The image that has stuck with me about the Patrick Manning administration is one of discrimination, inequality of treatment and inequality of opportunity. This political philosophy that only supporters must benefit from the State is now being used in the PNM's electoral campaign.
The statements emanating from the PNM platform point to a sense of desperation. This has manifested itself in many ways but in particular in the form of race. It was expected that the racial bogey would surface, as it normally does during general elections, but many thought that it would have been closer to the election date when race would be used in closely contested marginal seats.
On April 12, leader of the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) revealed that the race card has been pulled out already in Tobago by the PNM. Mr Jack revealed that TOP members were flooded with text messages on their mobile phones saying that the Indians should not be given a chance at the Treasury. The Jack-led TOP is presenting a strong challenge to the PNM in Tobago and the PNM no doubt is of the view that by instilling ethnic fears among Tobagonians the TOP will be blocked from taking the two Tobago seats. This appears to be the PNM election model both in Tobago and Trinidad. In St Augustine on April 13, Prime Minister Manning formally displayed the race card when he said: "But you know if this was a UNC platform, what you would have heard, my dear friends? You would have heard 'give me a Guinness and ah puncheon!'"
In Plum Mitan, Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert followed up on Manning's "Guinness and puncheon" by saying there are no rum drinkers or political conmen on the PNM slate of candidates, "but I can't say the same for the UNC''
Facing the heat from an Indian backlash on this racist statement, Manning has attempted to explain it without success. It was however left to Jack Warner to defend the Indian community. The United National Congress (UNC) chairman said Manning insulted every East Indian in the country with that statement. At the St Augustine meeting of April 16, Warner asserted: "On Monday night Patrick Manning insulted all Indians in the country in the vilest and most wickedest way you could imagine... So what you are saying is that every Indian is an alcoholic, every Indian is a drunkard."
Saying that none of the past prime ministers would have done that, Warner said he had insulted "us as UNC supporters."
At the following PNM?meeting, Manning attempted to diminish Warner's charge that he was insulting all Indo-Trinidadians by saying: "On Monday night in St Augustine I made reference to a tune they (the UNC) were playing on their own platform that very night, 'Barman gimme a Guinness and a puncheon.'"They were playing that on their platform on that very night and all I was doing was making reference to it and saying to the UNC supporters that is how your leaders see you." Ironically, the song has not been played on the UNC platform to date. Where did Patrick Manning hear the song then? Prime Minister Manning, at the PNM Cunupia meeting, stated: "I want to know what portfolio will be given to Prakash Ramadhar, Anand Ramlogan, Devant Maharaj, Tim Gopeesingh, Suruj Rambachan, and Austin Jack Warner."
This I read as another coded racial message when he identified these candidates who in the past defended the Indian community from the various forms of PNM discrimination policies. To me Manning is hoping to instill ethnic fear into the Afro-Trinis with throwing out these names. Why else would Mr Manning ask about the possible appointments of these individuals and not that of Makandal Daaga, and Errol McLeod, David Abdulah, Ashford Jack, Wade Mark and other Afro-Trinis on the unity platform? Instead, the likes of Mark, Daaga, and McLeod have been held out by the PNM for public ridicule and odium. The code being telegraphed on the PNM platform is that these Africans have sold out their race by joining what the PNM projects as an Indian party.
The PNM is attempting to achieve high levels of strategic voting for its ethnic party in this "patronage democracy," where ethnic parties have historically been most visible.
This form of patronage has been actively constructed by the PNM with the various "make work" programmes such as Cepep, Must, Hype, UTT etc. The fears that the UNC will remove these social programmes, which have benefited primarily, though not exclusively, the African community, is another strategy being utilised by the PNM to play the race card in this 2010 general election. The importance of ethnic demography and the ethnic profile of the PNM, in addition to the opinion polls, is an important variable structuring expectations about likely electoral outcomes. The "race trap" was being set in the marginal and near marginal constituencies with subsidised government housing schemes where artificial communities were being created. This along with migrant workers such as Chinese, Nigerians, Grenadians and others have been recruited as critical components to the PNM ethnic electoral war.
Satnarayan Maharaj is the
secretary general of the
Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha