Kamla – patience like Job heralds her comeback

“WHEN God says yes, nobody can say no,” Kamla Persad-Bissessar boldly declared in her victory speech on April 28 at her party’s Chaguanas headquarters – a testament to her patience like Job of the Bible.

For ten years, while she served as the first female and longest serving opposition leader, she, by her own admission, was humiliated, scorned and dismissed to the point of being politically irrelevant.

Yet like the proverbial phoenix, she has risen to secure her place as the ninth Prime Minister of TT at the age of 73.

For the second time, no less, creating history once more as the only woman in two non-consecutive terms, and one of East Indian descent, to achieve this distinction.

Her historic, celebrated ascension to power in 2010, leading the People's Partnership (PP), came to a crushing end years later for which she was vilified.

She acknowledged this at her swearing-in, “After demitting the office of the Prime Minister in 2015, for the last ten years, I was a woman scorned, a pariah to many, because in their eyes, I had nothing material to give.”

She did not engage in verbal spats or nasty retorts to match the attacks on her character about her sobriety and health, either from within or outside of her party, the United National Congress (UNC).

She endured it all, she said on the 2025 campaign platform, being called the worst names, but persevered to achieve the end goal to become prime minister.

“My body has aged from the years of battering, bruising, humiliation, ridicule, abuse and insults. I have been called the worst things anyone can be called. I have been called jammette, drunk, dog and everything nasty word in between, but to you, my loving UNC rank-and-file members, I was always Kamla to you and Aunty Kamla to your children.

“Through it all, I never became angry or bitter because in my darkest moments, I always had the love and comfort of the loyal rank-and-file UNC membership. I want to thank you for caring for and loving me.

“Political leadership is about love, empathy, and caring. It’s about competence, experience, and emotional intelligence. It’s about compassion borne out of shared experiences of sacrifice. Strong, competent leadership is not about buffing, berating, blaming and bullying citizens; it’s about listening, comforting, encouraging and accepting responsibility for the lives and livelihoods of our people.”

Political pushback

During the near decade-long People’s National Movement (PNM) governance under Dr Keith Rowley, Persad-Bissessar kept an eagle eye on the government, standing in the gap of people she felt were under fire, taking on controversial issues.

She exposed the Police Service Commission's (PSC) 2021 merit-list fiasco and its withdrawal involving former president Paula Mae-Weekes after a conversation with Rowley. That incident led to the collapse of the PSC.

She also took on the government when they attempted to amend the process of appointing a police commissioner.

She was instrumental in mounting a legal challenge against government’s proposal to defer the local government election in 2023 and amend the legislation to extend the term from three to four years. The Privy Council ruled that the election must be held.

Her party was at the forefront of a pushback against the Regulated Industries Commission's consultations to increase utility rates, succeeding in it not being implemented.

She uncovered the discrepancy in the Pension (Amendment) Bill, which sought to disqualify senior citizens from receiving a pension if they had more than $25,000 in savings, causing the government to blame an unnamed public servant for "the error." That piece of legislation was not withdrawn at the dissolution of Parliament in March.

In her first years as opposition leader she took on the Patrick Manning government in its bid to implement the property tax and was frontal in nationwide protests for subsidy removal which led to increases in fuel prices. She did not relent when the Rowley administration implemented the tax, promising to revoke it as in her new prime ministerial term.

Her party stood in the corner of former Central Bank governor Jwala Rambarran in his wrongful dismissal case and had been a thorn in the side of the PNM government to investigate former finance minister Colm Imbert over a multi-billion dollar accounting discrepancy after the Privy Council ruling in the case brought by auditor general Jaiwantie Ramdass.

Defining moment

In her 2025 campaign, Persad-Bissessar took on a more personal tenor, speaking of her continuing love for people and country, appealing to the masses as a mother, wife, daughter, using the opportunity to transform the party into one of ethnic diversity by attracting those initially opposed politically to the principles of the UNC.

It became commonplace to see former PNM stalwarts like Prof Selwyn Cudjoe, former PNM MP Kenny Swaratsingh former PNM attorney general John Jeremie, who is now the current AG, on her platform of diversity.

She maintained her silence, allowing her detractors to think her frail and weak, unprepared for leadership, but all this time, she was planning her biggest political comeback.

Some say she knew the date of the election well in advance and was preparing her advertising strategy, booking spaces on the mainstream electronic and print media and swamping social media platforms.

Former cabinet colleague Harry Partap, who served with her as the labour minister in the Basdeo Panday government and as TT’s ambassador to South Africa during her first term (2010-2015) said she was always astute as he attributed her return to power to her clean, strategic campaign.

He said she must be admired for shattering the glass ceiling in a hostile environment charged with recrimination and insults.

“She developed a kind of Teflon-type resistance, she defied a lot of humiliating attacks against her, as far back as 1995 when she was seen as one of the strongest persons to lead the UNC instead of then political leader Basdeo Panday.

“She had the quality, she had the strength, she had the determination, the confidence, but more than that, she had the patience – to wait,” said Partap whose family switched allegiance to the PNM when his son Colin, the UNC MP for Cumuto/Manzanilla, was fired by Persad-Bissessar as a minister in the ministry of national security in 2012.

“She did what she had to do, waited until 2010 to challenge Panday for the leadership with support from only five people including Dave Tancoo (Fyzabad MP) and my son Colin, doing the groundwork, and won.”

Similarly, he said, after two successive defeats to the Rowley administration, she bided her time, beating to a frazzle members who dared to contest her for internal leadership including Vasant Bharat and Dr Roodal Moonilal (re-elected as Oropouche East MP) she once anointed as her heir apparent, while strategising her play to take control once more at the helm of the political seat of power.

