What does the TPP stand for?

EIGHT MONTHS after THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine and his executive council resigned from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Augustine and company on Sunday formally launched their new political party.

The timing of the launch, which came hours ahead of Monday’s local government elections in Trinidad, in which the country’s main political parties vied for dominance (the PDP contested, but did not make an impact), evidently sent a signal that the Tobago People’s Party (TPP) intends, despite its name, to be a part of a national political conversation.

If there was any doubt, Mr Augustine brought the message home.

“Call a general election, because we ready,” he said.

The setting of the launch, too, was telling. It took place at the Milford Road Layby, Scarborough, commonly called the Stage in the Sea. That venue is controversial because it was constructed without prior approval from the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) ahead of Tobago’s inaugural carnival in 2022.

The EMA is the regulatory body in charge of protecting the environment in both Tobago and Trinidad, but Mr Augustine has accused the central government of weaponising hitherto rudimentary approval processes in a bid to frustrate his administration’s development agenda. Instead of seeing such approvals as a matter of complying with the law, officials in his council have routinely underplayed their importance.

The choice of location, therefore, strongly suggested an apparent penchant on the part of the fledgling TPP to push for autonomy at all costs.

Aside from such breadcrumbs, it is hard to tell what exactly the newest kid on the block stands for.

For sure, Mr Augustine and his team minced no words as they threw conspiratorial barbs and allegations at Dr Rowley (“You are the Prime Minister of TT, but you are not the Prime Minister of the THA”) and the police for recent police raids pursuant to a controversial audio clip probe (“They come and try to terrorise the elected members of the THA”). Dr Faith BYisrael, a member of Mr Augustine’s council, said the new administration has done much for Tobago in a year and eight months and this has attracted animosity (“Tobagonians, we are at war”).

But the workings of this new party are not clear. A leadership structure is yet to be released (Mr Augustine remains “interim leader”). Nor is there a statement of principles. For instance, what form of autonomy might the TPP stand for?

In the meanwhile, Mr Augustine did make one clear call, for members of the Tobago diaspora to return home, and pledged to raise income levels and generate more jobs for youths. These are policies few can object to.

But having called for a general election, the TPP interim leader might have to fill in the blanks much sooner than he thinks.