Kamla, UNC’s future in doubt
The landslide victory of Jack Warner speaks to the demise of the UNC and could also signal a real possibility of the former national security minister becoming the country’s next prime minister, says former government minister Ralph Maraj. Maraj was among a television panel which also included journalist Sunity Maharaj, managing director of the Lloyd Best Institute of the West Indies, and political analyst Dr Winford James. Maraj described the victory as a “sad day” for the country, as someone who has been so discredited, locally and internationally could be elected. Examining what Warner’s win said about the national consciousness, Maraj added, “So-called validating elites in this country would tend to frown upon the emergence of somebody like Jack Warner and his possibility of becoming the prime minister, but clearly after tonight that is a very real possibility. “What does it say about our culture that somebody like Jack Warner could now emerge in this country as a possible candidate for prime ministership?”
Warner’s victory, Maraj said, also represented a much larger picture, one that questioned the future United National Congress (UNC). “Kamla Persad-Bissessar—under her leadership and under the influence of the cabal, the UNC continues to shrink back into that heartland, which in itself is shrinking, because younger people are growing up and the more professional class are moving out and moving into the urban areas. “If this election says anything to the UNC ,it is that it has to look at the leadership of Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the influence of the cabal,” he added.
The by-election race, Maharaj said, represented a “battle inside the UNC,” as Chaguanas West is a UNC constituency which has been divided into “UNC A and UNC B.” “What we have seen tonight is a tremendous division inside the UNC, and how is the UNC as a party going to deal with that? We are going to have to see what are the implications of a Warner victory on the UNC and the on the partnership,” Maharaj added.
Saying no one could deny that Warner is an “extraordinary man,” Maharaj said money also made him “even more extraordinary.” “The country is clearly searching for a way past the automatic voter connection to just ethnic politics. It wants to just try something,” Maharaj said. “There’s a huge vacuum now and for the moment he (Warner) is just filling it. It was clear very early on in this government that a vacuum was developing and the question is what new forces will be released in the political system.” On the issue of leadership of the UNC, James asked who was the potential replacement for Persad-Bissessar. “We hope that the result of this election is going to take us to a path which will not be reversed, and therefore the parties will clean themselves up and come up with a model of democracy or constitutional reform that does not take us back along the tribal rule,” James said.
After conceding defeat last night, Persad-Bissessar told supporters the UNC had not lost because the party was still in government. This however, James said, mirrored the unsuitability of Persad-Bissessar as prime minister. “Strange, incredible things continue to pour from the prime minister’s mouth. She is saying that the government has not lost because it is still in government, on the basis of the result of a by-election that could now put her out of power. “I find that really amazing. It captures the unsuitability of Mrs Bissessar and her Cabinet to run this country.”
Bandits kill man raising an alarm in TNT
Hours before voting began in the Chaguanas West by-election yesterday, a man was murdered by bandits in front of his home. But despite a suggestion to the contrary by Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, the victim’s family do not believe the killing was linked to the election. Bhandath Ramkir, a 50-year old physically-challenged man, was shot around 2 am when he reportedly tried to stop thieves who were breaking into a relative’s car parked in front of his house. Relatives told the T&T Guardian the relative, who lives next door, had parked his Daewoo Cielo in front of Ramkir’s house and asked him to “watch” it. Around 2.30 am, however, Ramkir’s relatives were awakened by the sound of a gunshot and bawling. They found Ramkir lying in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to the right side of his chest.
Ramkir, who was unmarried and had no children, was described by villagers as a harmless, fun-loving man, fond of a drink. His killing came in the midst of reports of vandalism and threats of intimidation by people reported to have been brought into the area from “outside” in the build-up to the election. Relatives, the police and neighbours denied his killing was related to the election but said at the same time that they never had any crime like that in the area. Ramkir, whose hand was permanently injured, lived with relatives and when the T&T Guardian visited the house yesterday morning, they were being questioned by Assistant Supt Seemungal Rampersad of the San Fernando Homicide Bureau. Rampersad told the T&T Guardian the incident appeared to be a straight case of attempted robbery. He said while the car was not in perfect condition, it was fitted with “mag rims” on the wheels, which the bandits were probably looking at.
