Click to view full size
Vox Populi, Vox Dei. The people have spoken, and as the saying goes, the voice of the people is the voice of God. Now, you all know I am not a political analyst, and I have no intention of trying to become one. Still, I am a true patriot, a son of the soil, Trini to the bone, and having represented the country at cricket, as far as I am concerned, nobody from outside can “bad mouth” Trinidad & Tobago. It’s like family—don’t speak ill of my family. I can do that, but not an outsider. This intro is because I will attempt, in my layman’s words, to come to terms with what happened on the night of Monday, April 28, 2025.
Firstly, congratulations to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her United National Congress (UNC) stalwarts; they ran a campaign that appeared to be focused on issues that many constantly spoke about—crime, inflation, and foreign exchange shortages, to name a few—and the lady herself showed the kind of belly I wish more West Indies batsmen could show. She was written off politically not once (in 2015) but twice (again in 2020), but she found a level of resilience I am not sure she knew she even had. Her opponents let fly a barrage of bouncers intimidating her, humiliating her stance, so that she accumulated more ducks than centuries with her failures and all the mistakes she made with her shot selection; however, the worst was to come as she was seemingly viewed as too old to stand up and take her rightful place at the wicket.
She proved them all wrong as her shot selection was spot on, and she dealt with the bouncers. When she had to leave alone, she did it with efficiency even more stylish than Courtney Walsh, and more than ever, she made one and all realise that age is just a number, and once you are performing, the selectors cannot retire you until you are ready to retire. I met the prime minister many years ago when she was this country’s first female attorney general and a few times when she was this country’s first female prime minister, but to be honest, the only thing I know of her is what I see on television. Still, her enormous strength, courage, and resilience have to be admired and should serve as an inspiration for our young people.
The portable companion to gazettE. Get notifications, track read articles, and more. The latest news from Trinidad and Tobago, in one place.
Related stories
See articles related to "Kamla’s cover drive: How resilience led to a stunning electoral victory"