Leadership requires resilience

THE EDITOR: They say that the capacity of a leader is measured by his resilience. It is not so much how one leads in good times that defines him as a leader but how one deals with adversity and challenges. Dr Rowley has done extremely well in his role as Prime Minister during the economic difficulties of 2017.

While there have been many personal attacks on his character and leadership style by those in opposition, Dr Rowley has kept his focus on the national issues at hand. The recent song entitled “Rowlee mudda count” by a chutney soca artiste is testimony to the distasteful extremities one must endure as a leader but as the isolated view of one chutney artiste, the wider population has condemned the song as insulting and disrespectful.

It is noteworthy to identify that the most recent NACTA poll revealed that if an election was called now, the People’s National Movement (PNM) would win. This is a direct result of good leadership and the level of accountability and transparency displayed by the Prime Minister during his tenure. There is a level of trust that builds when you level with the population and remain readily available to answer questions at Conversations events, town meetings, press conferences, addresses to the nation, radio and television interviews, a mid-year review etc.

One defining act of leadership in 2017 was Dr Rowley’s bold stand to renegotiate the terms of exploration with our oil partners. The former administration’s energy Minister gave away all our royalties by giving tax breaks on exploration in a deal that left our country on the sour end. Dr Rowley had no choice but to be firm and tell the oil giants if they refuse to pay the T&T shareholders (citizens) the royalties moving forward then its better they leave the oil in the ground.

2018 will therefore be a better year as we will now benefit from a royalty rate of 12.5 per cent on the extraction of all gas, condensate and oil while exploration continues. This is the type of leadership the country needs, not only at this time, but at all times. We need a leader that recognises the worth of our natural resources as well as the most important resource, our people.

One battle that the Prime Minister lost in 2017 and the United National Congress (UNC) Opposition Members of Parliament will have to account for in time is the Anti-Gang 2017 Bill. This is truly a loss to the decent hard working citizens of our country who are tired of the gang activity and gang-related murders that plague our society.

All things considered and all others considered it is clear that TT has the person most fit to lead at the helm, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

Ronald Huggins, St Joseph