a new political class. "Sadly, this is something most Filipino oligarchs never did," he said. Steven Rood, the country representative here of The Asia Foundation and an expert on local governance, thinks it is not so much a question of why Philippine politics has the same faces but why the situation has not changed over many decades. "I would say that the basic fundamental reason is that the people who run the system are the ones benefiting enough from it that they're worried about change," Rood said. The American anthropologist Brian Fegan, writing in "An Anarchy of Families," a book published in the 1990s, said that "the Filipino family is the most enduring political unit and the one into which, failing some wider principle of organization, all other units dissolve."Filipinos look at political continuity as merely the transfer of power among family members, Fegan said. Thus, they also look at political competition in terms of rivalry between families. "A family that has once contested an office, particularly if it has once won it, sets its eye on that office as its permanent right," Fegan said. That has been the case for decades and, as Rood of The Asia Foundation explained, "there's an enormous amount of historical continuity at play" in the present crisis. Rood traces this back to the period of Spanish colonization and the American colonization that followed it. The Americans, Rood says, did not change the Filipino social structure. "They imposed a political system that allowed this social structure to gain political power," he said. "It's been the marriage of social position and political power ever since that produced essentially the same state that we have now. "Luis Teodoro, the executive director of the Center for People Empowerment in Governance, a political research institute in Manila, said the Americans had a hand in this predicament. They supported regimes led by powerful political families who, in turn, furthered American interests and helped suppress the nationalist politicians who tended to undermine them. Without U.S. support, he said by way of example, the regime of Ferdinand Marcos would not have lasted as long. Marcos persecuted the oligarchs who went against him and befriended those who were willing to cooperate with his regime. While he used these families to prop up his regime and amass the wealth for which he would later be infamous, these families went on to exploit their ties with him, widening and strengthening their political bases and enriching themselves even more. Marcos, in turn, used these power bases, particularly in the provinces, to keep himself in the presidential palace. After Marcos was toppled in 1986, the political families that he cultivated were replaced by new ones allied to the next regime, that of Corazon Aquino. As if that were not enough, the lines that at first separated Marcos and anti-Marcos politics became so blurred that it is not surprising today to find a former Marcos foe hobnobbing with the scions and friends of the former dictator. Switching sides thus became widespread. Filipino political parties had intermarried to such an extent that, today, it is difficult to know which party is allied with whom. "We're paying for this damage now," said Nereus Acosta, a congressman.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/18/world/asia/18iht-manila.html

[ANC2]

Same politicians in TT just jump from Party to party. So why should anything change for the people.
Jack like he developing a gangster in his party.

PNM, IPL, UNC same thing, just a bunch of thieves. NONE can deliver what needs to be delivered.
No policy for a solution to Crime, Education, Environment  (Flooding). None willing to deal with corruption.
Why has UNC not given the direction to Police to follow up on the missing $$$ from TTFF. All the evidence
is there.

WhyWarner, Camps, Groden et all, still walking about in T&T?
Why Calder Hart still free? Well he eh free he expensive no ass.

You know why. All of them around so long, they have so much dirt on each other, they can make another Northern Range

[Bourbon]

https://soundcloud.com/jack-warner-11/she-have-no-jack

[Flex]

ILP official in Luxury car racket
By RENUKA SINGH (Guardian)

A high-ranking member of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) has been named as the critical link in an ongoing United Kingdom police investigation into stolen luxury vehicles. Deputy political leader of the ILP, Anna Deonarine-Rampersad stands as the key figure to help police, both local and abroad, unlock a multi-million dollar luxury car racket.
 
 
However, although she has been closely linked to the international broker at the centre of the investigation, to date Deonarine-Rampersad has failed to provide police with the relevant information and this has stalled the investigative process. This latest information comes just days before the heavily contested local government elections and just days after one ILP local government candidate, Kerwin Bucchan, was granted $.25 million bail for a gun-related charge.
 
According to a police file seen by the Sunday Guardian, investigators have tried unsuccessfully for the past two years to get Deonarine-Rampersad to provide transaction details from when she purchased a vehicle from the UK-based broker. The police file contains an invoice between the UK-based broker and a company where Deonarine-Rampersad is listed as a director for the purchase of a black Range Rover Sport.
 