He said about $150 was stolen from the wallet of the owner’s wife, which was in the car, along with her bank card. “We are trying to piece it together,” Rampersad said. He noted, however, there was another robbery in Endeavour on Sunday night, in which a security guard was bound by bandits while they pillaged the place. The owner of the car and his wife, who were questioned by Rampersad, appeared distraught and were reluctant to talk to the media. Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, who visited the Petersfield house around 8 am yesterday, told the media Ramkir was a United National Congress (UNC) activist and his killing might have been linked to the election. The UNC, one of the parties in the coalition People’s Partnership Government, was one of the main contenders in the election race for its former stronghold. The UNC’s main political rival was former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner, who resigned the seat and re-contested it under the banner of his newly-formed Independent Liberal Party.
But one of Ramkir’s relatives, Usha, dismissed any idea his murder was related to the election. “He never vote in his life. He supports everybody,” she said. “A relative ask him to watch the car and people pass and break into it.” Usha said the family lives on the side of the road that falls in the Couva North constituency and could not vote in the election. Neighbours said Ramkir was wearing an Independent Liberal Party jersey the day before he was killed. UNC Chaguanas West candidate Khadijah Ameen, who visited the home around 11 am, told the family the UNC would handle the funeral expenses. Shortly after Ramkir’s murder, which pushed the toll to 210 for the year, news also circulated in the village that a man had been knocked down near the polling station at the Felicity Presbyterian School.
Trinidad Guardian
Caribbean Climate Finance dialogue conference takes place
Second Latin American and Caribbean Dialogue on Climate Finance in Latin America and the Caribbean
The Second Dialogue is organized by the Government of El Salvador, with support from the EU through its EUROCLIMA programme, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE), the Latin American Development Bank (CAF), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and among others.
Over 125 participants will attend from 20 Latin American and Caribbean Governments and 15 bilateral and multilateral agencies, civil society organizations and academia, along with international climate finance experts and climate finance experts from Asia-Pacific and Africa.
The Second Dialogue is to discuss: climate finance mechanisms and instruments; inter-institutional coordination on climate finance; potential of the private sector for climate finance; and assessing the impact of climate change on public expenditures. The Dialogue will be followed on 31 July by a meeting of the regional coordinators of EUROCLIMA.
The two day conference started Monday 29th at Hotel Sheraton Presidente in San Salvador, El Salvador.
St. Kitts & Nevis: Protesting the Prime Minister
It’s a twist rarely seen in Caribbean politics where party loyalties are fierce, but political tensions are high in St. Kitts and Nevis following the defection of two senior ministers from Prime Minister Denzil Douglas‘ ruling St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party.
The move has placed the government in a minority position in the country’s National Assembly, and the Prime Minister has not summoned Parliament in more than six months, presumably to avoid facing a vote of “No Confidence”. Meanwhile, the two ministers, Timothy Harris and Sam Condor, have formed a political party of their own, the People’s Labour Party.
Late last week, the opposition People’s Action Movement and the PLP led a protest march through the streets of the capital in an attempt to force the Prime Minister to either call an election or to step aside to allow the formation of a unity government.
Permission for the march was initially withheld by the police and was finally granted hours before the event. Prior to the march, there was a smaller protest, but quite curiously, only one blog – Barbados-based at that – took note. It reported on a press conference held before permission for the march was granted, in which the opposition leader laid out his justification for the march and for continued protests against the government:
The two elected members of PAM and partners in the CCM [Nevis-based Concerned Citizens Movement] and PLP have also written twice to the Governor General, confirming that all six of us, who make up the majority of the elected members of parliament, no longer have any confidence in the government and Dr. Douglas as Prime Minister. We have stated to the Governor General twice in letter that when the Motion of No Confidence is called, we will all vote in favour of it. We have also written twice to the Speaker of the National Assembly, echoing the same message that we communicated to the Governor General, and after six months, not one of these gentlemen has taken the appropriate constitutional action.
