Duke: My bad boy days are done

After his defeat at the polls in the August 10 general election, Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) leader and Tobago East candidate Watson Duke said his approach to dealing with matters within the Public Services Association (PSA) and the Tobago House of Assembly has changed.

PNM incumbent Ayanna Webster-Roy retained the Tobago East seat with 7,127 votes while Duke received 5,866.

On Thursday, Duke announced in a live video on his Facebook page that he will use a different perspective to address matters.

“Watson Solomon Duke will not make another jail for workers in this country. I’ve made several jails for workers in this country fighting, doing all sorts of things to make the point known. Not any more.”

Duke said he is left with a bitter taste in his mouth and disappointed after the same people who cried hardship, lack of job opportunities, who also were affected by retrenchment and complained of poor governance by the PNM, turned around and voted the party back into government.

He will no longer be taking firm stances – that left him in trouble with the law in the past – on salary increases, payments of gratuities, poor working conditions, and other public servants issues.“My bad boy days in the union is over. My days to lay down in the road and block traffic are over. My days to defy the government is over. If you (public servants) really want to treat with the government, your day to treat with the government was August 10.

“You didn’t see it that way. You operated a different way.

“And now the government is back here. They’re talking retrenchment to WASA workers, retrenchment in T&TEC, retrenchment to daily paid workers – retrenchment all over.”Nevertheless, Duke said he would provide legal support and a “voice” to articulate salaries and legal issues. He said he would speak on issues but it is time for public servants to “do their part.“From this day forward, I remain the PSA president, but when the time comes, I will leave.

“I will not leave before my time. When I’ve served my years fully, I will go. But we would fight, but you will do the fighting now. You working class, you will have to defend what is yours. I will tell you how to do it. “I will lead marches but I will not get myself in any type of conflict that could warrant me to be jailed or imprisoned. I will not do that.”His focus is on the upcoming Tobago House of Assembly elections in January, and his new style of “war” will be fighting for legislative reform to bring the change the country needs.

Duke lamented his defeat to Webster-Roy by some 1,261 votes.

“This election was an election with a difference,” he said, “We weren’t just fighting our opponent, we were fighting for a new life.
And so we wanted the right to make our own laws to protect our people.”

Duke called out “impulsive voters” who he said do not wish for a better Tobago. He said PDP had a dream to take Tobago forward. “Some folks, they do not dream. They react to impulses. They’re impulsive voters, and I know we can change that. But we want to appeal to all impulsive voters and all voters who operate by spasms that your future, your children’s future, your grandchildren’s future, lies in your hands.”

Meanwhile, Duke remains optimistic that his day to represent Tobago East in Parliament will come.

“I’m quite concerned about what is passing for governance. I want to get into that Parliament. I want to become a legislator. I want to say to
them: ‘Stop
this bill; it’s not good.’ You will need someone who’s a legislator on your behalf, someone who understands you, someone who knows the pain and the frustration you feel.”