winds of change in t&t politics
Posted on | January 26, 2010 | No Comments
When the United States electorate confirmed Barack Obama as President, many saw it as the physical embodiment of a dream of African Americans becoming a reality.
The election of Kamla Persad- Bissessar in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday, may well be heralded in similar terms, but this time, as the fulfillment of the dreams of women of East Indian descent.
Kamla hasn’t been elected as Prime Minister of T&T. She was elected as leader of the United National Congress, an East Indian dominated opposition party that has only ever been in power once in the past20 years.
But Kamla’s election is being rightly heralded as a major turning point in the politics of Trinidad and Tobago, and quite possibly the region.
The East Indian woman, even in today’s supposed liberal Trinidad and Tobago, is still largely subservient; subservient to men and cultural norms and practices in the society. Indeed, Kamla was accused of ‘biting the hand that fed her’ during the campaign when she successfully challenged the ageing and out of touch political leader Basdeo Panday. It is hugely significant that a large chunk of her campaigning had to be devoted to convincing her own party members that challenging for the leadership was not akin to stabbing Panday in the back.
Kamla’s election also meant the second (or is that third?) successful attempt to see off Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, who was also contesting the post of party leader. A self proclaimed human rights lawyer, Maharaj has the dubious honour of being the Attorney General in the T&T government that hanged nine men over 3 days.
Politically, Kamla’s election as party leader, and hopefully Leader of the Opposition if Panday can be convinced to loosen his grip, is the biggest threat to the current Patrick Manning regime which has been drawing more and more comparisons to a soft dictatorship in recent years. The population has been crying out for an alternative and it is likely that Kamla, if she can maintain her momentum, can easily become the first female Indo-Trinidadian Prime Minister. This would not only be a huge boost to East Indian women in Trinidad, but to women across the region who have been woefully neglected, barring one or two exceptions, from positions of power in the Caribbean.
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