The Opposition politics in T&T feels as if it's a fight during a general election and it's exhilarating. Two leaders have emerged, Ramesh L Maharaj and Kamla Persad-Bissessar. I was quite impressed by the Islamic Broadcasting Network's poll done recently which showed a clear lead in the race by Persad-Bissessar. From my perspective there are a series of dynamics that come into play that any spectator should be aware of. The first is that even though Persad-Bissessar may win the political leadership of the United National Congress (UNC), there is still the question of the post of Opposition Leader.
Some people seem to forget that when Winston Dookeran was elected political leader of the UNC that there was a clear delineation between that of the political leader and Opposition Leader. The probability that there might be infighting with Basdeo Panday to retain a hold on the UNC is high. This is likely to create more friction similar to what took place with Dookeran as leader of the UNC. While the UNC's constitution is democratic, the infighting is caused by self-interest and no matter how democratic the process is in the election of a leader or any other position, once there are elements of self-interest there is no hope of removing the current government.
Secondly, it does not make sense that Dookeran would indicate that there can be unity in the morning if Persad-Bissessar were made political leader of the UNC because the fact still remains that Basdeo Panday is the Opposition Leader.?At the end of the day, if there is some sort of accommodation between the UNC and the Congress of the People (COP), it can only mean that, should the accommodation win an election, it's the one who commands the majority support that will be elevated to the position of Prime Minister. Thirdly, even if the lot of UNC and COP supporters believe that an accommodation can beat the People's National Movement (PNM), you need to open your eyes and understand that the stage has been set vis-a-vis strategic government housing developments in constituencies all over the country to ensure consecutive PNM wins ad infinitum.
This is not the only strategy that has been utilised to ensure that the PNM stays in government. There are many more, but this one is more glaring and directly related to securing votes and seats.
Fourthly, some seem to think that under a combined UNC-COP with Persad-Bissessar at the helm that there can be crossover support for her. History has shown that the only crossover support received was when the National Alliance for Reconstruction won under ANR Robinson in 1986 with 33 seats. Never had there been the kind of crossover support in the history of politics in T&T. Indians had primarily voted for the leadership at that time, crossing over to unite with the African voters to oust the PNM.
Let's see if our African brothers and sisters can come across to vote with the UNC and COP to oust the PNM, this time to vote in an Indian leader. At the end of the day it would come down to race, not only because of our population mix but also because successive governments have refused to recognise that our society is divided along racial lines and that we need a formula in the Constitution that recognises this division while at the same time ensuring a national identity (which we don't have except for football and cricket). Some form of proportional representation is required without constituency boundaries. We are too small a country, with only 1.3 million people, to be so divided.
Anand Heeraman,
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