A bitter political dispute has erupted in Trinidad and Tobago after sitting Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar exposed an internal ‘protected’ list at the state-run Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC), triggering fierce pushback from top figures of the opposition People’s National Movement (PNM), including former Prime Minister Keith Rowley. During a Monday address to Parliament, Persad-Bissessar revealed the names of high-profile individuals included on the list, which prominently featured Rowley, Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles, multiple former PNM government officials, and the PNM Tobago Council. The Prime Minister noted the controversy came to light during a government review of operational issues tied to Flavorite Foods Ltd, a firm chaired by ex-PNM treasurer Andre Monteil. She also pointed out a striking omission: no current ruling United National Congress (UNC) politicians appear on the list, implying the roster was curated by PNM-affiliated officials during the previous administration. In a jab at the opposition, she joked that the PNM should launch a GoFundMe campaign to settle their outstanding power bills. The opposition has responded with unanimous, scathing denials of any improper favoritism, challenging the Prime Minister’s claims point by point. Former Prime Minister Rowley, who leads the PNM, flatly rejected any knowledge of the special list, even posting photographic evidence of his most recent electricity bill for his private Goodwood Park residence to prove he has no outstanding arrears. In a public Facebook statement, Rowley emphasized that he and his wife consistently pay all power bills on time for all their properties across Trinidad and Tobago, and he has never requested nor accepted any special exemptions from standard T&TEC billing processes. ‘For the benefit of those who have been misled by your leader, I hope you can read what I said and also decipher the T&TEC bill with particular reference to Payment of April 15 and Net Arrears of 0.00,’ Rowley wrote. ‘I repeat: I am UNAWARE of any list. For those who take that as proof, then please accept my sympathy.’ Marvin Gonzales, the opposition chief whip and former public utilities minister under the PNM administration, has also pushed back hard, labeling Persad-Bissessar’s claims a ‘wicked and monstrous lie’. Gonzales acknowledged that T&TEC does maintain an internal database of high-profile customers including sitting and former government ministers, judges, and foreign diplomats, but clarified the list serves only one procedural purpose: to alert senior T&TEC staff to reach out directly to the customers if their accounts are flagged for potential disconnection or other unusual account activity. Crucially, Gonzales stressed that the customers on the list have no knowledge their accounts are flagged, and the process is entirely internal to the commission with no political interference from outside officeholders. ‘I can personally say for a fact that no one in T&TEC informed me that my account was flagged in this manner and I have consistently paid my bills before and after holding ministerial office,’ Gonzales said, publicly authorizing T&TEC to release his full billing records for the past decade to prove his claims. He accused the Prime Minister of irresponsible fearmongering, arguing she deliberately selectively named only former PNM-affiliated customers while omitting UNC-aligned figures, non-political judges, and other high-profile customers on the list to score political points. He slammed Persad-Bissessar for abusing parliamentary privilege to spread falsehoods and wage a campaign of ‘politics of hate and revenge’ against the opposition. Other senior PNM figures have echoed these criticisms, uniformly denying knowledge of the list and framing the controversy as a deliberate distraction from the current government’s failures to address pressing national issues. Opposition Leader Beckles called Persad-Bissessar a ‘desperate woman grasping at straws’ who is hiding the UNC government’s inability to solve the country’s core problems by manufacturing a fake scandal. ‘Her actions yesterday paint a sorry picture: that of a Prime Minister cowering behind parliamentary privilege and trying to distract the population from the glaring fact that the UNC is unable to address the real issues affecting Trinidad and Tobago,’ Beckles said, adding that she has always paid her utility bills on time and has never needed special protection. Former PNM senator Renuka Sagramsingh-Sooklal echoed the distraction claim, noting that the real issue demanding public attention is the ongoing controversy over the old $100 Trinidad and Tobago dollar banknote, not her personal power bill. Former education minister Nyan Gadsby-Dolly dared the Prime Minister to release public evidence that she has failed to pay her bills, dismissing the entire scandal as the ‘lamest’ political distraction she has ever seen. Former national security minister Fitzgerald Hinds compared the UNC government’s focus on the list to a nationwide public health epidemic, saying the administration prioritizes political chaos over governing the country. Former sport minister Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis added that she always pays her bills on time and maintains a credit balance on her account, calling the controversy ‘wicked, worthless and weak’ political theater that will not fool the Trinidad and Tobago public.
