Musings (political)

I haven't written anything political in a while, not here nor under the banner of the National Democratic Movement.

The reason for this mainly was the developments taking place in the lead up to and the eventual outcome of the internal elections of the UNC.
The call for change in the country, the urgent desire to remove the PNM from power before they completely destroyed the country commanded national attention. What started off as the usual UNC cat-fight became a tremor, and then a rumble that erupted in the almost expulsion of Basdeo Panday from his own party and the sidelining of his die hard handful of supporters; All i could say then was wow, Trini people do have the ability to make change when it is truly necessary.

Before I could put pen to paper urging caution, we were all swept along, the euphoria so real everyone got drunk on the emotions and were lining up behind Kamla the way we lined up behind the NAR; We had a new Messaiah, and we were going to put the wrong things right once and for all.
Then the bill came. And we realized that in exchange for ridding the politics of Panday, we were now saddled with Jack Warner, quite possibly the most despised businessman in Trinidad, even though Trinidad boasts some mighty despicable Indian drug lords, Syrian drug and money laundering Cartels and Chinese mafia. Trying to come to terms with this rough edge to the news, we were then assaulted by the image of none other than Carlos John congratulating the new leader, and all hopes went down the drain.

Now the true results of that internal election is clear; The UNC remains a bandit party, and Kamla literally does not have the stones to change it.

Which brings us to my writing now. We have a third force in the politics, limping along, bent but not broken in the form of The Congress of the People. This party has at its core, things like family values, integrity in public office and a return to human decency. Will they live up to this? We can't be sure. What we can be sure of is voting the COP into office is the best proposition in the face of the evil hearts of the UNC and the PNM, and that will have to suffice.

I would like to call on the COP to open its doors to every creed and race and do so publicly. I would like a public pronouncement of the adoption of the National Anthem as a core vision for the party, especially where every creed and race find an equal place.
I would also like to strongly suggest that a contract with the people of Trinidad & Tobago document be created, and a list of the most important things to ALL the people be guaranteed in the first term, if not the first year in office.

Things like:

VAT free food, free and professional health care, protection policies for the young, care-taking policies for out elderly, a rebranding and reorganizing of ALL national institutions with an eye towards equality for all, and a clean up of the police force and the Judiciary.

I would like to suggest that a reward of 100,000 be paid to the person whose evidence results in the conviction of a corrupt police officer or any Public Servant for that matter, and a quarter of a million dollar reward to anyone who assist in the conviction of corrupt Government Ministers.

I suggest we move to implement the death penalty across the board to everyone now housed on death row, to make room for a Capital Crimes Court whose sole purpose is to deal with crimes evil in themselves. It is time for an eye for an eye, or until the bandits understand that we have had enough.

The penalty for using drugs should become so onerous as to function as a deterrent, and a drug court needs to be set up to put users, dealers, pushers and launderers away.

This country needs a Government committed to the development of the people, uniting the people through policies of equality and access to all.

I am re stating my public support for the Congress of the People, and i believe there are more than enough people fed up of both the PNM and the UNC to guarantee victory at the polls.

I call on the leaders of the party to rise, take up the challenge; shake of the old talk and start afresh, with a vision of a better place for us all, somewhere we can all call home.

We need all hands on deck, but I know for sure the good outnumber the bad in this land, and from that we can draw solace. That there are Indeed many men and women of integrity here.

On that note, I would like to add the following:

Dr. Benjamin Bratt, Kathryn Stollmeyer, Wazim Daniel, Prakash Ramadar, Liam Carlos Gonsalves Rezende, Hilary McShine, Robert Amar, Paolo Kernahan, Rodger Douglas, Percy Villafana, Gillian Lucky, Dr. Keith Rowley, Ken Ali, Om Lalla, and the countless others who I may have forgotten and those whose work behind the scenes are just as important.

I call your name. You are called and chosen, separated and set on high. In the esteem of the wise you will be held with respect, and your name will be remembered for doing the right thing at considerable cost to yourself.

I read once that a few good people is all that stands between us and the darkness, and I would like to say thank you.
You embody the words of the giants who have gone before, who said things like "Ask not what your country can do for you, rather ask what can I do for my country", or "Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has".

You have my respect and admiration, and on behalf of every citizen of this country I would like to say thank you, and please keep up the good work.