THE FUTURE OF ETHNIC POLITICS

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 11th October 2025, 9:00 pm

According to the official results, electoral support for the PNC grew from 40.52 percent in 1964 to 55.81 percent in 1968, to 70.10 percent in 1973, to 77.66 percent in 1980, to 78.54 percent in 1985. Despite the ethnic voting patterns in 1957, 1961 and 1964 and internecine violence that lasted from 1962 to 1964, the PNC proclaimed after the 1964 elections that it had brought an end to inter-racial violence and discord and that ethnic harmony then prevailed.

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TALK, TALK, TALK!

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 4th October 2025, 9:00 pm

During last year the Chairman of Banks DIH, Clifford Reis, complained about the functioning of the Stock Exchange. When the Chairman of the largest, pioneering, public company, speaks people usually listen. He had good cause. Between 2023 and the present, despite record profits, and a burgeoning economy, the share price of Banks DIH stock has dropped from $190 to $140.  Had this phenomenon affected Banks DIH only, it could have been argued that the fall in its share price had something to do with the management of the company. After Clifford Reis spoke, there was a flurry of activity in Government circles in relation to reforming the Stock Exchange. There was no follow through and nothing happened.

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CREATING AN OASIS IN A CONGESTED CITY

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 27th September 2025, 9:00 pm

This article was written and published in September, 2021, under the title “D’Urban Park,” urging its creation as a ‘recreational space,’ one of the objectives of the President’s Plan to rescue Georgetown. Now is therefore an opportune time to revive consideration of the future of D’Urban Park.

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LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 20th September 2025, 9:00 pm

The Leader of the Opposition is a constitutional office. He or she is elected at a meeting of the non-governmental members elected to the National Assembly. The meeting is convened and presided over by the Clerk. After the Leader is elected, the President is informed by the Speaker and the President then appoints the elected person as Leader of the Opposition. The President has no discretion. Prior to 2001, when the discretion was removed, the President would appoint as Leader of the Opposition the person who he or she believes would command the support of non-governmental MPs.

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THE ELECTION RESULTS POSES MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS

Written by Ralph Ramkarran
Saturday, 13th September 2025, 9:00 pm

In normal circumstances, the shape of political discourse in the coming period would be dictated by the results of the elections. The results have been shocking. APNU has been decimated. Its presence in the National Assembly, in alliance with the AFC, has been reduced from 31 to 12. Aubrey Norton, while remaining leader of the PNCR, is to be replaced in parliament by Terrence Campbell, a prominent businessman with no political experience. The new opposition party, WIN, by winning 16 seats, will elevate its leader, the challenged Azruddin Mohamed, to Leader of the Opposition. He also is a prominent businessman with no political experience. What was the message of the electorate? At its basic level, more than half of APNU supporters are expressing dissatisfaction with it but not support for the PPP. It is quite possible that they are looking for benefits, either directly from WIN, or from the PPP/C government under pressure from WIN in the expectation that whatever the form of pressure that WIN might exert, it would be more effective than that exerted by APNU.

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The Conversation Tree is both physical and philosophical. The physical is the tree itself, which has given its name to the road from which it originates at the intersection of the Rupert Craig Highway. It was reputedly first planted by Napleton William King in 1876 to celebrate the birth of his son Napleton Walter. As...
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