Commentary by Capil Bissoon
His fall has been as dramatic as his style of leadership was chaotic.
In an article in yesterday’s Sunday Express, former Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is quoted as saying, “We must pay the price for Kamla’s ‘foolish’ promise” and then he proceeds to pontificate on what I consider to be his arrogant and self-perceived confidence in his ability to continue to dominate the news as he navigates the complexities of not simply being prime minister.
Keith Rowley’s fall from power, as Prime Minister and PNMs Political Leader has been as dramatic as his style of leadership was chaotic.
His failure was pronounced on by his successor Penelope Beckles who admitted over the weekend that the PNM “had lost its way… one common thread is the leadership became disconnected from the membership!”
Beckles’s pronouncement reinforces what we all know… that Keith Rowley was the poster-politician for someone having absolutely no understanding of leadership or ability to offer leadership to T&T; he was a lesson for those who do not understand the difference between taking responsibility and bearing responsibility.
In his Express interview, Rowley posits that “since irresponsible campaign promises are cast in stone, then we can look forward to the very many more destructive actions from the UNC Government.”
Really Dr Rowley, irresponsible campaign promises
What about the many promises to create safer communities and a secure country while crime and murders simply spiralled out of control. The country was under siege and in crisis as innocent and law-abiding citizens became the victims of thugs and hooligans as we were saddled with an unprecedented wave of terror, violence and murders.
What about the many promises to create a dynamic and inclusive economy for all… yet the economy literally collapsed under the heavy weight of PNM’s mismanagement and allegations of massive corruption.
What about the many promises of the PNMs commitment to a review of anti-corruption laws to ensure that those who hold public office and engage in unethical and corrupt behaviour are held accountable to the citizenry; yet the PNM watered-down and literally gutted the tenets of the Procurement Legislation despite the Govt being continually rocked by scandals, corruption and nepotism as it faced a series of national crises, covering multiple areas.
For nine-plus years, the Rowley-led PNM Administration had become so politically toxic as it was in total disarray and became impotent to offering any practical and workable solutions to the many challenges facing the country.
As Prime Minister, Rowley was best at political distraction and intolerant of even the mildest criticism or dissent and his tenure of leadership will be long remembered as a failure in the most important areas of economic management, social issues, crime-fighting and health care services and delivery.
The victory celebrations of the Kamla Persad-Bissessar led UNC have been short-lived, given the size of the challenges this new Administration inherited from the defeated Rowley-led PNM.
It starts with rebuilding a strong economy which has struggled to grow, addressing the foreign exchange (forex) challenge, curbing and arresting the spiralling out of control crime epidemic and murder spree, our dilapidated education institutions including the PNM’s refusal to open the Debe UWI Campus, the health care service which remains grossly underfunded and under strain (including opening the Couva Children’s Hospital); improving the public service(s), investing in agriculture, reopening the Petrotrin refinery and the general infrastructure of the country’s roads and increasing overall productivity.
If Keith Rowley believes that he can adopt Winston Churchill’s assertion that “history will be kind to me, for I intend to write it,” I want to say to him that will never happen. Rowley should simply retire with his $1,054.164.00 annual pension which he “accepted” less than a month before resigning as Prime Minister.
Its goodbye and good riddance to the simply absolute worst Prime Minister that TT has had.
