Lead Editor – Newsgathering
chester.sambrano@guardian.co.tt
President Christine Kangaloo has broken her customary silence on attacks against her and the Office of the President, saying there are times when restraint must give way to defending the dignity of the office.
Speaking at the International Women’s Forum of Trinidad and Tobago’s Inspirational Women Awards Gala, Kangaloo said she had repeatedly chosen not to respond to every criticism, caricature or “unkindness” directed at her or her office.
“I also know that a presidency cannot be conducted as a continuation of party politics by other means,” she said.
“As President, I have therefore repeatedly had to choose not to answer every alienation, caricature or unkindness that has been directed at me or at my office. That choice is not made because there is no answer. It is made because a presidency consumed by replying to every provocation would soon lose sight of the work it was established to do.
“In an age in which accusation travels faster than verification, silence is easily mistaken for admission, calm for weakness and courtesy for a lack of courage.
“But not every silence is surrender. And not every act of restraint is fair.
“There are moments in leadership when one must choose between immediate vindication and remaining faithful to what one represents.” Her comments come amid increasingly sharp criticism of the President and her appointments to the Independent Senate bench.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar referred to Kangaloo as a “low-level PNM functionary” while questioning the independence of the nine senators she appointed.
Persad-Bissessar later described the Independent Senators as “president-appointed bootlicker senators” and alleged that Kangaloo’s appointees represented PNM special interests.
Kangaloo did not directly refer to those comments in her address.
“I once walked the road of active politics. I know its rhythms, its reflexes and its temptations. I know how readily criticism can invite counter-criticism, and how natural it can feel to answer every charge, correct every distortion and return every blow.”
She recalled saying at her 2023 inauguration that there was too much shouting in the country and that, as President, she did not need to shout her words in the public square.
She had promised to lead with greater calm and reflection and to serve as the country’s “diplomat-in-chief”, making the case for a better Trinidad and Tobago “firmly, but without acrimony or bitterness”.
“Three years later, the shouting has not diminished. If anything, our public language has grown harsher, coarser and more inflammatory,” Kangaloo said.
“That should concern us, especially when such language comes from those entrusted with public authority.
“Because leadership gives language both reach and permission.” Kangaloo said there were occasions when silence would fail the institution she had a duty to protect. She pointed to an online headline earlier this year that alleged the Office of the President had been “prostituted” in connection with a financial transaction.
“I will be candid: I found that word exceptionally offensive,” she said.
Kangaloo said the word was bound up with the sexual exploitation and degradation of women and placed that imagery on an office headed by a woman.
She said her response was not about shielding the President from criticism, but about refusing to allow gendered abuse to masquerade as public accountability.
