A Tale of Two Parties...

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct to hell...”

- From a Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

They say a day is a long time in politics and what a difference the 23rd and 24th of May have made. Prior to the OWTU led People's National Movement March on Friday, and the People's Partnership anniversary rally on Saturday, there was this notion being floated about of a fait accompli victory for the PNM at any future polls, emboldening the political leader of the PNM to use his platform to call for early elections. Judging strictly on the turnout for both events though, it would be safe to assume that Dr. Keith Rowley may have woken up on Sunday morning not as sure of his stocks as he was on Friday.


The biggest questions to be asked of what transpired this weekend all have to do with attendance. On the one hand, if the combination of the ILP, PNM, OWTU, MSJ and a handful of other organizations could barely pull five thousand people to march despite spending millions of dollars advertising the event, isn't this a symptom that all is not as well as they should be for the opposition, especially with an election due any minute?

And what of the other big event, the Partnership's fourth anniversary rally? What is to be said of the carnival sized crowd that overflowed Mid Center Mall's carpark and caused the police to consider turning revelers and supporters away? Contrasted with the somber mood of hate not twenty four hours earlier in Port of Spain, the feeling in Chaguanas was one of celebration and jubilation, again sending a loud and clear message to all and sundry and shouldn't this be of serious concern to an opposition bent on painting the government as unpopular?

My question to the Opposition Assembly is this. If, as you say, the government is so despised, so widely hated, why is it that the voters do not seem to agree? Even the luke-warmly contested PNM internal elections have been touted as a bust, so what is really going on?

Is it fair to assume as some have, that the PNM is itself in pre-collapse and despite the temporary bumps enjoyed by the Section 34 fiasco and the splitting of the vote by the ILP, that the party has never really recovered from the trouncing it received on May 24th 2010?


And what about the persons at the helm of the organizations making up this alliance of opposition, is it possible that they are not as liked as they assume themselves to be? Or is it that the public is wary of taking tonics for ailments whose side effects outnumber the symptoms of the sickness in the first place?

I have asked before on what does David Abdulah command this media respect that they seek him out for his opinion on all manner of national issues? He has no constituency and represents no one, his position as political leader of a party constituted in name only should have been challenged long ago if the media really wanted to perform if not appear independent, so from which magic potion does his power derive?

And now that Jack Warner has marched with the PNM can it be fair to say that any hope he had of retaining the Chaguanas West seat come 2015 is now moot as there are not enough box drains in the Caribbean to make that happen?

And Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj - Revered as a legal attack dog by those in need, he is still not respected politically on any side of the racial or political divide, so why is he not getting this?


And what of Political Leader Rowley himself? Perhaps his failure to capture his party from within is the most telling symptom of all, and his inability to pull a crowd without a support cast or to build a platform on strictly PNM members shows how outclassed he is in that position.

That is a discussion for the PNM and its financiers and perhaps also for the OWTU, whose membership seem to have sent a message to their own leadership that they are either not interested in being used as political pawns or that the current leader does not command his union. Either way, as they say, something is not right in London Town.

The last time the PNM were this far up a creek we had an upheaval, and if 1990 is anything to go on then the next twelve to fifteen months in this country is going to be a roller coaster as desperation sets in. Prepare for them and their allies to unleash hell. For our sake and that of the democracy i hope the government is ready for anything…