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Dead men walking
Posted: Saturday, December 22, 2001

By DONNA YAWCHING

IN CASE no one has noticed, this country has been without a clear governing body for two whole weeks. Oh sure: technically the old government holds the line until such time as the President pronounces otherwise; but in reality, they're nothing more than zombies, dead men walking, waiting for the signal that will either bring them back to life, or else consign them definitively to the grave.

The most interesting aspect of this unorthodox situation is that no one (barring the politicians themselves, and perhaps a few businessmen) really seems to care very much. By about two days after the election deadlock, most people seemed to have lost interest in the topic of who will form the next government; everyone is just shrugging mentally and "waiting to see".

There's no indication that the country is poised on a knife's edge, waiting to explode into partisan violence the moment one man is chosen over the other. It may happen, of course–human beings are by definition unpredictable; but right now, indifference and apathy seem to be the order of the day. If the New Year were to meet us still without an appointed Prime Minister, virtually no one would really give a damn. My colleague Jillian Ballantyne, in her pre-election column, noted the feeling of apathy amongst the voters; nothing seems to have changed.

The question is: Why this mass indifference to our nation's fate? It could be that Trinis are simply weary of constitutional crises: there seem to have been enough of these this last year to see us through the century. We have had to submit to lengthy and tedious discussions as to whether electoral losers should be made ministers, and whether candidates who perjure themselves can be considered acceptable public representatives. We have babbled on ad nauseum as to whether the President has any discretion to so much as spit without getting the Prime Minister's permission.

We have seen a government lose control of Parliament, and a Speaker act like a spoilt little boy, with all the constitutional issues that these events have dredged up. We have seen the President assume the hot seat time and again during this last year, and each time the Constitution has been rifled through to support the contentions of every diverse and conflicting opinion. We are, in short, so fed up of the whole thing that if someone were to put President, Prime Ministers, and Constitution all into a large, heavily-weighted bag and drop it into the ocean, I doubt anyone would care. Or even notice.

Attractive as that option might be, it is nevertheless not one that I recommend. It would, for one thing, pollute the seas beyond redemption, and not even the fish deserve such a fate. Uninspiring though it may be, we have little choice but to put up with one of the two contenders–and I suspect that this is the other reason behind the national apathy. The President's decision is, essentially, between Tweedledum and Tweedledee; he may just as well go "Eenie meenie mynie moe". For all we know, that may be exactly what he plans to do.

Mind you, as Mr Robinson struggles to make his mind up between Dumb and Dumber, everyone with a vested interest is trying their best to load the dice. Hence the embarrassing spectacle of our Attorney General Kamla Persad-Bissessar scurrying off to make a plea for (surprise!) "the incumbent", having banished from her mind all recognition that the post of Attorney General is supposed to carry with it at least a modicum of legal objectivity. If we ever needed proof that Persad-Bissessar, as AG, is useful only as a seat-warmer, this, to me, is conclusive.

Let me deal with Kamla's self-serving nonsense right here and now. Whatever the "custom" may be regarding "the incumbent", it is unlikely that said "custom" includes a situation where the incumbent had actually been forced into calling an election by the collapse of his government. Her incumbency arguments might hold water in the event where a routine election, at the end of a government's statutory term of office, ended in a deadlock. But to argue that a Prime Minister who was unable to maintain control of Parliament should be re-appointed to face exactly the same situation again, is the ultimate in futility. It puts us right back where we were three months ago; what would be the point of that?

On the other hand FIFA, in its prompt and unequivocal handling of its corruption issues, has shown us very clearly (since, apparently, we need to be shown) what is considered acceptable and what unacceptable in public office. You didn't hear Sepp Blatter bleating for outsiders to "bring the evidence". Surely a nation should have higher and purer aspirations than a mere football organisation? And surely a President should take such aspirations into account?

Whatever happens, whoever is chosen, yet another election seems inevitable, and fairly soon. I'd like to suggest that Mr Robinson at least do us all a favour by making the following proclamation: that the next election campaign must be conducted in silence. By which I mean media silence. No radio, TV or print ads whatsoever.

Let the candidates go back to basics: let them hold public meetings and do their damnedest to persuade the voters through their own native wit, instead of via the scurrilous lies, half-truths and innuendoes that are the dubious contribution of the ad agencies.

This would achieve several desirable ends: first, it would save the rest of us from premature dementia caused by blanket ad campaigns; and it would also make the election campaign affordable to groups who do not have Lawrence Duprey in their corner. A (more) level playing field: now wouldn't that be a novel idea?

Who knows: without the discordant jangle of jingles and slogans, without the visual clutter assaulting our eyes and the rank stupidity insulting our intelligence, we might just, this once, get to focus on a few of the issues. Now wouldn't that be a novel idea?

Merry Christmas to all.



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