In encounters and engagements with Trinibagonians in the course of polling, it is found that the population’s view is PM Dr Keith Rowley is leaving office at the right time that will help his party at the election. The PM has been extremely unpopular with voters and could have suffered a shocking defeat in the coming elections. Voters have said they are fed up and frustrated with elected politicians who just talk and don’t deliver on promises or good governance. Apathy runs very high with many voters from both sides saying they will not vote.
The general view of elected politicians has been very negative, as being self-serving and ineffective. And the public fell there is little hope of improvement politician behavior on the political horizon unless there are new fresh faces mixed in with experienced politicians of integrity and credibility. But, as voters sated, the latter two qualities among politicians are hard to find in either the ruling or opposition camps.
As gleamed from surveys conducted by this writer, the public (voters) have long been critical of political party leaders (and politicians in general) for not fulfilling campaign promises, for poorly implemented policies, for bad governance, for speeches and actions that divide rather than bring people together, for poor representation as a MP, for not acting in the interests of their supporters and party, and for holding on to titles or position when they have long overstayed their welcome (political presence).
As ongoing tracking polls found, voters complain that party leaders and some disliked politicians tend to miss the boat when they should have long exited the political stage damaging their reputation and lessening the adulation and respect people had held for them. Voters say that in refusing to leave at the right time, they harm their party’s electoral prospect in election (after election). It is not surprising, therefore, that voters overwhelmingly support Dr. Keith Rowley’s decision to resign as PM and put in place a succession plan. No other political leader ever tendered resignation and have a plan for succession. Lack of a succession tends to lead to chaos as was observed in the PNM following Dr. Eric Williams’s death in 1981 and in UNC in the 2000s.
Dr. Keith Rowley has demonstrated that he belongs in a different class or breed of politicians from those who resist foregoing power. Instead of being pushed out of politics, Rowley is leaving his forte on his own accord, marking the first time in the twin island republic’s history that a politician is walking away from the exalted Prime Ministerial position. It never happened in the Caribbean and is a rare occurrence globally. In Caribbean politics, only Jamaican PM’s PJ Patterson, Bruce Golding, Edward Seaga, and Michael Manley left on their own without being booted out; the latter because of health reason. It was unimaginable a year ago that PM Rowley was leaving.
Voters, including a majority of PNMites, are not displeased that Rowley is leaving office, and they feel he is doing so at the right time — at the top of his political game as a strategist to win election. It is noted that since 2010 Rowley has not lost an election, although of late he has been losing popular support. But given the current state of affairs of the opposition, Rowley’s prospect for re-election is not very bad.
As voters and political observers note, Rowley has recognized that the population has had enough of him and that he and a few others in the PNM camp could be a drag on popular support, and he does not want to overstay his welcome like his predecessors. His party was down in the poll last year. Were he to seek re-election for a third term as PM this year, he would have put his party at some risk of defeat. The PM must have recognized that the population was becoming ‘Rowley weary’, exhibiting strong anti-incumbency as they are also of showing ‘Kamla weariness’. Voters all over the country say they want political change. And Rowley has decided to give them a radical change, resigning as PM, putting party and country ahead of himself, unthinkable in TT politics. If the UNC were to implement some reforms, bring in a half dozen new prominent credible faces of integrity, it could eke out a shock victory.
As voters note, Rowley’s departure marks a changing of the guard, a transition to a new generation of a successor who was born after the country became independent. There will be a new multi-ethnic face as PM, unimaginable a few months ago. With Stuart Young as successor, voters say Rowley has introduced multi-ethnic unity. There is a changed in perception of the PNM as only representing the interests of Africans and Mixed. The party is being presented as multi-ethnic, a reflection of the cosmopolitan nature of the country.
As voters note, Young has broken the ethnic glass ceiling – with the party now being seen as welcoming to all groups. This has led to Indians gravitating towards the PNM and in the process the political momentum has shifted towards Stuart Young in the coming elections. It is noted that Young appeals to all groups – he sings and patronizes Bollywood, calypso, soca, and chutney. He is seen as an all-round person who has roots in south and north, and who may be better placed than Rowley to lead the party into the election.
As voters reiterate, Rowley is leaving office on a high, and when he is gone the country would miss him, his political skills, acumen, and savviness. They remember that he became PM at a most difficult economic time (2015 onwards) to run the country – shortage of funds and Covid 19. Voters felt he did a satisfactory job and rewarded him with re-election, albeit a reduced majority. They feel it is right time for him to call time on his political career.
