By Alicia Chamely
LET the story of the newly-appointed Tobago House of Assembly be one that reflects a golden era of governance, guided by shared principles, restrained by virtue, and strengthened by trust, says President Christine Kangaloo, as she calls on the Assembly to let their conscience serve as their opposition.
Addressing the newly sworn-in THA on Thursday at the THA Legislature Building, Scarborough, on Thursday, Kangaloo noted the historical significance of the Tobago People’s Party victory, which saw them capturing all 15 electoral districts, allowing them to lead the THA without an opposition.
Kangaloo said, “The desire of the people of Tobago is clear and the mandate that has been given to Members of this Assembly is historic.”
“This is only the second occasion in the Assembly’s history on which a party has won every seat in the Assembly; and it is the first occasion that a party doing so has won as many as 15,” she continued.
Noting, the lack of an opposition, Kangaloo quoted political analyst Dr. Hamid Ghany, saying, “‘It is a challenge’ Dr. Ghany is reported to have said, ‘to govern without an opposition in the House, because sometimes you need the opposition to say things that you can respond to.’”
She said the lack of opposition put a greater burden of accountability on the new Assembly, saying, “A mandate that results in no opposing voice in the Assembly, is a mandate that has to be exercised with great care, and with great maturity.”
Kangaloo noted many in this position where no democratic guardrails exist, those in positions of leadership may fall into the pitfalls of acting with no accountability and no consequence.
She said, “We begin to speak and to act towards one another, as if nothing matters and as if no one is worthy of our respect – our language in the public space becomes more caustic and savage; our decisions and actions become more bullying and tyrannical; and we abandon, without so much as a blush, even deep-rooted constitutional conversations.”
Kangaloo, however, said she remained “optimistic” the members of the Assembly would not succumb to these pitfalls, because of the powerful voice of the Tobagonian people.
She said, “I walk today on clouds that tell me that, in the case of this Assembly, that risk is not high. One of the reasons why I believe the risk is not high, is that civil organizations in Tobago have stepped forward to give the assurance that, in the absence of an opposing voice in the Assembly, they intend to use theirs to help keep the Assembly accountable. My advice to Members is to listen to their voices.”
Kangaloo said, “But most of all, the risk is not high because this is no ordinary Assembly. This is the Tobago House of Assembly; it is the Assembly of the people of Tobago – a people whom I knew growing up as renowned for their temperance and decorum; their moderation and self-discipline; their circumspection and propriety. The absence of an opposing voice in this Assembly is not necessarily a cause for alarm. Rather, it is a mandate which calls upon this Assembly’s Members, in the language of another famous American – this time, a former President – to lead, not by the example of your power, but by the power of your example.”
She urged members of the Assembly to let their story be one of “inspired leadership,” a story where Tobago led the way for Trinidad to follow.
Kangaloo said, “Let it be a story in which this Assembly led the people of Tobago into a revitalized respect for and adherence to traditional guardrails, added to them those in the Tobago House of Assembly Act and the Constitution, including its conventions, and created, for the whole of Tobago, and displayed to all of Trinidad, a golden era of governance, guided by shared principles, restrained by virtue, and strengthened by trust.”
She called on members of the Assembly to “let your opposition be your conscience,” calling on them to let their, “consciences lead you to discover what it truly means to have offered yourselves for public office.”
