Political science professor forms Congress of the People
Hayley Martin
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: Culture
Political science professor Sewlyn Samaroo has lived what he teaches by forming a political party in his home country of Trinidad.
Samaroo said he was exposed to politics as a child. Politicians would come visit at his house, and he was elected president of his Village Council as a teenager.
"I've always fought for the rights of people," Samaroo said.
In Trinidad, Samaroo said he was a senior paralegal at a law firm office, but he became disenchanted with law.
He then decided he wanted to study liberal arts in a country that had a different stream of thought than what he was used to.
"If America is the most powerful country in the world, it's only fair I get an education there," Samaroo said.
He attended Lee University with the goal of entering the ministry. It was at Lee University that he first studied politics, Samaroo said.
In June 2006, Samaroo returned to Trinidad, and he said he was not satisfied with the politics of the country.
He said the two political parties, People's National Movement and United National Congress, of which he was a member, were forgetting the people at the bottom.
"The politics of the UNC, in my view, had become irrelevant," Samaroo said.
No one seemed to care about the poor, and the young people were dissatisfied.
It was then that he decided to form a new political party, Congress of the People, and began the ground work for it, he said.
The first step was listening to the people, Samaroo said.
He held town hall meetings in his constituency, which is similar to a state, and then with people all over the country. Samaroo called it a "conversation with the people."
After listening to the people, a national convention was held for COP where he said thousands of people attended and demanded a new political movement.
Then, a constitution committee was formed. They met with various interest groups and wrote the party's constitution, he said.
Samaroo said when the constitution was written, it was brought before the people for approval, and a national council, the governing body of the party, was formed.
Samaroo said he was exposed to politics as a child. Politicians would come visit at his house, and he was elected president of his Village Council as a teenager.
"I've always fought for the rights of people," Samaroo said.
In Trinidad, Samaroo said he was a senior paralegal at a law firm office, but he became disenchanted with law.
He then decided he wanted to study liberal arts in a country that had a different stream of thought than what he was used to.
"If America is the most powerful country in the world, it's only fair I get an education there," Samaroo said.
He attended Lee University with the goal of entering the ministry. It was at Lee University that he first studied politics, Samaroo said.
In June 2006, Samaroo returned to Trinidad, and he said he was not satisfied with the politics of the country.
He said the two political parties, People's National Movement and United National Congress, of which he was a member, were forgetting the people at the bottom.
"The politics of the UNC, in my view, had become irrelevant," Samaroo said.
No one seemed to care about the poor, and the young people were dissatisfied.
It was then that he decided to form a new political party, Congress of the People, and began the ground work for it, he said.
The first step was listening to the people, Samaroo said.
He held town hall meetings in his constituency, which is similar to a state, and then with people all over the country. Samaroo called it a "conversation with the people."
After listening to the people, a national convention was held for COP where he said thousands of people attended and demanded a new political movement.
Then, a constitution committee was formed. They met with various interest groups and wrote the party's constitution, he said.
Samaroo said when the constitution was written, it was brought before the people for approval, and a national council, the governing body of the party, was formed.
