Kamla: I’m ready to finish the job
KAMLA Persad-Bissessar, the first woman Prime Minister, will this year seek a second term in office.
Elected in 2010 riding a tide of popularity, recent polls have put her party neck and neck with the PNM. But the polls have consistently maintained that notwithstanding the population’s views on some of her Cabinet ministers, her popularity remains high.
In a series of responses sent on New Year’s Day to questions sent to her via email, the Prime Minister tells us what are some of the secrets she will use to stay fit during the upcoming general election campaign, whether there will be a Cabinet reshuffle in 2015, what will be her first priority if re-elected, and responds to concerns over crime and the fate of procurement legislation meant to tackle corruption in the country. She says she is now, more than ever, ready to finish the job she began in 2010.
A good diet, badminton and grand-kids
With a gruelling election campaign due this year, by the latest in September, the Prime Minister – who will turn 64 on April 22 – states she stays fit by playing sport and spending time with her family.
“In relation to physical fitness, I enjoy badminton on a regular basis and chasing my grandson Kristiano around, that’s a real work out!” Persad-Bissessar says. “I also keep a watchful eye on my diet. But the best preparation there is for an election campaign isn’t just physical, it is a prayerful and emotional conditioning that opens your heart and mind.”
Given a series of health scares during her tenure in office — mirroring perhaps the tenures of her predecessors — the Prime Minister was also asked to describe the state of her health.
“I am both politically and physically in very good health and more prepared than ever to finish a job I begun as Prime Minister in 2010,” Persad-Bissessar responds. “Never underestimate the strength of a woman. Physically or politically.”
She says she draws energy from the people.
“Nothing quite inspires me like being among the people,” the Prime Minister states. “I come alive; the campaign trail energises me. The responsibilities of office has its great accomplishments but one of the downsides is that I don’t get the opportunity often enough to spend time with people across the country. The campaign breaks open these channels to people again from all walks of life and reconnects me with what I enjoy most.”
‘I have set the standard’
The coming election, the Prime Minister states, is anyone’s to take.
“Nothing is promised until the final vote is tallied,” Persad-Bissessar says. “Each election is close.” For her the election will not be about personalities but rather ideals.
“This election isn’t about me but the ideals I seek to represent,” the Siparia MP states. “It involves the reordering of priorities through which everyone in Trinidad and Tobago benefits and gains access to the nation’s wealth of opportunity. This election is about a choice between the evidence of a brighter, more hopeful future or those who represent a failed past. It is about whose leadership engenders trust, loving concern and selflessness.”
Why elect Kamla
Persad-Bissessar in 2015?
“I trust that people will recognise my heart is in the right place and the country is moving accordingly in the right direction,” the Prime Minister states. “The political coalition I am humbled and honoured to lead represents all interests. It stoutly remains this nation’s best and only choice for a better future.” She continues, “I set a standard by which I insist everyone follow. I was always fair in arriving at my conclusions but never lacking in the political courage to see the right thing done. There isn’t a single member of my Cabinet who can feel exempt from this no matter what the political consequences.”
Persad-Bissessar says her Government is judged by higher standards.
She adds, “It’s not just about why people should vote for me as Prime Minister, it’s about what I seek to represent as a new vision of compassionate governance that is people centred and value based.” …READ MORE