Police said Deonarine-Rampersad failed to provide any documents either prove ownership of the vehicle or to assist with the investigation.
 
 
Deonarine: I am the victim
“I spoke with her on several occasions but she never gave any documents and stated that they were with her lawyer,” an investigator wrote in the signed report. An addendum further stated that Deonarine-Rampersad was “interviewed by the investigators however she did not supply any documents for the vehicle and she declined from giving a statement”. The report went on to say that at the licensing office, there was no documentation for the vehicle.
 
The broker, who is named in the file, has been fingered by Metropolitan Police and Interpol as being involved in several high-end vehicles stolen in the UK, shipped and cleared with false documents and resold in Trinidad. The police report states that the man has since “gone into hiding” in the UK and is the subject of investigation by both the Metropolitan Police and Interpol.
 
To further complicate the matter, police investigations uncovered that the documents logged with both the licensing office and customs and excise were “falsified”.
 
 
Black and White:
According to the investigators’ file, police attached to the Central Investigations Department (CID) discovered that back in 2009 a company that Deonarine-Rampersad is closely affiliated with purchased a black Range Rover from that same individual at a cost of 24,000 GBP. The vehicle was purchased for commercial use in early 2009 and carried a total on-the-road value of TT$225,128.56. That vehicle belonged to UK-based Lombard Vehicle Management and was stolen in December 2008.
 
By 2011, according to the police file, the now white Range Rover, licensed locally as PCM 1100, was in the possession of Deonarine-Rampersad. Investigations into the luxury vehicle racket have stalled as, according to the police report, Deonarine-Rampersad failed to provide any information on the broker. Deonarine-Rampersad, the file said, promised to provide the relevant documents to prove ownership of the vehicle, but that did not materialise.
 
By January 2013, the documents were still not provided to the police and an additional signed note attached to the file stated that yet again “the person from whom the vehicle was seized declined to say anything about the vehicle. I cannot go any further with this investigation”. Police also found that the documents obtained on the vehicle from the Licencing Department were “falsified” and were never “certified or stamped” by the Customs Department.
 
The police file noted that Deonarine-Rampersad is listed as a director of the company that purchased the black Range Rover from the same man who the police are searching for in relation to the racket. Several documents in the police file directly link Deonarine-Rampersad to the UK-based broker who is the subject of the investigation. The Metropolitan Police, in a letter contained in the police file, said a number of “high-value” vehicles have been stolen and shipped to T&T and that black Range Rover was among them.
 
 
One small difference
According to a second police file, a similar incident occurred in November 2011 when a local man purchased a stolen BMW, PCM 320 from the same sole trader. The difference in this case was that there was no direct contact between this buyer and the broker allegedly involved in the luxury car racket.
 
This vehicle also did not have any relevant shipping documents or certified copy but, unlike Deonarine-Rampersad’s case, there was no immediate link between the broker and the buyer. This has been highlighted by the police as key to uncovering the whereabouts of the now missing broker.
 
 
Failure to Communicate
Deonarine-Rampersad, in a telephone interview yesterday, acknowledged ownership of the vehicle, PCM 1100. She denied that she has been deliberately thwarting to investigation by not providing the relevant documents. “I am the victim in this situation,” she said.
Deonarine-Rampersad blames this problem on the police failure to provide any documents to her when the vehicle was seized two years ago and said she has been writing to both the Attorney General’s office and the Police Complaints Authority to get justice.
 
“If you did not tell me about the Metropolitan Police being involved, I would not have known. I was not aware they needed the documents because the local police never asked for anything in writing which is what I have been asking for all along.” “To date, not a scrap of paper has been produced even as a receipt that they took my vehicle,” she said. Deonarine-Rampersad also denied shipping the vehicle into this country. This is despite the fact that the shipping documents are contained in the police file.
 
She says before her entry into political life, this would not have been a pubic issue and questioned the timing of the discovery. “This is because I am giving the Caroni workers a voice but they will not deter me in any way,” she said but did not specify who “they” were.


