After a decade of leadership — Rowley: I leave Trinidad and Tobago better off

SPEAKING on his tenure as he prepares to create history as the first sitting prime minister to willingly step down before a general election, Dr Rowley says he believes he “must have done something good.”

The Prime Minister made the comment in a wide-ranging 100-minute television interview aired on March 13, during which he discussed things including his thoughts on his legacy, his reason for stepping down, the future of TT, challenges of running the country, the state of emergency and climate change.

He even revealed some personal tidbits such as why his wife paid their electricity bill and how she reacted to his decision to not step down in 2020 as they had discussed.

He said he was not concerned about what people thought of his legacy, but he believed he had done good things for TT and its people.

Rowley said while he had critics, he has also received many well-wishes.

“Some will remember me for what they didn’t get and some will remember me for what they achieved during my tenure and what I did to put them in a better position.

“I have a stack of thank-you cards in my office at St Ann’s from people who saw it fit, for one reason or the other, to buy a card, write it and send it to me.

“And the ones that I appreciate the most are the ones that tell me how the policy or how the action would have put them or their children in a better position going forward.”

He said despite years in political office and two terms as Prime Minister, he felt “very much” connected to the regular man and had not allowed the office to change him.

“Whatever I am, is what I’ve been. I didn’t become that with office. I try to be respectful, fair (and) responsible.”

Responding to claims that some people considered him abrasive, he added, “I know there are some people who would have issues with who I am, but that’s who I am. And that’s who you ask to manage your affairs. I have a responsibility now to manage it to the best of my ability and that’s what I think I’ve done.”

He said he believed he had left TT in a good place and, despite what some might say, many good things were happening.

“A handful of people will tell you about everything that’s wrong in this country. There might be a lot of things that are wrong, a lot of things that are not going well. But the sound of their voices must not always drown out all the good things that are happening.”

He said he was buoyed by the number of young people involved in positive pursuits and highlighted the level of participation in events such as Youth Panorama.

“Not all of them have a gun in their hands trying to kill you. The vast majority out there doing well, hoping to be model citizens and to contribute to our nation.”

He said those positive young people needed a positive-thinking leader.

“If you’re running your show and all you could talk about is how things bad, you’re never going to improve.

“Not every day is going to be a good day. This country is not perfect, but it is one of the best places in the world to live.”

He said TT had a good future and the whole question of leadership “needs to be fairly assessed as part of the national conversation because leadership is not easy.”

Rowley added TT was a difficult country to govern with the state bearing a lot of responsibility for the citizenry who enjoyed significant freedoms.

“We’re free to criticise, to comment, and therefore we pull in very many directions. I haven’t even mentioned our differences of religion, ethnicity and geography, and they all play a role. And what the governance requires is to bring them all together to a common purpose.”

Rowley was asked about his relationship with Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

He said it only soured in 2015 after a member of her cabinet accused him, in Parliament, of being a rapist.

“After it happened, and when I came into the lounge, the (then) prime minister came up to her, and in my presence congratulated her for a wonderful presentation.”

“Character matters….If your conduct is such that I don’t require to respect you, I just wouldn’t disrespect myself.”

Rowley on leaving office

Rowley said his health was not a factor in his decision to resign, adding he planned to leave in 2020 but felt he could not honour that decision at the time.

“I felt a responsibility on two counts. As the engaged prime minister in the middle of a pandemic, I could not just walk away from the country. Secondly, I had brought a lot of young people into politics and into government, and I thought it was going to be unreasonable of me in 2020 to go off to my own comforts and leave them in a pandemic to fight a general election.”

He revealed his wife was surprised by his decision to continue in 2020.

“When I went home that night, my wife, who is normally very mild-mannered as you know, said to me, ‘So you are running for election again?’ And I knew what I meant. So I had to humble myself and I said, ‘Well, yeah, what I meant to tell you, but you know.’”

He said many people doubted he would step down before this year’s general election because “politicians don’t do that.

“But I genuinely meant it. So because I meant that and because that was my trajectory, I got involved in trying to make sure that when I move on, I don’t leave a vacuum behind.”

Rowley said he would ensure his departure and his heir’s assumption of office was done within the laws and constitution of the country and the PNM and dismissed the opposition’s threats to take legal action if the process ran contrary to the law.

He defended his decision to remain as political leader and said there were “two separate streams of activity” taking place.

“I am trying to ensure that there’s a smooth transition so that when I move out of this office, whoever moves in, that the country will not be disadvantaged, that the country will even benefit. And that it is done within the constitution of the country.

“The same thing with the PNM, when I move out as political leader, I don’t scatter the pearls. I ensure that the PNM, if I am able to, is strengthened and not weakened.”

He described the selection of his replacement, Stuart Young, as “brilliant,” and said the process was not dictatorial.

“The selection of a member of the parliamentary caucus to lead was done by secret ballot. If I’m the only dictator that runs the dictation by way of a secret ballot, then I could live with that.”

Rowley said Young emerged as a leader early in his tenure as a minister.

“Leadership emerges when situations demand…When I appointed my first cabinet, Stuart Young did not have his own portfolio. I placed him in the Office of the Attorney General for a while and I maintained him in the Office of the Prime Minister largely on the basis that he was a very good lawyer and he would serve well in that capacity. And he demonstrated certain qualities that propelled him along.

He said Young’s skills, dedication and qualities became obvious to him and other people.

“It got to the point that I could send him (to negotiations) without being there and the people who he was going to talk to knew that he came from the Prime Minister and that he was highly regarded by the Prime Minister.”

He said Young’s skills left him well-suited for the job.

“If he has a strength, it is his people skills and his dedication, and these things show over time.”