Every time I hear some new 'pundit' pronouncing on the 'new era' or the 'new politics' I want to laugh.
I do not know if they actually believe the drivel they are peddling, or if it is some internal marketing plan to fan the flames of fervor or to keep interest alive in the Hybrid party; either way, it cant work.
Trinidad does not work that way.
When you have a situation where you require a collection of all other political parties, 'none of which' can claim to be national, so 'none of which' can ever hope to win an election alone, yet 'all of which' so mistrust each other that they hold onto their own identities, and still need a hobbled PNM under a despised leader to win, you do not need a degree in political science to see what is coming next.
The general elections of 2010 was a referendum AGAINST Patrick Manning, his cabal of malcontents and his policies.
That is ALL it was.
Any pundit worth their salt knew that if Manning had stepped down and 'put' Rowley as leader, the party would have won seats 'all in Grenada and St. Lucia'.
Don't get confused, the Hybrid party simply facilitated an amalgamation of ALL votes to effect his removal.
If their unity was just an accommodation for the purposes of attaining power, now that it is done, how do they justify their existence in hopes of consolidating it?
The capitulated 'politically dependent media', unhappy Tobagonians (has any politician ever made them happy?), disgruntled labor, the 'no ideology' monied class all played a major role in what ocured, but it is the disenchanted PNM support base that put the PNM OUT of office, and well, by extension, put the Hybrid in.
The distraction of Patrick Manning is gone, and everything that is Jack Warner, Suruj Rambachan, Carlos John, Tim Gopeesingh and a couple other People's Partnership 'Senior Members' will be revealed again into the bright light of day; some people are going to have some serious questions to answer from the same swing voters who put them there, and who wont need them no more.
The hysteria is already faded and old, and people are looking to see what exactly did they get in exchange.
The treasury cannot afford the promises made on the campaign trail, so the Party in Power is going to either have to let some people down, or deficit finance to keep those promises, leaving a debt for 'someone else' in the future to repay.
Where is the new politics in that?
Sir, why are you so negative about the partnership? This country (nor the UK) has never witnessed such a rare opportunity after election. We should embrace it and use it as a wake up call to get more involved in our politics insteaed of allowing charlatans to run our country into the ground. It is actually quite mature for someone to say "I don't really support the ideals of UNC or PNM but I appreciate the values that COP has put forth since the last campaign" for example and even more mature that even TOP and NJAC would be smart enough to unite with a promising new leader with a clean record, IF ONLY because they saw the country suffering at the hands of a squandering control freak. You keep focusing on how Manning was the reason the election came away from the PNM, which in my opionion has been a useless enabler party for years spoon-feeding the poor to be dependent on their own ignorance. This is a good thing that the country is not settling for B.S. and is voting with hopes for better. Many of us are up to the challenge and want to see the end of crime, dependency, drugs and corruption. Who knows, maybe this result will teach the country to start voting issues and country, not party...as I will-- Good day to you!
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