A friend of mine has written to me saying that Mrs. Persad Bissessar and her supporters are concentrating on the upcoming internal UNC elections and are pushing the line that those who oppose her are simply trying to divide the party. Left unspoken is that a divided party cannot defeat the PNM in the general elections due next year.
While that last sentence is obviously true, it really does beg the question as to who is dividing the UNC? You see, by all that is normal the UNC should be way ahead in the polls right now of the Rowley led PNM. The only people who are better off than they were some 9 years ago when Rowley et al came to power, are the financiers of the PNM and a handful of party insiders. Everybody else has seen his/her standard of living fall and become more expensive. There have been seemingly countless errors of judgement that have cost the country dearly. And yet, the UNC is running ‘neck and neck’ with the PNM! Something is obviously wrong somewhere.
And yet, Mrs. Persad Bissessar and her supporters cling to their diminished power and influence, proving the old adage about it being “better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven” It is as if the theme of the UNC in the next elections will be ‘they have screwed up but we can do better’. Left out of that equation is exactly how they will do better. No real policies have been defined and Kamla’s crew is blatantly incompetent (except for one or two able people like Roodal Moonilal). Her leader of Opposition business in the Parliament, for example, screws up time and again, but is very adept at getting Mrs. Persad Bissessar to blame others for his mistakes.
Look, the ONLY reason for politics – the ONLY reason for Government – is to make life better for the people! Full stop! Punto finale! There is no other reason! Mrs. Persad Bissessar seems to be operating on the premise that the only reason for politics and Government is her personal well being. She has made countless statements that she is prepared to lead again, but she has failed to lay out a clear path to victory for the UNC or how she will make your life better. She has also failed to excite the wider electorate that she will need if she wants to win. A dispassionate observer can be forgiven in concluding that she is just interested in just herself and not the wider community that she wishes to represent.
So my answer to the question asked at the beginning of this post is that if an election were to be called tomorrow, UNC will lose if it does not make an alliance with the smaller parties – and even then it will be a toss up. They look very much at the moment that they will lose.
Having said that, it should be noted that there are competent potential leaders waiting in the wings (unless, of course, the UNC leader “kills” them first – which seems to be happening).
By Robin Montano
