Abdulah: Coat of arms should change but wrong approach used

Movement for Social Justice political leader David Abdulah believes the Prime Minister's belief the coat of arms needs to be changed is warranted but his approach was deeply flawed.

Speaking at a virtual press conference on August 25, Abdulah said Dr Rowley should let the Statues, Monuments and Signage Committee under his office complete its work before making a unilateral decision to alter the national emblem.

"Why not wait for that national committee, which was set up to engage in consultations and receive recommendations, and then to engage in a process of national education and information about what is the coat of arms, what should national monuments represent, how do we preserve our history?"

He said even if Rowley and the PNM had a position on the emblem, which he believed they were entitled to have, then it should have been expressed to the committee for consideration in its work.

"Make your position known and submit it to the committee."

Pointing at the numerous positions being expressed since the announcement, Abdullah said those suggestions should have all gone before the committee for an educated decision to be made.

"Let 100 flowers bloom, let all ideas contend...but don't, Dr Rowley, use your position as prime minister or leader of the party in Parliament that has a majority to ram down the throats what you believe is right or what you believe is in the interest of the PNM. That cannot be right."

He said that was how the MSJ would have approached the change.

Abdulah also took aim at Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for her comments warning that the change could incite racial tensions in the country.

"That was a dog whistle. I don't know that simply...recognising the steelpan as the national instrument and the proposal to have it on the coat of arms is stirring up, by itself, ethnic conflict.

"The time Mrs Persad-Bissessar said...that that could stir up other things, that was a dog whistle precisely for some of her persons who support her and take up the issue and being an African vs an Indian matter: pan vs tassa or something like that."

Rowley first announced the change to the national emblem on August 18 during a special PNM party convention at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA). He said the new coat of arms would see Christopher Columbus's three ships replaced by the steelpan and it would be phased in over six months.

The announcement was met with mixed reviews from the public. On social media, many accused him of trying to sanitise history. Others questioned why this was seen as a priority given the rampant crime. There were also those who viewed it as a welcome move.

In a statement last week, the Tassa Association of Trinidad and Tobago claimed its instrument was more of a "local" instrument than the steelpan. It argued that the steelpan was made from imported steel drums while all of the tassa's materials were locally sourced.

While acknowledging the significance of the steelpan to TT's culture, historian Dr Jerome Teelucksingh also suggested the tassa join it on the new coat of arms to represent the Indo-Trinidadian presence.