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PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, -As steel pans played and spirituals rang out, 61-year-old Patrick Manning took the oath of office for a third term in Woodford Square, Port-of-Spain and vowed to bridge the racial divide in the twin-island Republic of 1.3 million.
"We have to put aside our divisions," Manning, leader of the Peoples National Movement told a crowd of mainly black supporters while adding that his decision to take the oath in the Square and not at President's House indicated his aim of bringing the government closer to the people.
He gave his "solemn assurance that in word and deed mine will continue to be an administration for all the people of our beloved country."
"The division into opposing camps must now be put aside, we must again see the country as a whole, a unit, a single family. Therefore none need fear there will be neither victimization nor alienation," said Prime Minister Manning.
"This country belongs to all of us."
He also pointed to the involvement of many younger voters in his traditionally Afro-Trinidadian party, noting, "It all bodes very well for the future. It is clear we are leaving further and further behind the old paradigm of political support based on racial considerations. Nothing should bring greater joy to our hearts. When our politics evolves, our nation is united, and there is no stopping Trinidad and Tobago."
On a day when oil climbed to US$100 per barrel, the prime minister pledged to also diversify the nation's thriving oil and gas-driven economy. He also promised to work harder to control the annual inflation rate, which is now close to almost 7 percent.
Manning was first appointed to the post in 2001. On Nov. 5th, his party was swept back to power, grabbing 26 seats over the main opposition United National Congress Alliance's 15. The 40 other MPs who won constituencies in the general election on Monday are being sworn in at the President's House.
