The Manicou Report

Same old, same old. So now we have the NDA. There’s no more DNA, I’m not 100% sure, but there seems to be no more NAR (although some will disagree on exactly how long this has been true). If I have to take my best guess, I will assume that since the NDA was launched at the NAR headquarters, not only was the NAR not home, but they have no intention of ever coming back. NDA’s new logo is a map of Trinidad & Tobago on a red background (0 marks for creativity). The images below is an artist’s recreation of what that must look like. It took me the artist 5 minutes in MS Paint.

Gerald Yetming

Coming with this new party there is the usual set of reheated talent from the other extinct or non-performing parties. There is Dr. Carson Charles, Gerald Yetming and maybe a few stray channa here and there. Oh yeah there is also some man named Michael Sims who hasn’t lived in Trinidad for nearly 40 years. There’s a picture of him here with Charles and Yetming. Take a good look at him, because you’ll probably never see him again. It doesn’t help that The Express chose to publish a black and white picture making it look like 1985 (it also doesn’t help that Dr. Carson Charles hasn’t aged in 20 years).

So, this new party NDA …a lot of channa but no bara (yes I’m comparing a political party to a doubles,

16 years of Photoshop has lead us to this

you’d be surprised at the analogies that can be drawn). And that’s the problem with all these new parties in Trinidad. A lot of willing volunteers and a lot of good people, but no one person to ignite the passions. Not a single person of stature. Mr. Yetming is an OK guy. So is Mr. Charles. I have nothing bad to say about either of them. Mr. Sims? Well I imaging after having lived for 40 years outside of Trinidad he’ll have some credibility issues. Although from what I understand, credibility in Trinbago politics is entirely optional. So hey, the guy may have a chance. These guys are probably all decent people, but who cares?

I’m all for the third party. The PNM and the UNC have ridden our backs for years making us chase that carrot. And we’ve only reached as far as shit creek. Actually, shit creek was seven years ago.

The third party, I think, will be one of the best things that has ever happened to T&T. The guys running the show, sad to say, just don’t care about us anymore. Any Prime Minister who refers to scores of murders in his own country as “collateral damage”, in my mind, has lost all authority to rule over me. It just cements the fact that he has become the new elite. And just look at the long line of questionable things Mr. Manning has undertaken: having the coat-of-arms placed on his vehicle when that has been reserved for the President,

spending a shit-tonne of money to remodel the official residence, annexing the President’s Grounds, building an $850M stadium despite the uproar and referring to complaints as those of “Tom, Dick and Harry”, using our money to fight the Maha Sabha over a stupid radio licence and now having lost, having to pay them yet millions more of our money . I’m not sure if any of these spell “dictator”, but they certainly spell “out-of-touch” and “aloof”. By the way, I’d really like to know how many times he has used his new gym and if that justifies us having bought it.

So we need this alternative in the form of a third party. And I cannot think of anyone else to lead it except for Mr. Dookeran. At this stage I honestly hope that he does leave the UNC. If Kamla & Co. are stupid enough to throw out their only boy scout, then he should be smart enough to high-tail it out of there. The Bible says “Don’t throw your pearls before swine”. Therefore Mr. Dookeran, the fine person that he is, should not throw his pearls before the UNC swine, and I too will not throw my own votes before said swine.