There were reactions to the march on the Facebook pages of some of the parties involved. On the People’s Action Movement’s page, Jacqueline Elliot felt that the march was not enough:
PAM and PLP the time has come to take our country back[...]instead of marching, everyone go down Church Street and do not move[...]you stay right there[...]close down St. Kitts. Marching last[s] a couple of hours[...]you need to stay down Church Street like they are doing [in] Egypt.
--Global Voices
Verdict Expected in Manning WikiLeaks Trial
The military judge presiding over the court-martial of an Army private charged with leaking U.S. secrets to WikiLeaks will announce her verdict later Tuesday.
Oklahoma native Bradley Manning is facing 21 criminal charges, including espionage and computer fraud, in connection with his release of over 700,000 documents, including secret diplomatic cables and classified military reports from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the anti-secrecy website.
Manning has already pleaded guilty to several lesser charges, which could bring him at least 20 years in prison. But he faces a possible life sentence if he is convicted of the most serious charge of aiding the enemy.
Military prosecutors described the former intelligence analyst as a "traitor" and say he should have known the documents he leaked could have gotten into the hands of the al-Qaida terrorist group.
Manning's attorney says the 25-year-old is no traitor but a "young, naive and good-intentioned" citizen who wanted to encourage public debate about U.S. foreign policy.
Among the information released by Manning is video footage of a deadly U.S. military helicopter attack on a Baghdad neighborhood in 2007.
Explosions Kill 12 in Northern Nigeria
Multiple explosions in Nigeria's northern city of Kano have killed at least 12 people.
The blasts happened late Monday near a bar in the predominantly Christian Sabon Gari area of the city.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
An explosion at a bus station in the same district earlier this year killed 20 people.
Nigeria has been battling the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which wants to impose a strict form of Islamic law in Nigeria's majority-Muslim north.
President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency and sent additional troops to three northeastern states in mid-May. Militant attacks have continued, including at least three against schools in the past month.
Boko Haram is blamed for thousands of deaths in bombing and shooting attacks since 2009. Rights groups say the military has killed hundreds more, many of them civilians, in efforts to crush the group.
Boko Haram's name in the Hausa language means "Western education is sinful."
Pakistan Lawmakers Vote for New President
Pakistan's lawmakers have begun voting for the country's new president.
Mamnoon Hussain, a textile businessman and a close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is expected to emerge as the winner in Tuesday's election to replace Asif Ali Zardari, whose five-year term is expiring.
Pakistan's presidency is a ceremonial head of state. Prime Minister Sharif will remain the most powerful figure in the civilian government.
Controversy broke out last week when the Supreme Court agreed to a request by Mr. Sharif's ruling PML-N party to move forward the election from August 6 because some lawmakers wanted to travel to Saudi Arabia for a pilgrimage during the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Zardari's PPP party said it would boycott the presidential election in response to the court's ruling. Pakistan's president is not elected by popular vote but by the two-house federal parliament and four provincial assemblies.
Zardari is the first president in Pakistan's 66-year existence to complete his entire term.
Swiss Train Crash Kills Driver, Injures 26
Two trains have collided head-on in western Switzerland, killing one train's driver and injuring at least 26 passengers.
Officials say 46 passengers were on board the trains when the accident happened late Monday in Granges-pres-Marnand.
The cause of the collision was not immediately clear.
Last week, 79 people were killed in a train crash in the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela.
Militants Free Jailed Terrorists from Pakistani Prison
Pakistani Taliban militants, some of them disguised in police uniforms, attacked a prison in northwestern Pakistan with machine guns and grenades Monday, freeing more than 240 prisoners, including 25 jailed terrorists.
Officials say 12 people, including four policemen, were killed in the attack that lasted for at least three hours. Seven policemen were wounded in the assault on the prison in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, close to the lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan where Taliban and al-Qaida-linked insurgents are active.
Authorities say at least six prisoners who escaped have been captured. Army soldiers were called in as reinforcements.
Authorities have imposed a curfew on Dera Ismail Khan. Police and soldiers have sealed off the area.
A Pakistani Taliban spokesman has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying about 150 militants were involved, including several suicide bombers. The spokesman declared the attack a success.