分类： politics
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PNM MPs walk out during House debate
A major political uproar unfolded in Trinidad and Tobago’s House of Representatives late Monday night, when all opposition lawmakers from the People’s National Movement (PNM) staged a coordinated walkout mid-debate, cutting short proceedings on the 2026 fiscal year supplementary budget to protest controversial behavior by ruling United National Congress (UNC) Leader of Government Business Barry Padarath.
The mass exit came at approximately 10:19 p.m., moments after Padarath took the floor to deliver his remarks on the Supplementation and Variation of Appropriation bill. In an official post-walkout statement, the PNM outlined its grievance: last Friday, Padarath allegedly photographed a parliamentary audio technician, an act the party frames as deliberate intimidation against a neutral parliamentary staff member.
Parliament, the PNM emphasized, is an independent, nonpartisan institution, and its technical and administrative staff must be able to carry out their core duties free from harassment, intimidation, or partisan pressure. The party called Padarath’s conduct “wholly unbecoming” of a senior parliamentary leader and labeled it a clear abuse of his authority as government business leader. Days after the incident, the opposition added, the ruling UNC has offered no apology, no expression of remorse, and no public recognition of the seriousness of Padarath’s actions.
Instead of addressing the concern, the PNM claims the government has escalated the conflict, with Prime Minister even publicly endorsing Padarath’s behavior. The opposition went further, revealing it has received unconfirmed information that the alleged pattern of intimidation may extend beyond parliamentary staff, even reaching members of Padarath’s own ruling caucus. In an open call, the PNM urged any lawmaker who has experienced bullying, coercion, or intimidation connected to the incident to step forward with information.
The PNM stressed that it could not in good conscience continue participating in formal parliamentary proceedings while the individual it holds responsible for the intimidation incident led government business in the chamber. The party reiterated its two core demands: a full, independent criminal investigation into Padarath’s conduct, and immediate removal of Padarath from his post as Leader of Government Business by the Prime Minister.
Far from being cowed by the mass walkout, Padarath pushed back aggressively against the opposition and its leader Pennelope Beckles, opening his scheduled remarks by accusing the PNM of abandoning its core legislative responsibility to the Trinidad and Tobago public. Padarath pointed out that parliamentary proceedings began at 10:30 a.m. Monday, and nearly 12 hours after the gavel fell, Beckles had still not taken part in the budget debate. He added that he had spoken privately with Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzales, who indicated the opposition was prepared to end the debate prematurely.
Padarath defended the commitment of his own UNC caucus and the two sitting Tobago MPs, noting that the ruling party lawmakers would not walk away from their obligation to represent public interests and debate the proposed supplementary spending. “We are not lazy, we are not incompetent and we will not be silent,” he said, adding that the government was prepared to fully account for its performance and the budget adjustment request before the chamber.
In a direct rebuke of Beckles, who represents the Arima constituency, Padarath said: “You big, you bad, you bold outside there, you in every vigil, you in every protest, but now having been given the opportunity to stand in the gap for the people who elected you to do so, the member for Arima in her typical lazy, laissez-faire approach towards contributing to this House.” Lone remaining opposition MP Keith Scotland quickly raised an objection to the description of Beckles, prompting the Speaker to order Padarath to revise his language.
Padarath doubled down on his criticism of the PNM in a social media post published Tuesday, writing: “The PNM is useless inside the Parliament as they are outside the Parliament. They can walk out as often as they wish, however that will not deter the UNC from exposing them and their proxies.” He noted that the chamber sat continuously from 10:30 a.m. Monday through 12:45 a.m. Tuesday debating the mid-year fiscal review, yet the opposition leader still had not delivered any remarks. “I will not be used by the PNM to distract from their racist, divisive and disgusting attacks. They wanted to know who I am at war with, well let’s make it clear to them, I am at war with the PNM and their waste, mismanagement and corruption.”
For his part, Padarath has previously pushed back on the original intimidation claim, arguing that the microphone technician had intentionally muted the microphones of ruling party lawmakers — a practice he says dates back to when the current UNC government was serving in opposition. The incident has deepened an already sharp partisan divide in Trinidad and Tobago’s legislature, casting uncertainty over the timeline for approval of the 2026 supplementary budget.