Anna Deonarine-Rampersad

[Dutty]

whey sah, UNC, ILP....

dem range rover seem to be the white-collar gangster vehicle of choice

[weary1969]

OM LALLA is Jack man. It rumor that Carson Charles is UNC man. D 1st man I voted 4 in 1991. I am sure he was losing but made sure I voted NAR.

[Flex]

AG: Parents of ILP’s deputy leader sold 20 acres bought from Chadee’s brother for $225,000 for whopping sum to CLICO
By Ria Taitt Political Editor

ANNA’S $13m LAND DEAL

INDEPENDENT Liberal party (ILP) Deputy Political Leader Anna Deonarine was the major beneficiary of the sale of 20 acres of land, bought by her parents from Dole Chadee’s brother for $225,000 and then sold by them to CLICO for a whopping $13 million.

Dole Chadee’s brother was Thackoor Boodram, who was beheaded in December 1997.

The sale represents a profit of close to 6,000 per cent on the original investment.

The $13 million was credited to a CLICO policy in Anna Deonarine’s name on March, 29, 2005. The Express obtained copies of all the relevant documents.

The annuity application for an EFPA Policy no R000115034, filed by Anna Rampersad (Deonarine’s married name), stated that “the sale of the property (of) $13,000,000 was to be credited to this policy”.

The CLICO agent who would have received a fee for this transaction was Shama Deonarine, the ILP Deputy Political Leader’s mother. Shama Deonarine, who owned the land along with her husband, worked at CLICO at the time. Shama Deonarine has been celebrated as a highly successful CLICO agent.

The transaction was described as a “land racket” by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan as he addressed last night’s meeting of the UNC in Princes Town.

Ramlogan said the “sweet deal” began with the sale of the 20 acres of land situated at Warren Road, Warrenville, Cunupia, for the “steal of a deal” price of $225,000 in April 1997. The “lucky persons”, Ramlogan said, were Inal and Shama Deonarine, parents of Anna Deonarine, “Ms Range Rover”.

Ramlogan said they purchased the land from Boodram. He said if the name Thakoor Boodram “rang a bell” it was because “this was the deceased brother of hanged drug lord Nankissoon Boodram, aka Dole Chadee... He (Thackoor) was the ... pig farmer who got kidnapped and killed in one of the most brutal killings this country has even seen”, Ramlogan.

Documents held by the Express confirmed that proprietor, “Thakoor Boodram of Valsayn”, sold the land to the Deonarines on April 16, 1997. The land was sold as agricultural land. 

In February 2005, Colonial Life Insurance contracted GA Farrell and Associates to arrive at a valuation for the land. The valuation report stated  that the land was worth  $11 million, on the assumption that Town and Country Planning permission was granted for it to be used for residential purposes.

One month later, the Deonarines sold the land to CLICO for $13 million, $2 million more than the valuation price quoted by Farrell Associates. This was in April 2005.

The Attorney General said CLICO paid this inflated price for the land as though the land was approved for residential use.

Ramlogan stated, however, that no approval was ever given by Town and Country Planning for conversion of the use of the land from agricultural to residential purposes.

Documents show that planning permission had been granted on June 5, 2003 for the subdivision of the parent parcel into four agricultural plots for one year. This approval expired on June 5, 2004.

On January 25, 2008 an application was submitted by Home Construction Ltd, almost three years, after the purchase by CLICO, for the sub-division of the parcel for residential use. This was refused on May 27, 2008. To date there has been no appeal by CLICO of this decision by Town and Country Planning.

Ramlogan said he found the family of Deonarine was getting lots of bargains. He said Anna Deonarine got a Range Rover for a “B15 price”.

With respect to the land, Ramlogan said if one worked out per acre the price, the Deonarines paid Boodram, it worked out to $11,250 per acre.

Noting that there were eight lots in an acre, he said this in turn worked out to 160 lots at $1,406.25 per lot. He said even for agricultural land this was a very low price. “Where does one get a lot of land worth $1,400?” he asked.

Contacted for comment yesterday, Anna Deonarine said she preferred to meet with the Express in person and not speak over the phone. She said she was prepared to meet with the Express today on the issue.

Anna Deonarine has claimed that she was the victim of fraud, involving the purchase of a Range Rover vehicle from an agent, Nadeem Baksh.