Residents living near the prison say they heard several large explosions before the attackers opened fire with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.
About 5,000 inmates live in the prison, including as many as 250 convicted terrorists. About 40 are so-called "high-profile" prisoners.
Defense of the Opposition’s PDM representation of TCI in the Civil Service
It is really disheartening to have to issue a Release of this sort in defense of the Opposition’s representation of Turks and Caicos Islanders in the Civil Service in our pursuit of equal pay. We do so to clear the air after wrongful comments were made by the Attorney General yesterday morning in the House of Assembly.
Much to our dismay and surprise, long after two members of the Opposition had spoken to the recent trend in the Civil Service where there are great disparities in pay between expatriate heads and local qualified heads of Departments, the Attorney General rose on a point of order. Not during the relevant contributions of these members but hours and in one case days after comments were made. As a result of this we believe it prudent to explain the Opposition’s remarks as there is more likely to be new audiences who would have only heard the Attorney General and not the accused members’ contribution.
The PDM Party has since 2005 been calling for equal pay in these Islands and this does not only and should not only be adhered to by the Private Sector. This is nothing new for this Opposition Party to advance and it will always be our fight until there is a meaningful change in this area.
Nonetheless, the Attorney General yesterday in the House of Assembly accused members of the Opposition of breaching sections of the Code of Conduct specifically s 3, 7 and 11 and s16(3) of the Constitution. When forced on a point of Order in accordance to the House’s Standing Orders, he identified s 28(10) which says that “Reference may not be made in debate to the character or conduct of any person except in his official or public capacity.” For those who may not have been listening during the days prior to the Attorney General’s erroneous point of order, misguided interpretation of our motives and serious misleading of the people as to what happened and what was said, we offer the following comments.
THERE WERE NO ATTACKS ON ANYONE’S PERSONAL CHARACTER OR CONDUCT. In fact many of us enjoy cordial relationships with many who come to our shores and with the holders of the posts identified. The Attorney General correctly said that they have just simply taken up an employment offer from the Government and we agree wholeheartedly. These employees did not set their terms of employment and so are not to be blamed for salary disparities and as such ought not be drawn into a criticism levied at the system. We believe that the action of the Attorney General has unfortunately done this.
The Opposition was accused of breaching the Code Of Conduct and we raise no concern on this as the Attorney General was present in the House of Assembly when the Premier during the last Meeting said that the House is not managed by the Code of Conduct. Therefore we choose to say only that we are shocked that he did not advise the Premier as the Government’s adviser then of the relevance of the Code in the House of Assembly when the Opposition raise a point on a possible breach of the said same Code and that he, the Attorney General now seek to identify irrelevant sections of the very same Code and seek to cite breaches made by the Opposition.
Finally, the Hon Attorney also accused the Opposition of breaching s 16(3) of the
Constitution which states “discriminatory” means affording different treatment to different persons attributable wholly or mainly to their respective descriptions such as by race, national or social origin, political or other opinion, colour, religion, language, creed, association with a national minority, property, sex, sexual orientation, birth or other status whereby persons of one such description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another such description are not made subject or are accorded privileges or advantages which are not accorded to persons of another such description.”
The Opposition has taken the time to respond to this so that the expatriates who have come to our shore are clear on what was discussed and not with the motives attributed to the Opposition by the Attorney General. The Attorney General rose to say that he rose to speak to those who had no voice, and that is what we seek to do. We reiterate that there were no criticisms levied against any expatriate worker in the Civil Service and that the Attorney General is misguided in his thoughts and misleading in his comments. In fact we are on record of representing expatriate workers in the Civil Service as well as in the private sector.
In December 2005, the Leader of the Opposition while on the Forum presented a 45 minute Presentation which highlighted the continuing need of the importation of expatriate workers. The Opposition is not discriminating and will never engage in discriminating against those who come to our shores to help to build our country. What we find interesting is that we believe that it is the people of these Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islanders in the Civil Service who are being discriminated against and we make no apologies for representing our people in the area of the salary disparities.
Hon Sharlene Cartwright Robinson
Leader of the PDM Party/Leader of the Opposition