Reinventing the PNM...

The current Opposition Party, the People's National Movement, needs to understand its new role in our Democracy and get on with the program, or make way for others better suited for the job.

Effective Opposition is a lynchpin in our system of Governance, and the stronger the Opposition the stronger the Government, the better off the people.

The Party needs to shake off the defeat of the last election and re establish itself if it ever wants to be considered as a viable option for Government, but the vociferous ranting and downright silliness being posted by some of its members leads me to ask one question;

Is the Party in denial?

Listening to what is being said one gets the impression that not only does the Party membership NOT accept responsibility for their current position, they seem to be trying to apportion blame for their current circumstances OUTSIDE of the Party.

Nothing could be further from the truth, and I dare say, it is an urgent function of the new Leadership to publicly identify where the Party is, how it comes to find itself where it now is, and to clearly enunciate where it wants to go, so as to rein in its members and hopefully re-gain Public trust along the way.

This is not going to be an easy journey, and now is not the time for silliness nor delusion.

On the campaign trail, 'then' 'outcast' MP Dr. Keith Rowly said categorically that, should the metaphorical 'ship' that is the PNM find itself in dry dock, there would be time for court martial.

'Now' newly appointed Political Leader Dr. Keith Rowley needs to prove that he is a man true to his word and nothing like his predecessor.
The Party he now leads needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and much public house cleaning is required if the electorate is to ever consider his Party an option for governance in the near future.

In this exercise of rebranding and reconstruction, acceptance is a key component to going forward.
The Party HAS to accept responsibility not only for the state of its own affairs, but for the damage done to the nation as a whole by the last PNM government.
The country will accept no less, and any arrogance on the part of the People's National Movement will consign them to the fringes of national life and make a lie of the statement great is the PNM and it shall prevail.

Dr. Rowley, if you ever wanted an opportunity to prove that you are a leader, that time is now.

Your members are in deep denial over the issues that turned the rest of the country away from your Party in shame and disgust, and if the PNM ever wants to see the corridors of power again, you are going to have to convince rank and file Trinidadians that not only does the Party KNOW that the abuses done under Patrick Manning and his band of bandits was wrong on multiple levels, that under your watch and in the 'new' PNM, it could NEVER happen again.

What the people do not want and will not accept are excuses or revisionism.
There will be no rewriting of history to soothe anyone's conscience here.
The people fully expect the entire Party to fall on the proverbial sword for what was done to the national psyche during those tumultuous times when then Prime Minister and Party leader Manning was running amok.

The PNM at all material times had a responsibility to the nation to reign in its rogue leader, and, if there was no machinery in place to so do, NOW is an excellent time to put such machinery in place to assuage fears and guarantee the population that no such abuses can ever occur again on a PNM watch.

Going forward Dr, Rowley, the nation needs to deal with some issues that MUST be ventilated from a PNM perspective if the party is to appear capable of leadership and viable for government, and the people await your position on these issues:

Gary Hunt's two million dollar flag - this is probably the smallest sum misappropriated under the last PNM administration and was a visible embodiment of the arrogance of the then Prime Minister and his cabal and contempt for the people of this country. In the face of a public outcry against what was seen by rank and file Trinidadians as brazen daylight robbery, this arrogant stance was compounded by the position taken by the then Minister of Works that the flag he erected was a symbol of 'National Pride' and we were not entitled to question how he provided said symbol.

Calder Hart - Protestations against the UFF report are just that, protestations. There are systems in place to deal with issues such as these, and these systems should be allowed to work. The rumor mill paints a frightening picture, of billions of dollars of the people's money being stolen through different schemes and mechanisms by this man and his minions, and not only would the people like to see the offenders jailed for their misuse of the Public Trust, they would like to have the money returned.

Patrick Manning's Church - Another blaring symbol of arrogance, this issue undermined both the Office of The Prime Minister and the people's view on religion. No one in their right minds would challenge the people to decide between religion and corrupt enrichment by abuse, and this is exactly what took place here.
In an almost cult like atmosphere of secrecy and misdirection, the Project Manager - Prime Minister Patrick Manning demonstrated a contempt for the democratic principles that defined his Office.

The Prime Minister's Palace - Never to be seen again as the refuge of the holder of the highest Office in the land, the home of our elected Kings was transformed into a palace befitting an Emperor.
Almost confirming the people's suspicions that he had dictatorial intentions, the then Prime Minister flouted convention and tradition in his rush to personal aggrandizement.

Billion Dollar Cocktail Parties - The treasure of the nation was used to hoist this new World Leader on the Global stage and to create a platform for waste and corruption not seen before or since.
We may never know how much of the nation's wealth was wasted and stolen for these two meaningless charades, but the benefits to this nation will never live up to its cost, both in real dollars and in the breakdown of confidence in the system.

The Smelter Project - The United States is four thousand times bigger than Trinidad with tracts of empty land ten times the size of Trinidad and they STILL didn't want that project in their backyard, and the people rightly asked why should we want it in ours?
The science of the thing could not and cannot be 'politicked' away, regardless of how many jobs might be created.
The long term consequences to the environment and the citizenry outstrip and outweigh any short term benefits and this has been proven definitively.
This issue cuts across Party lines and strikes at the heart of the core Government function, that of protecting the people. Canceling this unpopular idea will contribute significantly to the preservation of our environment, and should be considered a dead issue.

The Rapid Rail - Seen for what it is, this slick 'Con Job' of epic proportions that was almost played on the people was one of the casualties of the election and the people are all richer for it.
There is no tangible benefit to the nation or the people, real or imagined, by this testimony to greed and graft and the issue should be closed forever.
That it is still being peddled within the Party demonstrates that the Party has a lot of work to do if it is to convince its own membership that the PNM is not a den of thieves, a path to personal enrichment at the expense of the people or a corrupt institution if it ever hopes to regain the national trust.

These are not the only abuses committed under Patrick Manning and is not intended to be a definitive list.
They are highlighted here as glaring examples and are used in this instant to remind the members of the People's National Movement of the mountain they still have to climb and what needs mending in the ship while in dry dock.

The Westminster Definition:

'The Official Opposition is viewed as the caucus tasked with keeping the government in check.
It is also generally viewed as the alternative government or "government in waiting".
The Official Opposition maintains a shadow cabinet of Members of Parliament (MPs) that should have the same portfolios as actual ministers.
It is styled after "Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition" to show that, although the group may be against the sitting government, it remains loyal to the Crown (under our Republican constitution; the Head of State), and thus to the unified state of Trinidad & Tobago'.

The PNM has much work to do if it is to live up to those lofty ideals, and if it intends to prevail, that work has to begin now.

Something to think about....