PORT-AU-SPAIN: Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been elected the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
Mrs Persad-Bissessar, a Hindu, emerged victorious following elections held on Monday. Her People’s Partnership won 29 out of the 41 parliamentary seats.
Mrs Persad-Bissessar was expected to be sworin in as Prime Minister on Wednesday by President George Maxwell Richards. Outgoing Prime Minister Patrick Manning conceded defeat after holding the reins of power since 2002.
Mrs Persad-Bissessar will also become chair of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The meeting was held here last November.
Among her academic certification are: B.A., LLB degree in Law and was at the top of her class, Master’s in Business Administration, and a Diploma in Education, all from the University of the West Indies. Persad-Bissessar served as an Alderman at the St. Patrick County Council; senator: and later as the first woman Attorney General; Minister of Legal Affairs; and Minister of Education.
She acted on several occasions as Prime Minister during the absence of then Prime Minister Basdeo Panday.
She has represented her Siparia constituency for 15 years now. She has become the first woman to lead any political party in oil-rich Trinidad and Tobago.
Her euphoric rise had its genesis last January 24 when hse challenged her former political guru and mentor, Basdeo Panday for the leadership of the United National Congress which he founded 20 years ago.
She flogged Panday 10-1 in the tally of votes. Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s forefathers were among 148,000 East Indian labourers who were brought here between 1845 to 1917 to work on the sugar and cocoa plantations.
The Indian Diaspora contains some 44 per cent of a population of 1.3 million people. Since the chimes of, “Kamlamania” begun to echo not only among the Indian Diaspora or in East Indian dominated constituencies, but throughout the length and breadth of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
She has been able to capture the hearts of stalwarts of the People’s National Movement which is principally supported by Africans.
Incumbent Prime Minister Patrick Manning broke with tradition and dissolved the 41-seat Parliament last April and called general elections for May 24, some 30 months before it is constitutionally due.
For the first time since Independence in August 1962, a coalition of four other parties has joined to confront the ruling People’s National Movement which has been in power for 43 years.
The five parties inclusive of Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s United National Congress are: Congress of the People (COP) led by former Governor of the Central Bank and international economist, Winston Dookeran; Makandal Daaga, leader of the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC); Tobago Organization of Peoples (TOP) led by Ashworth Jack; and the Movement for Social Change(MSC) led by Errol McLeod, former President of the powerful Oil Workers’ Trade Union(OWTU).
These parties have come under the banner of the, “People’s Partnership,” with each party maintaining its own symbol on the ballot paper.
The election was fought on several issues which included: massive corruption in all sectors of the national economy, especially the special Urban Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago (UDECOTT) which is headed by Canadian-born Calder Hart, who following the report of the Uff Commission on the Construction Industry fled the country alleged charges of corruption and perjury hanging over his head.
Over US$60 billion have passed through the treasury, but the electorate continue to protest the lack of medical facilities, a total breakdown in the infrastructural capacity; and the mismanagement of the nation.
More than 3000 people have been murdered over the past eight years of PNM rule, and a nominal of accused have been held.
Mrs Persad-Bissessar, a mother and grandmother of two, said in an interview: “I am grateful for the immense support from women and women’s groups across the country and to the extent that this helps to break the barriers so many competent women face.
“I celebrate this victory on their behalf. But, the picture is much larger than any single group and those very women would be the first to acknowledge that.”
Winston Dookeran said that with the politics of inclusiveness as the “choice before us, we must choose that politics that engage all, including PNM supporters … excluding no one.
“Everyone who wants a change, wants a better Trinidad and Tobago is welcome in the People’s Partnership.”
Dookeran added: “Today, we begin the business of government as we build a partnership of interests on a wide of range of national issues — safety and security, economic development, justice and the well-being of our citizens, and introduce a new face of governance for our beloved country.”