The clash of the K's

...…this time on equal ground

BY SHANE A. MOHAMMED

In 2015, it appeared that the population judged the Prime Ministerial candidates based on their perceived performance and track records in office. Mrs Persad Bissessar was a first time Prime Minister, managing a Coalition of firstly five political parties and later in her term four.

PM Dr. KEITH ROWLEY

Opposition leader KAMLA PERSAD BISSESSAR

Dr Rowley, one can say, was the political phoenix rising out of the ashes post 2010 and finding his footing as the new leader of the PNM. Prior to her elevation as Prime Minister, Mrs Bissessar remained untarnished in her political life. Dr Rowley stood up against his entire Government and survived his party’s screening process and the 2010 elections.

Therefore, in 2015 when the population felt they did not receive enough from the promising People’s Partnership Government they opted to allow Dr Rowley the opportunity to serve as Prime Minister since he had professed himself to be a no-nonsense, sharp shooting, political stalwart who will not condone the errors of his predecessors.

Granted that the Partnership may have fallen short in expectations of sustaining good governance; it still remains one of the hardest working and best performing Governments to date. In fact, the Partnership possessed almost the same amount of bad fruits like Governments before and because we do not live in a perfect world and Political Leaders are just as human as we are; it is expected that some bad fruits will trickle through the gaps in human judgement.

With that said, here we are at 2019, in anticipation of the 2020 General Elections which it seems “cannot come fast enough” for some whilst others believe they still have time to “waylay” themselves before they decide to which side of the divide they belong. When I say which side of the divide, I am not speaking about UNC or PNM but rather whether they are On the Train or Off the Train.

Entering politics and holding office is not the means to an end

The population now has an equal comparison of Prime Ministerial candidates before them. There is no chance to be given to anyone to “see” what they do or how they will perform. 2020 will be a decision between two Prime Ministers - on the one hand there is the incumbent Dr Keith Rowley, a man who twenty years ago may never have thought he would have attained Prime Minister ship until he discovered the “benefit” of Les Coteaux and the former Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar who many saw as Prime Ministerial from her early days of acting in the position.

Before we move forward, I believe it is necessary to make mention of something. When the Partnership lost the 2015 election, this writer felt a great sense of disappointment and disdain because as I said to my colleagues only days after losing the 2015 election “that this should never have happened, Kamla Persad Bissessar had absolutely No Right to lose those elections.” Those are words I stand by to this day.

For the purpose of ensuring that the nonintellectuals who exist in the political realm understand what they are reading; I will also state that I have probably been one of the most vocal critics against the Opposition Leader for losing the 2015 General Elections.

I will further state that as a matter of principle, I opted to not join her slate in the internal elections of 2015 because it would have been unfair to her and to me to enter into something just to have a position. For me, entering politics and holding office is not the means to an end nor is it the reason why I chose to enter active politics in my youth.

I did so because I believed in a party’s philosophy and in its leadership. In 2015, I was angry and disappointed and I felt that my party betrayed the people. By extension I believed then that my leader betrayed the goodwill of the people. It is no secret that I am a UNC member; BUT I am first and foremost a citizen of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago; a country I am proud to be a citizen of and a country which I believe deserves a Better Government, Better Governance and Better Leadership.

The way forward is to return Kamla Persad-Bissessar as Prime Minister

It is said that time heals all wounds and that is quite possibly so. There are persons who have said worse, done worse, acted worse and still remain active in the politics of Trinidad and Tobago in both the UNC and the PNM. They are the few who get past the gaps of human judgement or they probably pay the Piper which remains another problem in our political system.

So what am I saying? I am saying that Prime Ministers Kamla Persad Bissessar and Keith Rowley are two different Political Leaders and two different Prime Ministers. Kamla Persad Bissessar demonstrated a level of understanding, compassion and determination in her vision to develop our people and the country as a whole. Just look around and it is evident.

Dr Keith Rowley has proved himself to be uninspiring as a leader, dispassionate, uncaring and uncouth. He has shown himself to be prepared to push paper, massage the backs of his friends and support incompetence, arrogance and laziness at a Governance level. There comes a time when one has to listen to the call for persons to step forward and take up the mantle.

Leaders only stay for so long and then like the cycle of life it’s time to move on. We have seen it happen with all other leaders. Kamla Persad Bissessar’s time as Prime Minister was cut short maybe because we as a people had too high expectations or were unfair in our judgement of the Lady. It may be that we did the very same thing that the Brits are doing to Theresa May and their choice to Brexit.

As the weeks and months to 2020 draw closer, we must make a choice that influences the future and in particular how we move forward as a country in 2025. I believe that the way forward is to return Kamla Persad Bissessar as Prime Minister so that 2025 and beyond will be a sure pathway to first world status, effective succession planning and the rise of new, fresh and dynamic leadership.