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TTPWU: NOTHING LESS THAN 10%
A recent announcement from Trinidad and Tobago’s Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo has sparked mixed reactions from the nation’s trade unions, as the government commits to setting aside funds in the 2027 national budget to cover all obligations stemming from ongoing wage negotiations with public sector workers, including nurses and teachers.
Tancoo made the pledge during parliamentary debate Monday, while discussing the government’s request for an additional $2.9 billion in supplementary funding to cover urgent recurrent and capital spending through September 30, 2026. He clarified that the necessary tabulation and quantification of negotiated wage increases will take several weeks or months to complete, making the 2027 budget the appropriate place to allocate for these settled obligations. “Appropriate provisions will be made in the budget fiscal 2027 to meet all obligations settled between now and budget 2027,” he told parliament.
In interviews following the announcement, union leaders have offered a range of responses, with some welcoming the commitment and others expressing skepticism over the extended timeline. David Forbes, general secretary of the Trinidad and Tobago Postal Workers Union (TTPWU), said his organization welcomed the plan, noting that the commitment includes postal workers who have been negotiating back wages for the 2013 to 2019 period. Forbes confirmed that non-cost items in the negotiations are nearly finalized, with the union awaiting cost guidance from the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO). “We anticipate nothing less than 10%,” Forbes said, adding the union’s most recent proposal was for a 12% increase, with a pending job evaluation to be addressed once negotiations conclude.
Forbes added that the announcement was not unexpected, saying the timeline aligned with the government’s fiscal calendar. He also noted that some unions, including the Amalgamated Workers Union and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA), have already accepted a 4% increase. Ahead of the national Labour Day holiday Friday, Forbes called on all workers to participate in the traditional historical march, to honor the struggles of past workers and push for progress. He also shared that Joint Trade Union Movement (JTUM) president Ancel Roget is expected to address the finance minister’s announcement alongside other pressing labor issues — including the planned reopening of the Petrotrin refinery — during the day’s events.
Michael Annisette, general secretary of the National Trade Union Centre (Natuc), echoed Forbes’ positive opening stance, emphasizing that granting workers long-overdue compensation is not just fair, but beneficial for the national economy. “I welcome the idea every effort has been made to give workers their just due. It’s good for the economy. The workers have been patient and continued working assiduously,” Annisette said. He called for the commitment to extend to all categories of public sector workers, noting that outstanding collective agreements should not leave workers waiting a decade or more for resolution. “Workers should be able to recover their purchasing power that was lost. We have to ensure there’s no recurrence of this kind of delay,” he stressed, adding that collective agreements should be settled within their standard three-year term. Echoing International Labour Organisation standards, he added: “People are our greatest resource, and every effort should be made to ensure they are respected and properly remunerated. There must be sustainable growth and sustainable employment.”
Gerard Gordon, president of the Prison Officers’ Association, said the announcement signals the government’s intent to resolve outstanding negotiations quickly. His association is currently preparing a counter-proposal for the CPO, covering the outstanding 2020 to 2022 wage period, and Gordon said the group looks forward to reaching a settled agreement that delivers necessary salary adjustments for correctional officers moving forward.
Not all union leaders have backed the timeline, however. TTUTA president Crystal Ashe rejected the government’s 2027 timetable, pointing out that previous timelines set by the administration have been revised multiple times, questioning whether negotiations will stretch all the way to the end of the current government’s term. On the other hand, Idi Stuart, president of the Trinidad and Tobago National Nursing Association (TTNNA), said his organization welcomes the announcement and will consult its full membership on the proposed timeline for salary adjustments.
As of Wednesday, attempts by reporters to reach Ancel Roget, Public Services Association president Felisha Thomas, and Transport and Industrial Workers’ Union president Shawn Roberts for comment were unsuccessful.
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Parliament Passes Electronic Crimes Amendment Bill With $1 Million Penalty for Non-Compliance
In a landmark move to modernize the country’s criminal investigation framework, Antigua and Barbuda’s national parliament gave bipartisan approval to the Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill 2024 on Tuesday. The new legislation ramps up punitive measures for individuals and corporate entities that decline to hand over electronic data requested by law enforcement teams probing active criminal cases.
Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin, who shepherded the bill through the House of Representatives, explained that the changes were crafted to close long-standing loopholes that have repeatedly hindered investigators’ efforts to secure critical digital evidence. As Benjamin noted to assembled lawmakers, modern criminal probes regularly depend on accessing telecommunications data such as cell phone location pings and social media posts to map out how offenses were carried out and build viable cases against suspects. For years, however, domestic service providers have repeatedly refused to comply with these lawful information requests, stalling investigations and allowing offenders to avoid prosecution.
The updated legislation lays out clear, escalating penalties for non-compliance without a reasonable excuse. For individuals or entities convicted via summary process, the punishment can include a fine capped at $100,000, a term of imprisonment, or both. For those convicted on indictment, the maximum penalty jumps to a $1 million fine, up to seven years behind bars, or a combination of the two sanctions.
A key target of the amendments is the common practice among domestic subsidiaries of international companies of shifting responsibility for data requests to overseas headquarters, creating costly delays that often derail active investigations. Benjamin emphasized that the new rules explicitly hold on-island managers and executives—those with direct operational control of entities operating within Antigua and Barbuda—responsible for complying with lawful production orders. Firms that do business in the country have a non-negotiable obligation to cooperate with official investigations, he argued, rather than blocking access by redirecting authorities to foreign-based leadership.
The reform earned unified support from both ruling and opposition lawmakers during Tuesday’s debate, marking a rare moment of cross-party consensus on security policy. Education Minister Daryll Matthew, a governing party lawmaker who voiced strong backing for the bill, shared that he had recently fallen victim to a sophisticated digital financial crime, bringing the urgency of the reform into sharp personal focus. Matthew noted that his case is currently being processed by his bank, and he praised the Attorney General and his team for advancing the much-needed amendments.
Opposition legislators also lined up to support the measure, agreeing that stronger legal provisions were essential to let investigators access the evidence required to prosecute digitally facilitated offenses. One opposition parliamentarian commended the government for moving proactively to close regulatory gaps that have allowed entities to evade their legal obligations to assist law enforcement, noting that bringing the reform before parliament to strengthen digital evidence access is a valuable step forward for national security.
The amendments to the Electronic Crimes Act form a core plank of the Antigua and Barbuda government’s wider strategy to boost the country’s capacity to tackle cybercrime, financial fraud, and a growing range of transnational and domestic offenses that rely heavily on digital communications and electronic record-keeping.
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Iran-akkoord: Trump staat weer aan het begin, maar de kaarten liggen nu in Teherans voordeel
Three months after the devastating outbreak of open conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran, the international community has greeted the signing of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Washington and Tehran with a mixture of relief and sharp scrutiny. The landmark agreement, the first direct peace deal reached between a sitting U.S. president and the Iranian government, was announced on June 14 — former President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday, fulfilling a promise Trump made to secure a deal on his birthday at any cost.
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COMMENTARY: UPP could be out of Government for at least 10-15 years
The 2026 general elections in Antigua and Barbuda, held on April 30, have delivered a historic fourth consecutive landslide victory to Prime Minister Gaston Browne and his Antigua-Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP). The ruling party secured an overwhelming 15 of the 17 available parliamentary seats, leaving just two seats to be split between Jemale Pringle’s United Progressive Party (UPP) and Trevor Walker’s Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM). This win extends Browne’s unbroken streak of electoral victories that began in 2014, solidifying his control over the party and national politics.
A defining feature of Browne’s leadership transformation of the ABLP is visible in the current parliamentary cohort: only 3 of the party’s 15 sitting members entered politics under the decades-old Bird Dynasty, while 12 owe their electoral success and legislative positions directly to Browne’s patronage and leadership. This shift allows Browne to continue reshaping the party in his own political image, a project that has now been extended for another full term.
What should have been a triumphant formal launch of the government’s fourth term quickly devolved into controversy during the opening joint parliamentary sitting for the Throne Speech. In an unexpected turn, Opposition Leader-designate Jemale Pringle was ejected from the chamber, prompting all remaining opposition parliamentarians to stage a mass walk-out in protest. The incident has raised troubling questions about parliamentary transparency: the Senate President refused to allow the Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate to read a letter allegedly sent to Pringle confirming his invitation to take the oath of office, leaving many to question whether Pringle was unfairly treated in the process.
