In traveling around the country for a recent opinion survey on contemporary issues, likely voters were asked about their views of leadership of political parties and whether they feel a party’s leader cares for their supporters or them or the country. The response was shocking as over half respondents felt the leader of the party that they support (ed) do not truly care for them and or the country. Some of them felt that their party leader is very selfish and does not even care for the party they lead. Many are of the view that the party leader cares only for self and has engaged in decision making to perpetuate control over party rather than to win or retain government that would benefit supporters.
Any party leader must be strategic in decision making and unselfish in personal action and be willing to put aside ambition to do what is best for a party to win election. The leaders of several parties made tragic blunders during the 1980s thru 2020. Leadership failures were glaring in 1988 in NAR, UNC in 2001, 2002, 2007, and 2020, PNM in 2000, and COP in 2007, among other examples. Unlike other political leaders, Dr. Keith Rowley was strategic in building alliances in 2015 catapulting him to power; ditto his selection of candidates in 2020, uniting various factions and dissidents. Although relatively unpopular in 2020, he addressed dissension and united the PNM, bringing in dissidents and won re-election. He is doing a repeat of 2020 and is ahead in opinion polls heading for a third consecutive victory in 2025. His political opponents failed to unite in 2015 and 2020 and was defeated and are doing a repeat in 2025. Repeating the same strategy and expecting different results is madness. The governing party, on the other hand, has fine-tuned its prowess as a well-oiled election machine and one would expect early elections mid-year as opposed to August or later. The PNM, with relative unity and the party structure and electoral machinery firmly rooted and growing, has the advantage to win the next election, making electoral gains.
A party leader must be a pragmatic politician, a master at reading the landscape. The leader must also be politically altruistic doing what is best for party, supporters, and country. The leader must put aside personal ambition and desire for absolute control over party. Those qualities were missing in parties in several elections resulting in defeat.
A great leader must make sacrifices. Once a leader puts party, supporters, and country first as Rowley did in 2020 and is repeating in 2025, and select candidates with the right optics, it increases the probability of victory. The leader must stop thinking about perks associated with a position whether it is PM, leader of the party, and or leader of the opposition. Once such sacrifice is made, it will enhance the prospect of a party to win and ease the anxiety and pain of supporters yearning for victory.
A great leader can’t suffer resounding losses and still want to continue doing the same thing and expect different results. One can’t have discredited candidates going into an election and expect a swing to win. It never happened in any election. Discredited hangers on as candidates and speaking on platform does enormous damage to a party’s electability. They, themselves ought to know that people don’t want them and to step down or not seek re-election. Several incumbents in PNM camp announced they would not seek re-election perhaps thinking they had enough in parliament and want to make way for younger generation or they feel their departure would help their party at the polls. Two UNC incumbents announced they would not seek re-election and both were good MPs. Several MPs with poor ratings and that the public would like to see gone are seeking re-election; a few are heading for defeat especially in battleground seats. Their public presence in the party is hurting its image and electoral prospect.
An election is a numbers game, and the PNM and its leader are master strategists. They know the numbers and what must be done to win in marginals. The PNM leader is cleaning house while simultaneously consolidating and expanded the party’s support base into almost every available social, cultural, ethnic, and economic group and in almost every neighborhood, giving it the advantage in 2025. If UNC does same, it will boost its prospect.
Happy Holidays!