WITH five national elections expected during 2015 – the first scheduled for St Kitts and Nevis this month – Trinidad and Tobago has apparently opted to roll out its campaign early with characteristic bacchanal politics reflecting a sensational pre-Carnival, pre-election cabinet reshuffle.
Indeed, Monday’s restructuring of her cabinet by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, against the backdrop of quite disturbing claims of ministerial involvement in “witness tampering”, may well have been unique in the country’s 52-year history of political independence.
In what could well be one of the most significant reshapings of a cabinet, not just in that twin-island state, but across the Caribbean Community, the prime minister and leader of the governing People’s Partnership government carried out a savage reshaping of her cabinet.
Both the attorney general (Anand Ramlogan) and Minister of National Security (Gary Griffith) were among the victims of what the Trinidad Express headlined in its lead story as Kamla’s Ole Mas, perhaps to reflect the annual Carnival mood at this time.
At the core of the sensational outbursts that led to the reshuffle, and with new general elections looming for May, is the alleged involvement of the attorney general – one of the more powerful cabinet members – being accused of influencing the director of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), David West, to withdraw a statement he had submitted involving the case against two leading Trinidadian businessmen contesting their extradition to the United States.
Coupled with this sensational disclosure was the subsequent claim that the minister of national security himself became involved by making an inquiry of the PCA’s director (West) whether he had withdrawn his controversial claim against the attorney general.
Having dismissed both of her high-profile colleagues among four other cabinet ministers, the prime minister also signalled in a special broadcast on Monday night that she was now requesting the president of the Republic to rescind the appointment of West as PAC director.
Shared information
The basis for this request is that West may have politically compromised his office by information shared with opposition leader of the People’s National Movement, Dr Keith Rowley, a development currently in the public domain.
Meanwhile, as the prime minister mulls her strategy for new elections within the first half of this year for the 41-member House of Representatives in which her coalition government controls 29 of the seats, with her own United National Congress having the single largest majority, elections are being planned for other CARICOM states in the coming months.
Apart from that scheduled for February 16 in St Kitts and Nevis, election campaigning is also under way in Guyana for May 11 and later in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
In contrast to a “unity coalition” by opposition forces in St Kitts and Nevis, where Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas is seeking a fifth consecutive term, across in Guyana the opposition parties – A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and Alliance for Change (AFC) – remain divided.
They have repeatedly failed to reach an accord on the modalities of a common front against the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPPC), which is also aiming at a fifth consecutive five-year term.
In St Kitts and Nevis, a major challenge confronting Dr Douglas’ Labour Party is his recent move to push ahead with plans for changes to electoral boundaries.
His opponents in what’s known as ‘Team Unity’ for the coming parliamentary poll, have already moved to the courts to block the rushed arrangement to reshape the electoral boundaries. The matter is before the St Lucia-based Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and a judgment is expected quite soon.
Across in Guyana, the main opposition People’s National Congress (PNC), which controls the alliance known as APNU, is now openly declaring its disappointment with the minority AFC to forge an envisaged anti-PPPC front at the poll for the 65-member House of Assembly.
President Donald Ramotar felt compelled to prorogue parliament last November in the face of recurring non-cooperation from the opposition coalition in the National Assembly, where the PPP had a minority of one. New elections were not constitutionally due before November 2016.
Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist.
