Do not hold any more Non Political Meetings

After more than two decades in the political arena I expect more from our politicians who seek to capture the imagination of our people.

( Finance Minister COLM IMBERT , Sandals Grenada Luxury Resort , Shuttered Petrotrin Refinery )

And so, last Tuesday, April 16, 2019, I sat in my study waiting to be captivated by our Prime Minister as the PNM Caravan rolled into the Barataria area in an attempt to convince the voters in that constituency that the time has come for them to shift their loyalty from the UNC and in 2020 cast their votes in favor of the People’s National Movement. To be honest, I do not know what went wrong; why the energy to which we have grown so accustomed at PNM political meetings just fell flat; but it did. I searched for answers wondering whether the party was of the mistaken view that all elections leading up to the 2020 General Election are already in their bag, so the effort that is usually expended to whip up their adoring fans was really not necessary. I wondered whether it was as a result of the aging politicians, men like Colm Imbert; Fitzgerald Hinds and Keith Rowley, who have reached the sunset of their lives, that contributed to the boring and tired messages that were delivered. In content, Colm Imbert was his natural self, providing information which is extremely difficult for the public to access, therefore almost impossible for the national community to verify. But true to form, Imbert’s discourse was filled with so much fallacies and repeated lies that there was no turbulence from the audience even when he announced that more money will now be available (as we had predicted two weeks ago in a previous column) and that the economy is now in a better place. Apparently Imbert had forgotten that just last year he had said the same thing.

The intent of political meetings is to inspire people

He said then that we would see clearly but up to now our vision remains blurred. Imbert had promised better days ahead but today thousands have been placed on the breadline. So any prognosis he presents to the population is difficult to accept especially when it lacks the conviction with which we are familiar when Colm Imbert speaks. The country is fed up with the lies of our politicians and possibly it’s time to follow Ukraine and get an actor to run the country. He/ She will not do worse. Somebody ought to advise the Prime Minister that the intent of political meetings is to inspire people of all political backgrounds and not only the sycophants in his party. Somebody ought to advise the Prime Minister that the nation is already aware of his stated political position and what we need to be convinced of are the ideas for change that he harbors and the choices he proposes to make. Because within the contours of political power those are the variables that will convince the voters on the fence either to choose the PNM or to seek another alternative. One gets the impression that had it not been for Sat Maharaj’s contretemps and his misspeak on Tobago men, that the Prime Minister would have had nothing to say in Barataria last Tuesday. Because in his conversation themes relating to acts of corruption that were committed nearly four years ago and for which the culprits have not been held means nothing to a people awaiting a vision from their leader.

Many thought this could not have been the same PM

With bated breath the nation listened desperately for some direction from our leader that would excite us and catapult us in belief and action. But the Prime Minister’s talking points were more like bedtime stories lulling a nation to sleep. It is as though the once verbally facile Keith Rowley forgot the importance of verbal persuasion, an important tool that he ought to have developed by now. So when he chose to speak about the transportation link between Trinidad and Tobago even the people from Tobago began to wonder where was this so-called passion and commitment during the past two years when their businesses collapsed, when unemployment skyrocketed and when the tourism thrust in Tobago died. Many thought that this could not have been the same Prime Minister who sat in the seat of power from September 2015 because the transportation woes for Tobago are not over and things have gotten even worse for the 60,000 people living on the island. Rowley failed to appreciate that campaigning is a very important and integral part in the life of a politician because it is this tool that is used to provide information for a nation to understand the difficulties and the opportunities they face and to enable them to make informed positions with regard to their vote.

The PM’s narratives at PNM public meetings should be solution-based

The nation wants to know why Keith Rowley should be trusted with their vote again and his narratives at PNM public political meetings therefore should be solution-based and not just ole talk and picong to pander to the people whose vote he has already secured. So when the Prime Minister regresses to talk about crime and the People’s Partnership’s failure to purchase the boats that a past PNM administration sought to procure to protect the coastline, we will all remember that it is almost four years now since the Prime Minister and his government have been in power and had the opportunity to change the situation but they have done nothing. The Prime Minister cannot talk about winning the war against crime when more than 60% of the boats belonging to our Coast Guard are down, when the President had to scold the leadership about the diet of our committed men who defend us, when the police are not receiving the resources they require and the Commissioner of Police has to literally beg for funds to run the Police Service. Listening to the PNM last Tuesday convinced many that it seems as though the PNM has failed to comprehend that people no longer vote because they like you, or because they share the same ethnicity with you or worship in the same temple, mosque or church. People vote for you because they understand and agree with your policies. So, when you take people’s jobs, fail to pay them the money that is owed to them, impose oppressive taxes not once nor twice but three times and then boast about it, do you think they will not rebel against further oppressive schemes like the Property Tax and a Revenue Authority? The Prime Minister’s focus in Barataria last Tuesday should have been on selling the integrity of his Government so that the people will believe again and trust him with their vote. But alas! What was presented at that meeting was a tired and boring rhetoric that was not worth the time wasted on the social and electronic media.

Start with an exposé of the Sandals deal

I know the Prime Minister does not take my advice since, in the main, my advice affects his blood pressure. But the reality is that if he continues down this road the forty people whom he will select to contest the 2020 General Election would be brought to shame. The national community should never again be forced to suffer through another staid PNM political meeting and probably if the Prime Minister develops a scorecard based on Aristotle’s classical formula for rhetoric his speeches will include a sense of ethos (credibility), pathos (emotion) and logos (logic) upon which he can embark on a return to Government. To capture the nation’s imagination, at future PNM public meetings, the Prime Minister could start with an exposé of the Sandals Deal. He can talk about who really stands to benefit from the shutdown of Petrotrin. He can begin an honest conversation about the state of our economy as well as the runaway crime.He can speak about all these things and more instead of reminding us about how Kamla and dem tief which we already know. By the way, was it not a PNM candidate who had said on the campaign trail, “all ah we tief”? So just maybe the Prime Minister will read and take my advice this week and in doing so, the PNM may be given another chance.