The vehicle was seized by the police in November 2011, after the London Metropolitan Police wrote to the Trinidad and Tobago Commissioner of Police about an international car-stealing racket involving high-end luxury vehicles, which were stolen in London and shipped to Trinidad and Tobago for sale.

Deonarine has provided a detailed explanation of her side of the story, saying she was the victim. However, the Attorney General has raised questions about the transaction, including the issue of the price Deonarine paid for the car, which, he claimed, was worth between $1.2 million and $1.6 million, but which was bought by her for $240,000.


No comment: Anna Deonarine at an Independent Liberal Party (ILP) meeting in Tunapuna on Saturday. —Photo: Ayanna Kinsale.

[lefty]

unc doing everyting to cast d ILP as a bunch ah criminals and bandits ready to attack d treasury and the ILP all too happy to help dem............the irony of dat whole ting kinda tickles yuh funny bone, even while being irksome

Jack providin nuff evidence dat he eh fit to lead for all the world to see and is like Trinis dotish

[Jah Gol]

unc doing everyting to cast d ILP as a bunch ah criminals and bandits ready to attack d treasury and the ILP all too happy to help dem............the irony of dat whole ting kinda tickles yuh funny bone, even while being irksome

Jack providin nuff evidence dat he eh fit to lead for all the world to see and is like Trinis dotish

The country's overall is state is 50/50 between the government and the people. Plans and policies have an impact but the culture and values of the citizens also have an impact. The common factor among the various administrations is the citizens themselves. We get carried away with nonsense , easily distracted and have a predisposition to be attracted to the most frivolous things. Jack Warner, the goons he selected and the likes of Ian Alleyne are a reflection of what the people tolerate and endorse.

It's not everyone but sad to say you will find droves of Trinis who are just backward foolish people motivated by trinkets and entertained by the circus we see panning out.

[lefty]

unc doing everyting to cast d ILP as a bunch ah criminals and bandits ready to attack d treasury and the ILP all too happy to help dem............the irony of dat whole ting kinda tickles yuh funny bone, even while being irksome

Jack providin nuff evidence dat he eh fit to lead for all the world to see and is like Trinis dotish

The country's overall is state is 50/50 between the government and the people. Plans and policies have an impact but the culture and values of the citizens also have an impact. The common factor among the various administrations is the citizens themselves. We get carried away with nonsense , easily distracted and have a predisposition to be attracted to the most frivolous things. Jack Warner, the goons he selected and the likes of Ian Alleyne are a reflection of what the people tolerate and endorse.

It's not everyone but sad to say you will find droves of Trinis who are just backward foolish people motivated by trinkets and entertained by the circus we see panning out.

What scares me most is dat I can't help but look at Jack and see Papa Doc, Mugabe, and Forbes Burnham just waitin to happen I truly frighten for my country.

[Flex]

UK owner wants back Range Rover
By NEWSDAY STAFF
Friday, October 18 2013

THE UNITED Kingdom (UK) owner of a stolen Range Rover luxury SUV seized from Independent Liberal Party (ILP) deputy political leader Anna Deonarine-Rampersad is demanding the vehicle be returned to them.

The owner of the black luxury SUV – Lombard Vehicle Management of 7 Brindley Place, Birmingham, United Kingdom – has retained Karl Hudson Phillips QC, to seek their interests.

In a letter addressed to Attorney General Anand Ramlogan yesterday, attorney Jessica Maicoo, who is in Chambers with Hudson-Phillips, indicated they have been retained by Barry Hancock of BR International on behalf of Lombard Vehicle Management.

Maicoo called on the State to, “hand over the vehicle”, to them on behalf of Hancock. “From a perusal of the relevant documents in the matter, it is confirmed that the vehicle is in the possession of the State.

“In the circumstances this is to call upon the relevant government department through the Office of the Honourable Attorney General to hand over the vehicle to us on behalf of Mr Hancock whom we represent so that the same may be disposed of according to the direction of the owner,” Maicoo wrote.

The letter sent to the AG was also copied to Deonarine-Rampersad to advise her of the UK owner’s demand and afford her an opportunity to challenge Lombard Vehicle Management’s right to possession of the vehicle.

