A Letter to Kamla...

Dear Kamla,

While I derive some measure of personal satisfaction from knowing that the Government reads my suggestions and follows up on a few of the ideas, I also know that many 'consultants' are being paid big money for my ideas as if reading a blog qualifies them as consultants.

Every now and then I would not turn down a check for my contributions that bear fruit, and please note, there are two 'L's in Phillip.

Nevertheless, withholding my suggestions out of spite helps no one, so whether or not you do the right thing Kamla, here are some more suggestions. It is laid out as a 'modified' version of the Twelve Step program, something many of us should already be familiar with:

We admitted we were powerless

This is an important step to embrace, especially when one realizes that the promises made to get into Office cannot be realistically kept now that we are 'in' Office.

Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Jack Warner is not Bas, no way, no how, never. It's cool. Jack had the money you needed to get into Office, but now you need your mentor, your Guru, and nobody could deny you that. 

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Go ahead. Give the old boy a call. Heaven knows he bored sitting down home harassing poor Oma.

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our stuff.

This should take a while, but it is the road to political redemption. You have surrounded yourself with some mooks, bandwagonists, incompetents, malcontents and ne'er do wells. Time to shake them loose.

Admitted to ourselves the exact nature of our wrongs.

I understand, you needed help to move Patos, but seriously Kams? Gillette, Carlos and Ganga?

Were entirely ready to remove all these defects of character.

As mih Jamaican pardner say "Fire dey bumbaclat arse".

Humbly asked for help to remove our shortcomings.

Yes you have my support, fire Warner, Ramadhar Singh, Emmanuelle George and Cornelis too!

Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

Send Patos a sponge cake and a bottle of sea moss. He hadda be cool with that. What more he could want? 

Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

Yeah, doh buss no more files. Anand have we drunk on information. We might have to buy a processor just to sort it out oui?

Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

Well Garvin is a nice guy, but everyone say Nicole shoulda get that wuk. Yuh doh like Nicole? And Ramma de Jamma, how come he get Social Services and not Verna? Ah just asking eh? Unless Verna wouldn't follow Party line and blank black people? I eh know, but study your head good and see.

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

Some people say thas why yuh does go New York so regular. If is so then I agree. Could never have enough of that.

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Well what you do in your affairs is up to you, I don't ever put my mouth in other people affairs.

All joke and fun aside Madame prime Minister, and if truth be told here, the burden of Governance cannot be easy and I am fully aware that you cannot please all of the people all of the time.

What you can do, however, and what I strongly suggest you do is to hold to higher principles always. 

Principles such as:

1. Keep your word.
2. When you can't keep your word, explain why, apologize for the situation, and move on.
3. Have the backbone to admit mistakes and take urgent steps to remedy them.
4. Be conscious of the smallest and the weakest, and refrain from using them to score cheap political points.
5. Serve the people; more than anything, this is the rock on which they will break you, or the pedestal from which you will truly rise.
6. Be for ALL the people, even the ones who don't look like you or didn't support you. You are now EVERYONE's Prime Minister.
7. Hire from outside the Party. Yup, nothing says Leadership more than someone who is willing to try and unite ALL the people through sending the right signals. Give some State appointments to outsiders. You will be seen as less of an enemy to a full half of the country.
8. Get rid of dead weight; refuse to appoint or cancel the appointments of those who the people vehemently reject, as they may serve you some purpose now but they will be viewed as part of a sinister motive and will end your career as surely as it did your predecessors.  Jack Warner, Carlos John, Ganga Singh, Emmanuelle George, Lindsay Gillette, and any others tainted by the suspicion of corruption should be distanced from your Administration. Government is high work, and its participants must be above reproach.
9. Get rid of the failures. Five months in you must already know who pulling stones. Cut them loose now.
10. Extradite Ish & Steve, prosecute Brian and the rest. If you ever wanted to leave a legacy, be the PM who restored Trinidad to glory. Prosecute Duprey, Hart, Hunt, even Bas and Patos if they stole money too.Take steps to repatriate the people's money. Show the country that you are 'for the people' and they will make you their Queen.

Madame Prime Minister, the country needs strong leadership now and I urge you to not waste this golden opportunity entrusted to you by the people. Where we go from here is up to you to decide, but choose wisely. Make your decisions based on how you want to be remembered, not on who calling you 'friend' right now.

Ask Patrick Manning, I am sure he will tell you, a legacy is a hell of a thing to waste.

Warmest regards,

Phillip