“Love her or hate her, criticise her as much as you want, what she was and is noted for, is patience. She has that patience and that is what, I believe, we need in politics.”

Partap who authored the book – 44 days to transcend 44 years (of Panday’s rule) Kamla: A defining Moment, about her rise and subsequent fall from office in 2015, said throughout it all she had the opportunity to withdraw from the politics, but she stayed the course.

“She deflected all the slings and arrows pointed at her, stood her ground and was able to bring the party into government.”

He said this was due to her genuine love for people, for single mothers, for children and her goal to serve.

“During her first time she did a lot of social work, with the baby grant, Children’s Life Fund, which she said she will continue. I hope she will.”

Partap said in her first term, she was misled by people whom she trusted and believed had her best interest at heart, causing the partnership to disintegrate and the party to lose face.

“I hope she learns from the past and not crowd herself with people who would give her bad advice, or she would suffer the same consequences as under the People’s Partnership government. I really wish her well.”

Inspiration to women

Another cabinet colleague under the PP administration, Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan in congratulating her return as prime minister, also complimented her on a well-managed campaign, which was disciplined and remained focussed on its message.

“The country was anxiously awaiting a change after ten years of incumbency, and through perseverance and resolve Kamla Persad-Bissessar stood the test of time. We have to give her credit.”

Seepersad-Bachan also congratulated Pennelope Beckles on her ascension to the role of Opposition Leader following the defeat of the PNM in the April 28 general election.

“It is important to reflect on the remarkable fact that three politically-experienced women from the southland now occupy the most senior positions in our country's governance – President Christine Kangaloo, Opposition Leader Penny Beckles and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

“These women are not only national leaders but serve as powerful role models. I am confident they will lead with humility, as women, compassion, as women and the deep-rooted community spirit that the southland is known for."

She said as an active member of Women Parliamentarians of TT (WPTT) whose mission is to encourage and equip young women for active leadership roles, with specific reference to decision-making spaces, women are still underrepresented in this respect.

“Although we are 50 per cent of the population, in TT women are still unrepresented in political decision-making spaces.

“It is my hope that these three women will inspire and be role models for the next generation of young women to step forward, and that they would be encouraged to become the change agents so urgently needed...”

Seepersad-Bachan said the present image that women suffer in political spaces in TT acts as an impediment to young women entering politics.

“Hopefully, as these three women conduct the affairs of the nation, they would encourage young women to not only take up leadership roles in political decision-making spaces, but they will move forward and become the change agents we are looking for.”

A symbolic win

Dr Gabrielle Hosein, lecturer and head of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies whose column, Diary of a Mothering Worker, is published weekly by Newsday also commented on the women now dominating the seat of power.

“This moment, of women in the House (of Representatives) as prime minister and leader of the opposition, is unarguably historic.

“This is because of women’s exclusion from politics for all of our independent history, as seen in their lower numbers in the House, their relegation to the parties’ base, and their more difficult struggle to ascend to highest tiers of leadership.”

While congratulating them on their hard-won battles, she questioned, “Will their leadership be an improvement?

“Historically, women leaders’ track record has been uneven, and depends on their commitment and capacity to be transformative.

“We expect women to be better than men, holding them to higher standards, and condemn them more harshly when they fail.

“But should they be pressured to do better than men in a society that became no less patriarchal overnight?

“We hope that having women leaders in the government and legislature advances inclusion and equity, and we wait to see in terms of choices for cabinet, Senate, state boards, and the legislative and policy agenda.”

She commented that three women holding the country’s highest offices, including President Christine Kangaloo, is a symbolic win.

She expressed the hope that this would translate into a substantive one for all citizens.

“It must be said that a women-led party received the third most votes with a slate dominated by women. This week, women have showed us that they are capable, inspiring and ready to lead.”

While congratulating Persad-Bissessar on her victory in a male-dominated environment, she said she did not feel qualified at this point to explain the reasons for her comeback in the absence of scientific data.

She did not believe that the 40-day campaign between the dissolution of Parliament to election day, led to the groundswell for the UNC.

She said the 102,000 PNM voters who stayed away, along with the amalgamation with trade unionists and other third parties, along with the ongoing Monday night forums and strategy over the years, must be factored in the equation before one can express an informed opinion.

Campaign promises

Congratulations on her re-entry into the seat of power has come from leaders in the region and abroad, including from Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, a friend, in whose house she even cooked, said those close to her.

As she swore in the new Prime Minister, Kangaloo also addressed the significance of the occasion for women. and the seamless transition of government.

In her first time in office, Persad-Bissessar donned tall boots and waded into floodwaters that had affected people, asserting her people-centredness which she boasted about.

This time, she is less robust, more mellow but still defiant and determined to serve. She has the support as well, judging from those who flooded the exterior of the President’s House after her swearing-in, to celebrate the victory.

She rode into office on a plethora of promises to improve social and economic circumstances of people, by creating jobs, reopening the Debe campus, the Petrotrin refinery, the Children’s Hospital, returning the laptop programme, introduce stand-your-ground legislation to deal with crime, among other policies.

Would she able to translate the promises into reality, Partap asked, recalling that Panday once told him while his playbook determined that the leader made promises, it was up to the ministers to say no to demands.

Whether this would be the legacy of Persad-Bissessar who has purged the UNC of people who believe in "caste, class, nepotism, family connections, segregation, discrimination and dynasty" remains to be seen as she has pledged to do right by all people during her term – 2025 to 2030.

She now has a 26-seat majority to do so.