The letter also indicated that Hancock possessed a duly notarized Power of Attorney, dated November 17, 2011, from Lombard Vehicle Management, owner of the Range Rover which was reported stolen in the United Kingdom between May 2008 and December 2008.

Maicoo also noted that the exact circumstance in which the vehicle was stolen and shipped to Trinidad was unknown.

“However, I am instructed that the vehicle which was the subject of a contract hire purchase between Lombard Vehicle Management and one Nabeel Shah was shipped to Trinidad in December 2008 without Lombard Vehicle Management’s knowledge or consent,” Maicoo said.

According to a Sunday Newsday report, the UK Metropolitan Police confirmed that Deonarine-Rampersad’s Range Rover was stolen from Lombard Vehicle Management where the vehicle was on contract hire on May 15, 2008 by a person who had stopped paying for it and who it was eventually determined, had used false details to hire the vehicle.

In a letter dated September 6, 2011, the London-based Metropolitan Police service wrote to Hancock (the real owner’s representative), to inform him of a trans-Atlantic criminal conspiracy whereby high-end luxury vehicles were being stolen from the UK and shipped to Trinidad for resale and that the Range Rover was one of those vehicles.

On Sunday last, as reported in Sunday Newsday, Deonarine-Rampersad admitted purchasing the vehicle, valued at about $500,000, from an agent by the name of Nadeem Baksh. She also confirmed that local police had seized the luxury Ranger Rover on November 7, 2011. Deonarine-Rampersad has asked that the Range Rover be returned to her, however this appears unlikely as the real owner moves to recover the vehicle. Ministry of Trade and Industry and Customs and Excise Division records show the vehicle was imported by D&I Management Services Ltd, of 91 Bejucal Road, Cunupia from Nadeem Baksh, of 35 Fenner Square, Winstanley Estate Battersea, London.

Deonarine-Rampersad is reported to be the corporate secretary of D&I Managementt. In some media reports, she is said to have indicated the vehicle was already in Trinidad when it was purchased. Last night, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, at a People’s Partnership meeting in Gasparillo, challenged the accounts of how Deonarine-Rampersad acquired the SUV. He claimed Deonarine-Rampersad had said she did not import the vehicle and “sought to give the impression that this stolen vehicle was imported by somebody else and she buy it from them”. Ramlogan said documents at the Ministry of Trade that are relevant to this transaction revealed that on January 26, 2009, Deonarine-Rampersad’s company was going to import a Range Rover for $160,000.

He reported they got an import licence to import the Range Rover, “then suddenly” on March 26, there was on file a handwritten letter asking the ministry to change the year of manufacture from 2006 to 2008, to change the cost from $160,000 to $202,400, and to change the name of the shipper to Nadeem Baksh.

Ramlogan noted it was “very strange” that the same day she put a handwritten note on the changes, “that very same day she get a new import licence”. He said with the new import licence, issued in the name of Deonarine-Rampersad’s company, the stolen Range Rover was imported from Baksh.

He also commented on a newspaper article yesterday (not Newsday) which stated the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had cleared Deonarine-Rampersad in the matter.

“Notice nowhere in the article is the DPP quoted,” he pointed out. Ramlogan said the police file has no statement from Deonarine-Rampersad, nor Baksh, who they cannot find, nor the Licencing office or the Customs department. He said both in Licencing and Customs there were “false documents” relating to the transaction. He noted in the police file, lead investigator Corporal Joseph had stated he had been repeatedly trying for two years to get Deonarine-Rampersad to give a statement but she has claimed she did not know she had to give one and no one asked her to make one.

“If somebody come and take my car and tell me is a thief (sic) car, even if they didn’t ask me for a statement, I would be hounding them down to give them one if I am innocent,” Ramlogan said.

However, Deonarine-Rampersad at an ILP political meeting in Penal last night, said members of Government saw politics as big business and not about serving the people. “It never was,” she said, “but my lawyers are dealing with these people and tomorrow (today) morning they will be sending the first pre-action protocol letter which goes to the Guardian.”

The pre action protocol is in relation to a report alleging that Deonarine was involved in an international car racket. Her lawyers, she said, are preparing letters in relation to other “false and malicious statements made.”

