The leader of the Congress of the People initially demanded that Coudray be fired and replaced with a COP mayor, even stating that the matter was serious enough for COP to rethink its relationship with the five-member governing coalition.
However Ramadhar later softened his position, stating that while he still wants to see the mayor removed he and COP remain committed to the partnership. At the end of the second round of talks on the matter he expressed confidence that the matter would be finally resolved when the five leaders meet again this week.
He is cutting short his vacation - he was due to return on April 23 - to make sure the meeting is held before Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar leaves for Colombia to attend the 6th Summit of the Americas.
Persad-Bissessar has not changed her stand on Coudray and her Attorney General has stated publicly that the Prime Minister cannot fire a mayor. So what makes Ramadhar so optimistic about this week's meeting?
What is perhaps most interesting about the whole affair is his unexpected turnaround from a position of handing an ultimatum and threatening to leave the partnership to a conciliatory pledge to stick with the coalition and the government.
That, according to top COP insiders, amounts to a betrayal of the COP position and some COP officials have accused their leader of treachery, saying he is just looking after his own interests.
The point is Ramadhar may have realised that his initial outburst was an over reaction. It seems that he put the cart before the horse and made a public declaration without any consultation with his party and without carefully making an analysis of the whole the whole. The fact that his cabinet colleague and COP MP Anil Roberts took him to task may have also made him rethink his position.
If he had maintained his hard line stance and carried out his threat, the COP leader might have had to give up his cabinet post and it is doubtful if he would have been able to influence the other elected COP legislators to follow him. Roberts had already made it very clear that he would not walk with Ramadhar. And no COP member of the government had given any clear signal about whether they would leave.
There is the very real prospect that Ramadhar could have been the odd man out with the other COP members remaining in cabinet leaving him to sit as a lone independent without portfolio and heading a severely weakened party with no clout or influence.
Sticking with the coalition and working out the problems through discussion and negotiation is the responsible thing to do and Ramadhar realised that his leadership would be at stake if he acted irresponsibly on this matter.
Perhaps the most critical reality that he faced was the fact that a mass departure of COP from the partnership would have robbed COP of any influence in the governing of Trinidad & Tobago and left the UNC and TOP fully in charge. That would have amounted to a defeat for COP without hurting the government's ability to continue to function.
In politics and diplomacy saving face is very important. And if the talk making the rounds is true then the Prime Minister may have found a solution to save face for Ramadhar and save his dignity within his party.
If Coudray is offered a seat in the Senate and a ministerial post she would have to resign as mayor in order to accept the offer. There is every reason to believe that Persad-Bissessar had more in store for the mayor than just being one of her deputies and this probably explains why Ramadhar did the flip flop last weekend that annoyed some of the top executives of his party.
Perhaps Ramadhar is coming home to seal the deal that would see Coudray leave and make way for COP's favoured mayoral candidate Dr Navi Muradali. That would give Ramadhar a face-saving victory and also establish that he still enjoys the warm embrace of the leader of the partnership.
When she gets back home, Persad-Bissessar will then have to deal with the 10 demands of David Abdullah and his Movement for Social Justice (MSJ). However, she has already said that Abdullah and the MSJ did not give an ultimatum.
In politics and diplomacy saving face is very important. And if the talk making the rounds is true then the Prime Minister may have found a solution to save face for Ramadhar and save his dignity within his party.
If Coudray is offered a seat in the Senate and a ministerial post she would have to resign as mayor in order to accept the offer. There is every reason to believe that Persad-Bissessar had more in store for the mayor than just being one of her deputies and this probably explains why Ramadhar did the flip flop last weekend that annoyed some of the top executives of his party.
Perhaps Ramadhar is coming home to seal the deal that would see Coudray leave and make way for COP's favoured mayoral candidate Dr Navi Muradali. That would give Ramadhar a face-saving victory and also establish that he still enjoys the warm embrace of the leader of the partnership.
When she gets back home, Persad-Bissessar will then have to deal with the 10 demands of David Abdullah and his Movement for Social Justice (MSJ). However, she has already said that Abdullah and the MSJ did not give an ultimatum.
Roodal Moonilal and Abdullah have already met to discuss the contentious issue and have said the issues are part of the process of "engagement and dialogue".
What I hear in that position is that the problems are not insurmountable; there is time yet to find solutions, to make compromises and to save face. And you can depend on Kamla to find a solution!
What I hear in that position is that the problems are not insurmountable; there is time yet to find solutions, to make compromises and to save face. And you can depend on Kamla to find a solution!
Jai parasram | Toronto 09 April 2012
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