Now the vibrancy of the women’s support in the PNM -- and
other political parties by extension -- is virtually non-existent,
thanks to one woman, Joan Yuille-Williams, the stone faced Minister
of Community Development and Gender Affairs.
It’s not because Senator Joan, who has never faced the electorate
but is well-known as an organiser, acted as Prime Minister on several
occasions that we can say that politically, women have “arrived”
in this country.
Far from it.
Joan has won her role because of her unstinting loyalty to the political
leader, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, and not because she has
a definite power base that can sustain her in politics.
So that’s a waste of time.
The line-up in Manning’s ultra-modern “Kitchen Cabinet”
includes elected representatives Camille Robinson-Regis, Pennelope
Beckles, Eudine Job, Diane Seukeran and Eulalie James.
This represents PNM women’s power in the Lower House, and
it is clear to see that the women are terribly underutilised.
Save for Camille, they are hardly given a chance to participate
in debates and are nowhere near dynamic when they eventually speak.
No doubt, the same can be said for the Senators; Christine Kangaloo
and Christine Sahadeo, who although they may be bright and attractive,
are nothing short of window-dressing in Manning’s eyes.
His wife, Hazel, is in a different category all together.
Now, this examination of the woman power in the PNM was prompted
by Portia Simpson-Miller’s ascension to the throne in Jamaica,
on the resignation of PJ Patterson.
Women in the Caribbean, who have had Dame Eugenia Charles and Janet
Jagan, to a lesser extent, as the only examples to follow, should
have been able to breathe a sigh of relief.
But not here in TnT.
It is obvious that Manning and his boys are definitely keeping the
women at bay.
Still under these circumstances, Robinson-Regis is the only one
who’s well poised to take that leadership role.
For starters, she has a really sharp brain.
You can ask Couva South MP Kelvin Ramnath, whom she has won over,
after a blustery onslaught of lyrics across the floor, left him
in the cold for many weeks.
It was his mistake to think that he could throw talk across the
floor without an instant retort that floored him.
He first commented about her husband and she immediately responded
about his wife!
You know talk done after that!
Kelvin is now blushing anytime he looks across at Camille.
And that aside, for the years that I have been on the Parliament
beat, I have found Camille to be always on top of the game, in terms
of the legislation being debated in the Lower House.
In the most recent case with the Police Reform legislation -- which
the PM piloted so he could take the credit -- it was Camille who
stood to her feet on several occasions to diplomatically engage
Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday on some of the points that he was
making.
And in a jiffy, while all the men on the frontline sat around, she
was the one who walked over to the legal draftsmen sitting in the
Speaker’s Gallery to clarify a few points.
Sometime last year, it was Camille who came to the rescue of her
colleagues, while they were debating an important piece of legislation
through which Point-a- Pierre MP Gillian Lucky blew holes.
While Leader of Government Business Ken Valley was busy trying to
figure out what was happening, Camille calmly handled the issue.
In addition to that, she is caustic as can be when called upon by
her political leader, as happened in a frontal attack on United
National Congress (UNC) Political Leader Winston Dookeran, during
the Budget debate last September.
Other than that, she’s a friend to almost all the MPs on the
government bench and a confidante to some.
All of that, however, has not helped to take her any closer to the
throne, the spot in which Joan Yuille-Williams now sits.
So, given the current circumstances, you can see that while TnT
may be ready for a woman prime minister, the boys in the political
hierarchy won’t let that happen!
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