“They have advised me to let justice take its course and I in turn have told them,” she said, “that I am prepared to go all the way to the Privy Council to defend my good name and reputation.”

[Socapro]

[Flex]

Jack: ILP here to stay
By JULIEN NEAVES (NEWSDAY)
Tuesday, October 22 2013

A SULLEN, tired-looking Independent Liberal Party (ILP) interim leader Jack Warner last night conceded defeat in the Local Government election as he spoke to a smattering of supporters at ILP headquarters, Mulchan Seuchan Road in Chaguanas.

“I would like to congratulate the UNC and PNM for their victories in the Local Government election. Now is not the time for long faces. I want to tell you that we, a four-month-old party have proven that we are the third party in this country,” Warner told supporters.

“As it is now, the popular vote shows the UNC is ahead,” Warner said, as he made what would be to him a Freudian slip, which was corrected by ILP interim deputy political leader Anna Deonarine-Rampersad, who stood behind him. “Sorry, I meant to say the popular vote shows the ILP is ahead, so what this means is that the ILP is here to stay,” Warner said.

“We shall stay the course and continue to build. Our young people who have kept the faith with us, I say, we are your future. I want to take this opportunity to commend both the UNC and PNM on their victories. Our councillors are prepared to work with the heads.

“And we at the party, we will have many more aldermen on corporations based on the amount of votes we got and the new dispensation of proportional representation. This is not a time for any long faces. This is a time to tell you that a four-month-old party has changed the political paradigm in this country,” Warner said as one or two persons cheered.

“To our supporters, I ask you to keep your green jerseys,” Warner begged, adding, “we still have a bye-election in St Joseph to fight and on Wednesday we will walk at Richmond Street with our candidate (Om Lalla) and we shall use the popular support we got in this election to propel us further in the St Joseph election.” The St Joseph bye-election takes place in two weeks’ time on November 4.

Earlier, interim ILP chairman Robin Montano said the fledgling party failed in the Local Government election because it “sought to contest too many districts.” He noted the party had less than three months to put all in place for the election.

“With the benefit of hindsight maybe we would have and should have been better off contesting let’s say three of the regional corporations but we got so much national encouragement that we went for the whole hog,” a sombre Montano said.

He however said he was proud of the effort the ILP put in at this election. “Let’s be honest, the results aren’t good.

The results show the country has retreated from the promise of July 29 (when ILP interim leader Jack Warner won the Chaguanas West bye-election) and has gone back into tribal politics,” Montano said.

“So we failed today. You know what? It doesn’t matter. We are going to try again tomorrow and we going to keep on trying until we reach the stars,” Montano added.

“This party has shown that win, lose or draw we are a serious force to be reckoned with,” Montano said.

[Controversial]

Voters choose their preferred poison at the time of the particular election, not subsequent to it. To harp about the repercussions of having voted in a particular government is proper fodder for opposition voices and disgruntled former political bedfellows (like Jack). Even individual voters may regret where they put their X, but part of their democratic responsibility is to live with such consequences as they emerge.

However, to not accept that the electorate made a properly informed, majority decision at the time of the Gen Election polls is to not accept that, for some voters, an unpleasant odour emanated from the PNM at or about the time the elections were called ... and that for other voters there was an overwhelming compulsion to vote otherwise (whatever their motivation, pernicious or benign) ...

A discriminating sense of smell (as yuh putting yuh X) could be informed by objectivity, subjectivity, ignorance or indifference. Whatever the basis for one's choice, any of those four things spells doom in a two-party structure. There are always losers and winners on the political stage. Some of them at the bottom of the food chain, some of them at the top.  It's predictable that those embedded in political patronage arrangements will suffer. It's time to shake that cycle ... even if it means initially having multiple patrons. Repossession from Courts and unemployment go hand in hand with that patronage. It is a product of consequences rooted in Westminster, not vindictiveness bred in Andhra Pradesh.

Success of the PP government at the polls was a good thing for democracy and political maturity in Trinidad & Tobago. Point blank! This is a distinct matter from whether it ultimately was (or proves to be) a good thing for the economy, international prestige, financial markets, domestic policy and the national welfare, state security, regional harmony, public confidence, and so on.

