It didn’t take long after John Jeremie, the former attorney general in a previous People’s National Movement (PNM) government, announced his allegiance to the United National Congress (UNC) for PNM members to label him as inconsequential to their efforts to return to power on April 28.
The PNM’s argument is that Jeremie offers little to the electorate, having been away from public politics for 15 years, and that he has an axe to grind against his former party for reasons known only to them.
This, however, is a reversal of roles, as the PNM was recently eager to promote Larry Lalla’s shift from the UNC to their party, while UNC members suggested Lalla’s decision, and that of others before him, was of little importance to them.
Party switching is a prevalent trend in politics.
Yet, historical instances of such transitions have not significantly aided parties in gaining new members; instead, they typically lead to a strong backlash from the party’s defenders, especially when a former ally defects to the opposing camp.
These movements are of more form than substance and only lead the country right back to the central question of how voters perceive each party’s ability to address issues that are most significant to them.
During his address at Monday’s UNC meeting, Jeremie asked a common question, that is, whether his audience felt they were in a better position today than they were ten years ago when the PNM regained control from the People’s Partnership government.
This is the pivotal question for all voters, who must also consider which party they believe can deliver the necessary changes in the next five years.
In a politically charged context, critics of the Government are likely to respond with a firm ‘no,’ indicating they do not feel better off now than a decade ago, while Government supporters will offer justifications for its performance.
Nevertheless, even those who maintain an independent stance and avoid assigning blame can agree that the current economic landscape is less favourable than it was previously, particularly due to diminishing energy reserves that affect revenue, a foreign exchange crisis impacting businesses and the average citizen, and the challenge of implementing effective diversification measures.
These issues must therefore be prioritised on political platforms, with leaders providing well-defined and practical plans to secure revenue streams and convince the population they are positioned to find macroeconomic solutions that can ease the ‘bread and butter’ concerns, especially of the least fortunate.
The powerful words of the late Leroy ‘Black Stalin’ Calliste, in his calypso ‘Sufferers’, resonate today, reminding us that “sufferers don’t care who from country, sufferers don’t care who from town, sufferers only want to know, where the next food coming from.”
This serves as a reminder that while political affiliations may be relevant in campaigns, they should not take precedence over the parties’ need to address the real issues at hand.
The lack of thorough explanations on how these challenges will be addressed hinders undecided voters from making informed choices on election day, which may contribute to the ongoing trend of low voter turnout as public disillusionment with parties continues to rise.
As tribal voting trends become more entrenched, independent members of the electorate emerge as the vital group that must be convinced, and while effective anti-crime and economic initiatives are likely to shape their perspectives, excessive focus on who changes party allegiances is hardly likely to have the same effect.
