On Sunday, Friends of Trinidad and Tobago, held a memorial lecture for our fifth prime minister, Basdeo Panday, at Joy’s Courtyard, Lauderhill, Ft Lauderdale, USA.
A video on the life of Mr Panday and an address by Mickela Panday touched the hearts of the T&T diaspora who attended the event. Basdeo Panday’s persona and his classic retorts remain etched on the minds of many.
Mickela’s mannerisms and articulation invoke memories of her father. She had previously indicated her Patriotic Front’s intent to contest the 2025 general election. Journalist Rishi Harrynanan’s blog questioned whether she should join the UNC or the UNC accept her.
Opposition politics have historically been fraught with accommodations and acrimonious break-ups.
Even the PNM had its own wrangling. Dr Eric Williams with Dr Winston Mahabir, Karl Hudson Phillip, Hector McClean, and ANR Robinson. Whisper campaigns demonised the then-AG Hudson with the, ‘Ah fraid Karl’ mantra, and ANR Robinson was accused of stealing money from the treasury and stockpiling weapons. Both went on to form their respective parties, the ONR and DAC.
Mr Patrick Manning also had to deal with Vincent Lass and Dr Rupert Griffith, who went with the opposition, and later Dr Keith Rowley, who fought and brought changes within his party.
Persons who supported Mr Manning and said some uncomplimentary things about Dr Rowley, are now Dr Rowley’s biggest defenders. A similar situation was seen in the US Republican primaries, where fellow candidates who were demonising Donald Trump are now singing praises to him, hoping to be chosen as his VP.
Such is the nature of politics.
In Tobago, Watson Duke once supported and defended his nemesis, Farley Augustine.
The PNM handles its affairs more discretely, two of its more productive ministers, Clarence Rambharat and Robert Le Hunte, were displaced from the political forefront without any public spat.
A day in politics is a long time. Gary Griffith entered into a UNC alliance but is now vacillating.
PEP’s Phillip Alexander, who has lambasted both Government and Opposition, has jumped in and then out of bed with the UNC. His former deputy political leader, Limma McLeod Wilkinson, questioned his return as party leader without holding internal elections.
McLeod Wilkinson and many young people must awaken to the realities that they are considered just sheep or crapauds, mouthpieces to support political demigods. Those who don’t realise their insignificance would be in a perpetual tabanca. In such state, some migrate, some become bitter critics of their old gurus, some jump ship, while others lose themselves in other pursuits.
Basdeo Panday politically neutralised his ULF Marxist comrades, later the ‘Gang of Four’, then brought the academics, like Winston Dookeran, into politics.
Persad-Bissessar showed him the power of a woman, but now the ghost of Panday lives on in Mickela, who seems willing to take on any lioness.
Kamla has her own battles with many of her former party colleagues who are demanding internal elections.
Jack Warner, considered as a king- and queen-maker (as well as a breaker), has offered to mend opposition fences. This is not an easy task. Globally, coalitions are fraught with challenges.
Political scientist Arthur Lupia wrote, “Coalition governments lead a precarious existence. Typically, they can fall on any given day, sometimes with little or no warning. The circumstances surrounding coalition termination vary greatly, occasionally producing great drama. Some politicians are forced from their cabinet offices in a daze, never knowing what hit them. Others choose their date of departure and leave with smirks on their faces. Some alliances go down in fiery spectacles of backroom infighting and betrayal, whereas others take their struggles ‘to the country’ and leave the judgment to the voters.”
While some younger voters disillusioned by the PNM may desire an amalgamation of opposition forces, they must be reminded of the turmoil of coalition fallout and the negative effects on international investors.
One has to admire the operations of the monolithic PNM that has stood the test of time.
David Fortunate warns, in his publication, Legislative Review and Party Differentiation in Coalition Governments, that, “Voters do not support a party so that it may accommodate its cabinet partners to smooth the process of governance or trade away its core policy positions to obtain a fancy office. Voters support a party with the understanding that it will pursue a certain set of policies, and, when they believe that the party has not rigorously fought for these policies, they are likely to abandon it, believing that its core positions have changed or that it is untrustworthy or incompetent.”
Those who plan political marriages of convenience should take heed.