Global Politics & Cultures (formerly Independent Thought & Freedom) - Constitutions of Guyana vs. Trinidad and Tobago: Ethnicity, PR, Democracy and Social Cohesion w/ Ralph Ramkarran and Timothy Hamel-Smith

Constitutions of Guyana vs. Trinidad and Tobago: Ethnicity, PR, Democracy and Social Cohesion w/ Ralph Ramkarran and Timothy Hamel-Smith

07/02/21 • 65 min

Global Politics & Cultures (formerly Independent Thought & Freedom)

A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E7
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm AST

Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana are two Caribbean countries in the Southern Caribbean. They share significant similarities such as being former British colonies, historically dominated by sugar plantations, slavery and indentureship, multi-racial but dominated by descendants of Africans and (Asian) Indians. Both are developing countries that face political, social, economic and other challenges.

Ethnic-based politics has been prominent in both countries, which has sometimes been problematic in terms of social cohesion and democratic accountability.

Trinidad and Tobago achieved Independence from the UK in 1962, and Guyana in 1966. However, the constitutions they were left with under British rule were radically different. The electoral system (Proportional Representation vs. First-Past-the-Post) was a major difference. Guyana was firmly caught in the rivalries of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the USA, affecting its development greatly, and largely negatively. Trinidad and Tobago was generally more stable and prosperous, but this may change now that Guyana has a new oil and gas industry that may be among the world's largest, while Trinidad and Tobago's over a century-old oil and gas industry has been facing many years of decline and decay.

Particularly in Trinidad and Tobago, constitutional reform issues have been on the table for two decades almost continuously. It will be instructive to compare the countries' very different constitutions and see how they have helped or hindered progress in areas such as economic and social development, and democratic representation and accountability.

I am joined by two experienced guests from both countries, Ralph Ramkarran from Guyana and Timothy Hamel-Smith from Trinidad and Tobago.

Ralph Ramkarran is a politician and lawyer who served as Speaker of the National Assembly of Guyana from 2001 to 2011. He comes from a family with a long political history in Guyana.

Timothy Hamel-Smith is also a lawyer and was former President of the Senate in Trinidad and Tobago from 2010-2015. He also comes from a family with a long political history in Trinidad and Tobago.

Ethnic-based politics has been prominent in both countries, which has sometimes been problematic in terms of social cohesion and democratic accountability.

I am joined by two experienced guests from both countries, Ralph Ramkarran from Guyana and Timothy Hamel-Smith from Trinidad and Tobago.

Ralph Ramkarran is a politician and lawyer who served as Speaker of the National Assembly of Guyana from 2001 to 2011. He comes from a family with a long political history in Guyana.

Timothy Hamel-Smith is also a lawyer and was former President of the Senate in Trinidad and Tobago from 2010-2015. He also comes from a family with a long political history in Trinidad and Tobago.

Previous Episode

Crime and Punishment: Is the Norway Model applicable to Trinidad and Tobago? w/ Tom Eberhardt and Jayanti Lutchmedial

A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E6
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm AST

Crime rates vary widely from country to country. Trinidad and Tobago has sadly become one of the most murder-plagued countries in the world, measured on a per capita basis. This is like many of its Latin American neighbours and some of the other more violent, Caribbean countries, like Jamaica. Other Caribbean islands and Latin American countries, on the other hand, are remarkably murder-free.

The Netherlands, too, has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Tied to this is its unique prison system, which has prisoner reform and re-integration at the top of its agenda.

In the 1990s, violent crime in the US was reduced drastically by different crime prevention measures, most notably lead by Mayor Rudy Giuliani in NYC, who led the world's most impressive and important turnaround effort. So the right policy changes can have dramatic effects.

What are the various crime prevention measures undertaken in various countries? Can the success of models in the Netherlands, for example, be applied to Trinidad, which is a very different society in many ways?

Specifically, what is the prison situation like in Trinidad and Tobago and the Netherlands? What lessons might be learned? Is there anything that we have done right in Trinidad and Tobago that others might learn from?

Joining us this week to discuss these questions are Tom Eberhardt from Norway, and Jayanti Lutchmedial from Trinidad and Tobago.

Tom Eberhardt is the Governor of Bastøy Prison in Norway, known for being one of the most successful and humane prisons on the planet. Bastoy has a completely different model for their prison, with the focus being on rehabilitation.

Jayanti Lutchmedial is a Senator in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago. She was a former prosecutor in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and continues to practise as an Attorney-at-Law.

Next Episode

undefined - Hurricane Katrina, ebola, Muslimeen Coup d'état: Coping with National Emergencies Before covid and After w/ Ron Millington and Bhoe Tewarie

Hurricane Katrina, ebola, Muslimeen Coup d'état: Coping with National Emergencies Before covid and After w/ Ron Millington and Bhoe Tewarie

A Story Club: Global Politics S2 E8
streamed live on FB from the US (San Francisco), India (Dehra Dun) and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, Thursdays 12pm EDT | 9am PDT | 9:30pm IST
repeated Friday on the UNC Network in Trinidad and Tobago 6pm AST

For the past 18 months, the world has been dealing with a global pandemic that has caused an unprecedented global shutdown of economic and social activity.

Although this has been an international emergency which the whole world has had to face, each country has had to face it nationally, in its own way, with its own resources and capabilites.

Some countries have had expriences with national disasters of various types in the past: natural, political, economic, military.

Now is a good time to reflect upon how countries have dealt with these National Emergencies in the past.

How have these past emergencies compared to the current covid crisis? What lessons can be learned from these past experiences?

Today we loook at national emergencies which gained international attention: the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in the United States, the 2014-6 ebola crisis in West Africa, and the 1990 Jamaat al-Muslimeen coup d'état in Trinidad and Tobago.

We are privileged to be joined by Ron Millington from the United States and Dr. Bhoe Tewarie from Trinidad and Tobago.

Ron Millington served in the U.S. Armed Forces where he received the Global War on Terrorism service Medal and a former Department of Homeland Security Tactical Law Enforcement Officer. He was involved in FEMA's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and also managing the ebola crisis in West Africa.

Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie is a distinuished academic, educator and politican in Trinidad and Tobago. He was a former Cabinet Minister in two administrations, including in 1990 when a small, radicalised group of insurgents took over Trinidad and Tobago's Parliament for 6 days, held MPs and the Prime Minister hostage, putting the entire country in a state of chaos and uncertainty.