Ryan Hadeed
Former Guardian columnist Helen Drayton, on September 13, 2015, wrote about the PNM's victory in the general election which occurred earlier that week. She credited the party's success not only as a result of the failures of the previous administration but more importantly, on the actions of its unwavering support base.
In her words she called it, "The charge of the red brigade," a reference to the 1854 poem written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson titled The Charge of the Light Brigade about the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. While it does exult sacrifice and duty, the poem also highlights the failure of authority as well as the foolhardiness of unquestioned loyalty.
It's ironic how, in echoing the obvious sentiments to honour the party faithful, Drayton overlooked the other themes that unintentionally draw attention to the critical elements that continue to plague the politics of our country.
Two days after Christmas last year, I read something by Ira Mathur (27.12.2015) that added a sour note to my Yuletide cheer. She described the unchanging nature of T&T as a place where, "Depressingly I could pull out a column I had done ten years ago and it could pass as current news." This inconvenient truth raises a single question, one that I'm sure every Trinbagonian, regardless of political affiliation, has asked themselves as well. As the years have gone by, has anything really gotten better for us? While not an elderly citizen myself, I have been around long enough to have witnessed eight general elections, six prime ministers, four presidents, two state of emergencies, and one oil boom. And throughout all of it, my own observations have led to the conclusion that very little has changed in a positive way. And it's due to failed governance by both parties and more importantly, to the blind loyalty from the masses.
While I have little faith in the PNM, I genuinely believed that Dr Rowley would bring a different style of leadership to the party and the Office of Prime Minister. It was reasonable to think that he would stand up to the 'old guard' just as he had done to his former boss. Such hopes were dashed, however, from the moment he formed the Government, stacking his Cabinet with career stalwarts which sent the clear message that the status quo would be maintained. Oh sure, he may have included a few fresh-faced neophytes and placed Misters Al-Rawi and Young in the forefront as the token members meant to represent ethnic diversity. But behind them are the same ole voices, meaning that there is little chance that they are bringing new ideas to the table. And as we have seen in the last few weeks with regards the Petrotrin and FCB conundrums, the leadership style is just as arrogant as ever.
Yet despite their persistent shortcomings, the fact remains that our leaders aren't motivated to do better because we accept their actions without reproach. And as long as they can count on the 'till ah dead' mentality from large swaths of the population, then what reason do they have to perform. While there's nothing wrong with having a preference or favouritism per se, those attitudes must be balanced with objectivity.
Take the recent counter-protest that was held in support of former Port-of-Spain mayor Tim Kee. At face value it looked, and sounded, very much like a PNM rally. What was a public outcry to highlight a serious issue facing our nation was politicised by the "red brigade" for the sake of party loyalty. Some of the more outspoken people even went as far as to claim that the original protest had been organised by agents of the UNC. Such single-minded myopia will only lead our society to ruin if all we do is defend maleficence instead of demanding better.
For the last five years, there was the incessant call by the Opposition PNM for an election. And when the time finally came, the campaign battle cry of "Let's Do This" was their surety that things would be different. Now, six months later, and we're left wondering if "this" is all that there is? One might counter with the argument that the other side did far worse. But isn't it only fair to expect more from the PNM? Do they not flaunt the claim of having the longest tenure and being the most stable political force in T&T? They were supposedly "red and ready," but their ineptitude has everyone just seeing red.
Our politicians need to be reminded that they are leaders for all of T&T, not just for their financiers and party loyalists. To that end, it's up to the electorate to stop following and to start thinking for themselves, and put the best interests of all above those of the few.
Like Drayton, I too will close by paraphrasing a poem, one written by Rudyard Kipling in 1890 and titled The Last of the Light Brigade, which was aimed to expose the terrible hardship faced by veterans of the Crimean War.
"There were twenty-three PNM parliamentarians, who touted Williams' might. While twenty-three hundred party supporters lives know only blight. They have little food or money, having neither service nor trade. They are sustained on loyalty to the Balisier, the soldiers of the Red Brigade."
