I find it very strange the amount of
support Prakash Ramadhar is getting in his stance against the UNC
over the Marlene Coudray matter and I am sure as a former Jurist of
some renown and experience he must be noticing it as well.
Looked at more closely patterns and agendas begin to emerge and I would like to suggest to the COP leader that he be very circumspect with whose advice he follows especially where agendas are concerned. The media is loving the suspense and drama of the story as nothing sells newspapers like bacchanal, but he ought not to confuse media enthusiasm with political support. The PNM and its members are so overjoyed over this development that they are almost partying in the streets, but their jubilation is based on the hope that disunity between the COP and the UNC brings to their cause. A combined UNC/COP is a numbers game that they cannot overcome and because of this, all of the cheering and jeering from the sidelines need to be ignored. Another questionable source of support is coming from within the COP itself, where members with political axes to grind are using this opportunity to grind away. Anil Roberts' decision to distance himself from his political leader's position has created a space for the chairman of his constituency to challenge him and come out against him ostensibly in support of the political leader. Having worked on the De Lima campaign against both Anil and Prakash, she finds herself in a position where the enemy of her enemy could become her friend and is using the issue to make political hay so she too needs to be ignored. While I understand him being upset over the defection of Marlene Coudray complete with family inheritance in tow, this should not be the reason that the COP finds its spine or that breaks the partnership. Long after the dust is settled and the noise of the agenda brigade has quieted, history will say that Prakash Ramadhar broke the partnership and destroyed the COP over a tantrum. He needs to be the wisest he has ever been in his life right now, and like King Solomon, he needs to know just where to propose to apply the sword.
To me this line in the sand over Marlene Coudray is equally as foolish as his mounting the platform in support of Kamla during the no confidence campaign. If I were to give him any advice here it would be to be less reactive and more proactive, less 'up close' and more 'big picture' in his leadership. In the solitary meeting that I had with him since his ascension I told him what I believe he already knew, that the COP as it currently exists is barely a name and may already be a dead man walking if he as political leader did nothing to change it. I told him despite the rantings of low level UNC hustlers like Sharma and Rambachan and regardless of who he was in partnership with, his had to be a mandate to grow the COP into a national party or his leadership would be about administering last rites. I told him if he had any real political ambitions that the COP needed to become a national party and to hell with who didn't like it. I also told him that while he should do everything in his power to not be the one to break the people's trust, that he should do everything to establish the COP nationally in time for the next general elections.
Now that he has publicly taken his 'principled' stand over the affair he is in a unique position to back away without much loss of face.. Whether he is granted concessions by the UNC or not is of little consequence to what he takes from this point on, and he should instead use this opportunity to take his show on the road to the people, to build his brand and redevelop the COP. He needs to be very aware as to why they say lonely is the head that wears the crown and ignore all those who are 'chooking' fire. His is the only name that will live with his decision regardless of who may be goading him now, and for that reason alone he must be cautious as to whose advice he takes.
Looked at more closely patterns and agendas begin to emerge and I would like to suggest to the COP leader that he be very circumspect with whose advice he follows especially where agendas are concerned. The media is loving the suspense and drama of the story as nothing sells newspapers like bacchanal, but he ought not to confuse media enthusiasm with political support. The PNM and its members are so overjoyed over this development that they are almost partying in the streets, but their jubilation is based on the hope that disunity between the COP and the UNC brings to their cause. A combined UNC/COP is a numbers game that they cannot overcome and because of this, all of the cheering and jeering from the sidelines need to be ignored. Another questionable source of support is coming from within the COP itself, where members with political axes to grind are using this opportunity to grind away. Anil Roberts' decision to distance himself from his political leader's position has created a space for the chairman of his constituency to challenge him and come out against him ostensibly in support of the political leader. Having worked on the De Lima campaign against both Anil and Prakash, she finds herself in a position where the enemy of her enemy could become her friend and is using the issue to make political hay so she too needs to be ignored. While I understand him being upset over the defection of Marlene Coudray complete with family inheritance in tow, this should not be the reason that the COP finds its spine or that breaks the partnership. Long after the dust is settled and the noise of the agenda brigade has quieted, history will say that Prakash Ramadhar broke the partnership and destroyed the COP over a tantrum. He needs to be the wisest he has ever been in his life right now, and like King Solomon, he needs to know just where to propose to apply the sword.
To me this line in the sand over Marlene Coudray is equally as foolish as his mounting the platform in support of Kamla during the no confidence campaign. If I were to give him any advice here it would be to be less reactive and more proactive, less 'up close' and more 'big picture' in his leadership. In the solitary meeting that I had with him since his ascension I told him what I believe he already knew, that the COP as it currently exists is barely a name and may already be a dead man walking if he as political leader did nothing to change it. I told him despite the rantings of low level UNC hustlers like Sharma and Rambachan and regardless of who he was in partnership with, his had to be a mandate to grow the COP into a national party or his leadership would be about administering last rites. I told him if he had any real political ambitions that the COP needed to become a national party and to hell with who didn't like it. I also told him that while he should do everything in his power to not be the one to break the people's trust, that he should do everything to establish the COP nationally in time for the next general elections.
Now that he has publicly taken his 'principled' stand over the affair he is in a unique position to back away without much loss of face.. Whether he is granted concessions by the UNC or not is of little consequence to what he takes from this point on, and he should instead use this opportunity to take his show on the road to the people, to build his brand and redevelop the COP. He needs to be very aware as to why they say lonely is the head that wears the crown and ignore all those who are 'chooking' fire. His is the only name that will live with his decision regardless of who may be goading him now, and for that reason alone he must be cautious as to whose advice he takes.
No comments:
Post a Comment