Political analyst Arvel Grant, a public health and international development specialist with decades of experience contributing to global outlets including the BBC, Voice of America, Al Jazeera and Caribbean regional media, has characterized the ejection as an ill-timed, unforced error. Grant notes that the controversy turned a minor procedural footnote into a major national talking point, creating a distracting split narrative that overshadowed the Throne Speech, the centrepiece of the new term’s opening. He argues that given the scale of their electoral mandate, Browne and the Senate President should uphold the dignity of Labour’s victory through strategic statecraft, combining executive strength with humility and thoughtful parliamentary leadership. The ejection, Grant argues, is an unstatesmanlike own goal that is unbefitting a party that has just won four straight national elections.
For the UPP, the 2026 result marks a devastating collapse that could keep the party out of national government for 10 to 15 years. After coming within touching distance of victory in the 2022 snap elections, when analysts credited the party’s near-win to a “COVID shove” and temporary shifts in broadcast alignment, many expected the UPP to carry that momentum into the 2026 contest, which was called two years ahead of schedule. Instead, the party crashed back to its 2018 performance level, almost being eliminated from parliament entirely.
Grant has outlined 10 key recommendations for the UPP to rebuild its credibility and electoral prospects over the coming years. First, he urges the party to resist calls for a name change, noting that the ABLP’s nearly 90-year brand is a core source of its stability and voter trust. Second, the party should form an interim shadow cabinet from its sitting MPs and defeated candidates who remain willing to serve, operating as a fully functional loyal opposition and government-in-waiting that meets regularly just like the ruling cabinet. Third, the party must open a full internal review of its 2026 campaign strategy and challenges, and put the future of the current leadership to a vote of active General Council and convention members.
Fourth, Grant recommends introducing a tiered membership structure with annual dues, which will help the party build up steady reserves to fund campaign and operational activities. Fifth, the UPP should hand control of internal voter registration and list preparation to an independent committee of respected senior attorneys, auditors and former electoral officials, to clean up its internal electoral processes in line with the party constitution. Sixth, after this cleanup, the party should hold an open, transparent leadership convention where candidates for office have no control over the electoral machinery, to shake its long-held reputation for chronic infighting and internal division.
Once a new leadership is confirmed or retained, the party should formalize constituency caretaker roles, then reshuffle the shadow cabinet to align with the new leader’s policy priorities. An active, aggressive shadow cabinet will force current and future prime ministers to think twice before calling early snap elections, Grant argues. Finally, Grant calls on the UPP to end its longstanding habit of criticizing and alienating immigrants and low-income segments of the population. No party can win national elections by alienating large swathes of the electorate, their friends and family, he notes. He adds that blaming voters for low protest turnout and election losses is misplaced: poor results are almost always a failure of party mobilization, not a failure of the electorate.
As the ABLP begins its fourth term, Antigua and Barbuda faces significant economic headwinds, driven by persistent global uncertainty around oil prices and the associated costs of energy and essential services. All sectors of the political establishment will need to collaborate to steer the country through these challenging coming years.
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Pringle Calls for More Respectful Parliament and Earlier Access to Bills
Following the April 30 general election in Antigua and Barbuda, the first regular sitting of the country’s House of Representatives brought a landmark opening address from newly sworn-in Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle, who laid out a vision for a more constructive, respectful legislative landscape for the incoming term.
Pringle took the parliamentary floor shortly after being formally sworn in as the representative for All Saints East and St. Luke — a constituency he has been re-elected to for a third consecutive term. Opening his remarks on a note of goodwill, he first extended formal congratulations to the governing Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party on its recent electoral success, followed by congratulations to newly appointed Speaker of the House Sir Gerald Watt and Deputy Speaker Fillmore Benjamin on their new roles. He also expressed heartfelt gratitude to the voters who placed their trust in him for another term. “I want to thank the wonderful people of All Saints East and St. Luke who would have trusted me for the third time with the affairs of managing that constituency and representing them,” Pringle said.
Shifting focus to the priorities for his opposition bloc in the new Parliament, Pringle called for a deliberate break from the confrontational rhetoric and heated exchanges that defined many past legislative sittings. As the leader of the minority parliamentary bloc, Pringle emphasized that even without a governing majority, the opposition has a critical role to play in advancing the national good. “While we are the minority, we believe we can make a significant impact in this country,” he said.
