Young: Reject divisiveness in 2026

Port of Spain North/St Ann's West MP Stuart Young. - File photo

FORMER prime minister Stuart Young says Trinidad and Tobago has important choices to make in 2026. Young, who is also Port of Spain North/St Ann's West MP, made this statement in a Facebook post on December 31.

Referring to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's recent statement about TT being a lawless dump in her defence of increased penalties for traffic offences, Young said, "One choice we need to make is that we can choose to embrace the politics of hate, malice, vindictiveness and division, the kind that’s become fashionable among those who believe they are monarchs, treating citizens like subjects to rule over."

He added, "The politics of division is easy. It requires no thought, no vision, just unbridled rage, carefully aimed and constantly fed. It turns every disagreement into conflict, every neighbour into an enemy, and every hardship into a reason to blame somebody else."

Young said choosing the politics and conviction of courage, is a road seldom travelled by most people.

"The politics of courage, however, requires real strength. The strength to stay calm when others want chaos, to speak truth without cruelty, to fix what’s broken without breaking each other, and to lead with discipline instead of drama."

Young said TT, like all nations, have serious problems to fix.

This, he continued, is something no right thinking person can dispute.

But Young said, "We must never confuse honest concern with national self-contempt.

He warned this approach is what ultimately leads to the unravelling of a nation's social fabric and is difficult to undo.

"While many other societies are currently struggling to hold together multi-ethnic, multi-religious communities, we in TT have been living it, and proving it can work, for decades."

Young said, "Here, churches, mosques and mandirs sit side by side on the same street without us even giving it a second thought."

He added, "We are blessed to live in a country where descendants from Africa, India, China, Europe and every other part of the world coexist while celebrating the best each has brought to our national story."

Young said the same principle applies in the wider regional context when it comes to TT's relations with its Caricom neighbours.

"So as we enter 2026, I urge all of my fellow citizens: never let anyone, or any agenda, push you towards divisiveness and hate. Whether it’s hating our Caribbean brothers and sisters, hating your neighbour, or even hating our own country."

Persad-Bissessar has publicly differed with other Caricom leaders on the ongoing US military deployment in the Southern Caribbean. She has also publicly condemned local and regional critics of the deployment and questioned Caricom's reliability as a partner to TT.

Persad-Bissessar has said government has taken no decision to withdraw from Caricom.

Returning to Persad-Bissessar's "lawless dump" remark, Young said, "TT is not, and has never been, a 'dump'. Despite its flaws, it remains a beautiful land filled with a unique people of promise and potential."

He added TT remains worth fighting for.