By Raffique Shah
August 29, 2026

There is a dearth of leadership in Trinidad and Tobago as there is in the Caribbean and other parts of the world.

In the last five years or so, several countries from the region have faced angry electors howling out for change in their parties, and as I grope to find promising leadership to usher in a new era that is armed with people who will bring us a new generation in the seats of power, we are faced instead with party leaders who believe they have the gift of eternal life.

This phenomenon is leadership by divine intervention; in other words, your leader falls dead and your party scrambles to find another to fill the gap. Who knows, it may well be your lucky day. It happened here when PM Dr Eric Williams died one night at the official residence in St Ann’s and in a few months’ time, George Chambers, to his credit, rose from the inner cabinet to become prime minister.

Chambers had the best transition of any party. It never occurs to parties that such emergencies could arise, and they must be prepared to handle them within reasonable time. Dr Keith Rowley had made the necessary provisions, but the people and the party were not ready for that generational change that was long overdue, and hopefully it would have set the pace for future party leaders and change the course of our history.

The PNM has a structure in place to deal with the convulsions that the death of a leader can bring, and which no other party has put in place. Still, it faced uncertainties when Dr Rowley decided to retire after ten years of service to our country as our prime minister.

While there may be a shortage of good leadership, there has never been a shortage of people who think they are the best leaders for their parties, countries, and community pigpens. The liberal system of government that we have practised for all of our history ensures all our electorate and political tendencies have the absolute freedom to run for election anywhere in the country they deem as worthy of their command.

So, in 1976 when I reluctantly agreed with the decision of my party executive that I run for a seat, I was not excited. I had long argued that our system was not true democracy. But, when the party demanded that I make a contribution by giving up my private life in favour of a very public good, I was offered a kind of Hobson’s choice.

When the ballot paper showed 11 candidates, of which I was one, vying for the position MP for the Siparia constituency, it dawned on me that my opponents all saw themselves as leaders of their respective parties, and they made that clear while promoting it. I whipped them all, won the seat handsomely, and after serving the people of Siparia for five years I bowed out of that brand of politics, never to return.

We do not have leadership training programmes for those desirous of entering politics. As such, the onus is on the individuals and their parties to host such programmes, unless of course you pursue tertiary education geared towards politics and public service.

The kinds of people who are Members of Parliament now in this present day—some seem to have been picked up in bars. When they open their mouths to speak, English appears to be a foreign language to some of them. How do their leaders not feel embarrassed by this? So, how then do you find successors, and successors to what?

Stuart Young stepped down as the appointed leader of the PNM after losing the general election, making way for Pennelope Beckles with whom the party fanatics and general council seemed more comfortable. But where is the PNM today?

Dr Williams, Patrick Manning and other deceased PNM stalwarts must be looking on in horror from the heavens above, lamenting what has become of their beloved party. Even Ferdie Ferreira felt the leader for the PNM had been chosen wisely by Dr Rowley.

Leadership is not a birthright, nor is it a hand-me-down. It is learned and honed over an extensive period of time, even for those who are natural-born leaders. They, too, still have to put in the work to gain and eventually retain their positions.

I wish leadership in our country had evolved over time, but an integral aspect of that would be for us to have had leaders and not just managers. When will those with power understand leaders are not plucked from every mango tree they pass? They have gifts such as the vision for a new nation and, most of all, unquestionable integrity—an imperative for anyone aspiring to the nation’s highest offices.