Did Patos/the PNM "deserve" to get booted out of office? Yes, because the party as a collective, and Mr. Manning as the embodiment of that PNM government, governed in such a manner as to raise issues regarding that government's efficacy in office. The PP may be making egregious governance decisions now, but this does not negate the validity of the choice made by voters at the time of the Gen Elections.

This is the crux of my disagreement with Weary's position.
mla

I have no problem if yuh showing Patos and co d door but for Kamla and co. In 1995 I could understand but after there astute and corrupt free tenure people but them back in power and now surprise bout racism and nepotism. Well I saw them operate and I see PNM operate both leave a bitter taste in my mouth but d UNC/PP makes me want 2 puke. So until another NAR emerges I will vote for the people that doh make me want 2 vomit. 

seeker has spoken the most sensible thing so far, too bad the others don't have this type of midset, if they did, T&T would be a better nation as opposed to what it has come to over the last 3 decades...

[lefty]

saw something today in d express and this caught my attention

He is also calling on Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Vasant Bharath to tell the country why the funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)  was stopped  for the Point Fortin highway extension project.

Rowley said  Bharath said in a television interview last week that Independent Liberal Party interim leader Jack Warner breached IDB proceedings and as a result this country cannot get IDB funding to finish the $7 billion highway project.

“Tell the people exactly what Warner did to cause the government not to access IDB loans,” Rowley said.

if true den this gov't not only incompetant but dangerous to the international standing of the country

[weary1969]

saw something today in d express and this caught my attention

He is also calling on Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Vasant Bharath to tell the country why the funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)  was stopped  for the Point Fortin highway extension project.

Rowley said  Bharath said in a television interview last week that Independent Liberal Party interim leader Jack Warner breached IDB proceedings and as a result this country cannot get IDB funding to finish the $7 billion highway project.

“Tell the people exactly what Warner did to cause the government not to access IDB loans,” Rowley said.

if true den this gov't not only incompetant but dangerous to the international standing of the country

U song surprise. IDB and them doh play

[lefty]

steups we do need a code of conduct, but comin from him it rings hollow...so steups


Warner calls for code of conduct
By Carla Bridglal
Story Created: Nov 5, 2013 at 12:41 AM ECT
Story Updated: Nov 5, 2013 at 12:41 AM ECT

The one thing that the St Joseph by-election campaign has proved is the need for a code of conduct to govern the way elections are run in Trinidad and Tobago, Jack Warner said last night.

The interim political leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) addressed party faithful at its St Joseph base camp at Mangra Street, Aranjuez after conceding the defeat of the party’s candidate, Om Lalla, in yesterday’s by-election. “We need a code of conduct because you cannot take State resources to fight an election. We need a code because you cannot go down in the gutter (on the campaign platform),” Warner said. The election results, Warner continued, only proved that “tribalism has won”.

“This election has pushed the country back 50 years. That is something nobody can be proud of.”
The UNC’s split the vote campaign, he said, only served to solidify the People’s National Movement (PNM) support base and the United National Congress (UNC) support base, and that was seen in the lowest voter turn out in St Joseph since 1956--the country’s first general election.
Nevertheless, Warner said even though the UNC might say they are still in government, they had lost four elections in one year.

“Therefore there are those in power that have more cause to worry than we (the ILP) do,” he said.
“They take everything and carry it South and they expect the people in the (East-West) Corridor to vote for them? (The low voter turnout shows) it was a vex vote, but I’ll tell you what, 2,000 people not vex with us,” Warner declared.

He commended victorious candidate, PNM’s Terrence deyalsingh, adding cheekily that while he was disappointed that Lalla would not be sitting next to him in Parliament, “it could have been worse”.
Warner told supporters that the party was “here to stay” and in 15 months, in time for the next general election, it will be “something to be proud of”.
“In life, nothing comes easy. In 2010, the (People’s Partnership) had it easy... But, easy come, easy go. We shall build our foundation...in four months we have done exceptionally well,” he said.

[Tallman]

We need a code because you cannot go down in the gutter (on the campaign platform),” Warner said.

Who it is had de goat on stage again?