Pringle pledged to uphold a standard of respectful conduct across all parliamentary proceedings, and committed to recognizing the Speaker’s authority at all times. In turn, he stressed that impartial leadership from the Speaker’s chair is foundational to ensuring equitable debate between governing and opposition members. “I am committed to ensuring that the level of respect that I bring to this honourable House is one that supersedes any differences,” he said. Acknowledging past concerns about his conduct, Pringle offered a broad apology for any actions that had previously been perceived as disrespectful, framing the new term as a fresh start for collaborative working relationships.
Looking ahead, Pringle said he expects a balanced working dynamic where both the government and opposition can articulate their positions openly. A truly balanced legislative body, he argued, builds public trust that elected officials are advancing the nation’s interests effectively, rather than prioritizing partisan conflict.
One key procedural reform Pringle pushed for was earlier distribution of draft legislation to opposition lawmakers. He called on the Attorney General’s Chambers and all parliamentary staff responsible for circulating bills to provide opposition members with sufficient advance notice before debates are scheduled. “I am calling on the AG and the members of the House who deal with the circulation of bills to do so in a timely manner and to please give us the opportunity that we can research, come back to this honourable House and debate as we are to,” he said. This call for earlier access comes as the new Parliament prepares to take up a sweeping slate of major legislative reforms, including bills addressing sexual offences, theft, plea negotiations, cannabis regulation, workplace harassment, mental health policy and medical laboratory standards.
Pringle’s opening address marks a clear strategic shift for the opposition at the outset of the new term: establishing a collaborative, constructive tone while reaffirming the bloc’s core responsibility to hold the government to account through rigorous scrutiny of legislation and policy.
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Walton-Desir to assist Primus on House Foreign Relations Committee
A recent parliamentary procedural ruling in Guyana has blocked the leader of a small opposition party from earning a seat on official legislative committees, prompting opposition leaders to arrange an informal collaborative workaround to leverage the politician’s deep policy expertise. The decision centers on Amanza Walton-Desir, founder and leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM), who previously served as the opposition shadow minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation during the 2020–2025 legislative term as a representative for the A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition.
Following last September’s general and regional elections, the FGM secured just 4,332 votes overall, a total that Speaker of the National Assembly Manzoor Nadir has ruled insufficient to qualify the party for representation on any parliamentary committee, in line with Guyana’s proportional representation rules for committee assignments.
Azruddin Mohamed, opposition leader and head of the opposition-aligned We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, confirmed that while Nadir’s ruling blocks Walton-Desir from an official committee seat, the party has arranged for her to work alongside Odessa Primus, WIN’s nominated chair of the bipartisan parliamentary sectoral committee on foreign relations. Mohamed noted that foreign policy falls directly in line with Walton-Desir’s long-standing area of expertise, making the informal collaboration a logical choice to strengthen the committee’s opposition oversight.
“Even though my original goal was to secure Walton-Desir an official seat on the foreign relations committee, Speaker Nadir has made clear that per proportional allocation, her party’s vote share does not qualify for any committee position,” Mohamed explained in comments to Demerara Waves Online News.
WIN frontbencher Tabitha Sarabo-Halley added that the party had initially hoped to place Walton-Desir on two separate panels: the constitutional reform committee and the parliamentary management committee. It was during the nomination process for the parliamentary management committee that Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister Gail Teixeira and Speaker Nadir formally confirmed that Walton-Desir could not be seated on any committee due to her party’s low vote total in the 2025 general election.
The procedural outcome highlights how Guyana’s proportional representation framework for legislative committees limits representation for small, newly formed parties, even when those parties field candidates with extensive prior parliamentary and policy experience.
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President offers GAWU to run a sugar estate
Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali has extended a public, unprecedented challenge to the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) to take over management of one of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO)’s remaining operational sugar estates, as the government continues grappling with plummeting production in the country’s iconic but struggling sugar sector. The proposal was delivered Tuesday during a wreath-laying ceremony marking Enmore Martyr’s Day, a key event in Guyana’s labor history.
Addressing attendees including GAWU President Seepaul Narine, who also serves as a member of parliament for the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP), Ali extended an open invitation for the union to step into operations. “We also invited the union if you would like to take up the mantle of management and to take one of the estates and make it a model. We give you that challenge openly to take one of the estates and to manage it,” Ali stated, urging the union not to step back from the opportunity. The president framed the proposal as a test of alternative management models for the ailing industry, adding that the administration stands ready to collaborate with GAWU if it accepts the offer.
