What Kamla win means

THE EDITOR: The country can exhale now. Kamla Persad-Bissessar has annihilated her opponents. Some, like Christine Newallo-Hosein and Chanda Bhaggan, rashly picked up the formidable gauntlet.

Some, like Vasant Bharath, declined after vaunting of their eagerness to accept. Others, like Ganga Singh and Bhoe Tewarie, self-piloted to inconsequence, having sensed the futility of bidding to unseat the queen of hearts.

Analysing the final tally, there were hardly any surprises — Persad-Bissessar got 20,238 likes, Newallo-Hosein and Bhaggan hardly troubled the scorers: between them, a mere 159.

For all statistical intents and purposes, Persad-Bissessar picked up 100 per cent of the votes cast. In any practising democracy, that’s not scary; that’s out-and-out charisma.

In TT, it also manifests profound nostalgia.

And a nationwide yearning to return to the polls sooner rather than later.

Were I the Government of the day, I’d be scared.

Deeply petrified. One hundred per cent in favour of Persad-Bissessar implies a major character fault exists in the Dr Keith Rowley governance model.

Time will tell whether I’m correct.

Right or wrong, time will also tell if Rowley learnt anything. And if anything he does in future can blunt Persad-Bissessar’s again-proven political savvy and deep-set likeability.

RICHARD WM THOMAS, Arouca