CMC – The 62-year-old former president of the Senate, Christine Carla Kangaloo, was sworn into office Monday as the seventh President of Trinidad and Tobago, promising to demystify the office as well as encourage intellectual, cultural and artistic debates in the oil rich twin island republic.
While Kangaloo, the second consecutive woman to be elected to the largely ceremonial post, also promised to be engaged in “relentless advocacy” to achieve her aims, she noted also that it would be done diplomatically without acrimony or bitterness” and that much emphasis will be placed on the development of the youth.
Kangaloo took the oath of office before Chief Justice Ivor Archie at a ceremony held at the Queen’s Park Savannah on the outskirts of the capital and witnessed by her husband, her 95-year-old mother, as well as Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley and more than 500 invited guests.
The attorney, who is the only person to have served as both Senate president and vice president and the third woman to serve as Acting President of the country while being Senate President, said nonetheless she was reaching out to all of Trinidad and Tobago to make her tenure as successful as it could be.
She said if for one reason or another, some people “might not be fully on board with assisting me in achieving these goals, I know there have been voices from certain quarters that have given the impression that such collaboration might not be easily forthcoming as one might have hoped.
Kangloo’s nomination had been opposed by the main opposition United National Congress (UNC) that named prominent criminal attorney Israel Khan as its candidate. However he was soundly defeated during the secret balloting by the Electoral College that comprised legislators from both houses of Parliament.
In her address, President Kanga loo said she was also mindful that a significant portion of the citizenry remain unclear as to the precise role of the head of state.
She said while she is aware of certain security systems and protocols that attend to the Office of the President,they should not be inflexible.
“We must be careful not to make the mistake of elevating these arrangements into ends in themselves and we must avoid at all costs conscripting them into the dubious service of making the highest office in the land also the most remote office in the land,” the new head of state said, adding that her intention is also to develop an archive system that would preserve the presidential history of Trinidad and Tobago.
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