Ali also defended the government’s decision to inject billions of dollars in public funding into the wholly state-owned GUYSUCO, arguing that without this financial support, the entire sugar industry would have collapsed entirely. The president reaffirmed the government’s ongoing commitment to backing the sugar sector, even as the administration explores new strategies to secure the industry’s long-term viability in the face of persistent financial losses and mounting debt.
To address one of the sector’s most pressing challenges – a severe nationwide labor shortage – Ali pointed to the ongoing shift toward mechanized cane harvesting as a core solution. He confirmed that mechanization has already been rolled out across 44 percent of GUYSUCO’s cane lands, and the industry is adopting other modern technological upgrades too: traditional vehicle-based field inspections and fertilizer application are being replaced by drone systems, which cut both operational costs and completion times.
“Modernisation of the sugar industry is necessary for its survival, resilience and sustainability,” Ali emphasized.
The announcement also comes amid a previously reported pattern: while Ali has repeatedly threatened to dismiss senior officials at loss-making GUYSUCO over its poor performance, no executive removals have been carried out to date.
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President steunt initiatief SVJ voor zelfregulering journalistiek
On Tuesday, Suriname President Jennifer Simons held an introductory meeting with the newly seated board of the Suriname Journalists Association (SVJ), where she publicly voiced full government support for industry-led self-regulation of journalism and agreed to continue structured regular dialogue between the executive branch and the professional media body. The talks centered on three pressing challenges: rising disinformation, the growing impact of artificial intelligence on news ecosystems, and expanded access to government information for working journalists.
Across the meeting, participants prioritized discussions around core principles of press freedom, improving journalistic quality, and the disruptive influence of unmoderated content on social media platforms. President Simons commended the SVJ’s proactive initiative to develop a formal framework for self-regulation and journalist accreditation, noting that such a system would create clear, public distinctions between professional, ethically grounded reporting and the unvetted information that circulates widely across social channels.
In its remarks to the president, the SVJ board emphasized that the journalism profession itself is best positioned to take ownership of quality oversight and enforcement of professional ethical standards. The association is currently finalizing development of its national journalist accreditation system, and plans to present a full proposal to the Suriname government following the completion of parliamentary budget deliberations.
One of the most urgent topics addressed during the conversation was the growing impact of social media platforms, generative artificial intelligence, and influencers on national news consumption. President Simons highlighted that ordinary Surinamese citizens increasingly struggle to separate reliable professional reporting from personal opinion and deliberately spread disinformation that can undermine public trust. She called on the SVJ to lead efforts to expand public media literacy, and develop targeted training programs for both working journalists and high-reach influencers who hold significant sway over public opinion.
The SVJ board acknowledged that influencers have carved out an important role in modern public discourse, but stressed that they cannot replace the work of professional journalists. The association reaffirmed that core journalistic standards—including source verification, the right of reply, factual accuracy, and editorial independence—remain the foundational requirements for trustworthy news provision. Journalism, the board noted, is a regulated profession practiced in line with globally recognized professional ethical principles.
In additional requests to the president, the SVJ pushed for more open access to government information. The association called for media outlets to be invited more regularly to key government events, allowing journalists to conduct on-the-ground reporting rather than relying exclusively on official press statements distributed by the Suriname Communication Service (CDS). The meeting also covered progress on the country’s Freedom of Information Act and improving accessibility for journalists to engage directly with cabinet ministers.
President Simons reaffirmed that the Suriname government fully recognizes the critical role of a free and independent press in a functional democracy. She emphasized that setting professional standards for journalism is the responsibility of the industry body, not the state, aligning with the principle of editorial independence. Simons expressed clear commitment to continuing structured regular dialogue between the government and the SVJ, with the shared goal of building a more reliable national information ecosystem and a more resilient society at a time when disinformation and AI-driven content pose growing challenges.
The meeting included the full SVJ board: Chair Nita Ramcharan, Deputy Chair Ivan Cairo, Secretary Wilfred Leeuwin, Treasurer Vishmohanie Thomas, Second Secretary Amanda Palis, Second Treasurer Ryaen La Rose, and Commissioner Harvey Panka. Accompanying President Simons were Chief of Staff Sergio Akiemboto and Cabinet Communication Coordinator Previen Sewnath.