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My new party
Posted: Sunday, January 13, 2002
By Donna Yawching
ANYONE who knows me will testify that politics has never been my ambition. Countless people have asked me, over the years, why I don't run for office; my reply has always been, "I'm not crooked enough to be a politician."
But today I am seriously thinking about forming a new political party. Not because I have any deep-seated wish to be Prime Minister (although the two Benzes would be nice, after my battered, foreign-used Sentra). I've never been inclined to view myself as Mother of the Nation.
I would in any case not qualify for the job, since I hold a foreign passport and (unlike other hypocritical opportunists I could name) I have no intention of giving it up. If they want me to be PM, they'll have to change the rules-and I can see no reason why they should.
However, even without having my eye on the top job, the idea of launching a party is definitely gaining appeal. This country desperately needs a new option, and all the peripheral contenders to date resemble wet noodles. It's time for some real leadership–someone who is not merely mesmerised by the prospect of living in a big house, speeding around behind obnoxious outriders, and grabbing as much of the national patrimony as can fit into a Swiss bank account. Time for some genuine integrity, not merely unctuous mouthings accompanied by a smug smile, or empty witticisms masked by a wolfish grin.
Do I know anything about government? No; but do I need to? Brute ignorance hasn't, so far, prevented anyone else from foisting themselves on the electorate (e.g. Gypsy, Dhanraj, and no doubt others). Expertise, in any case, is something that can be hired; honesty is not. And that is what I would offer; it's what this nation needs, literally more than anything else. A dose of simple, determined, non-rapacious honesty. Is there even ONE person in the current political pantheon about whom you would be willing to lay your head on a block? I certainly can't think of any.
The criteria for belonging to my new party would be simple: no cretins allowed-a minimum IQ of 100 required to walk through the door. Also: no past or present politicians need apply; no former or current members of state boards or enterprises; no one with big-business connections. No one with friends or family in any of the following fields: construction, transport, banking, or petrochemicals (for a start).
A limited number of lawyers (maybe one or two) would be allowed in, to cover the legal ministries; an economist for Finance; a couple of medical personnel to oversee health care; and quite a few engineers to deal with infrastructural planning and development. A handful of labour experts (this does not mean union leaders!) and management consultants to kick butt in the civil service; and some heavy-duty negotiators (probably foreign, to ensure competence) to arm-wrestle with the big oil and gas companies. There would be no ethnic quotas: just produce the appropriate qualifications and I'll pick names from a hat. First hint of bobol, and you're out-forget about commissions of enquiry.
My party would likely be a bit top-heavy with sociologists, social workers, psychologists, and professional educators, because I believe this society's rot needs to be tackled at the root, not merely by spraying insecticide on the branches. It would probably sideline anyone over the age of 60, since this demographic is irrelevant to the future of the country: they are not the ones who will have to live with the consequences of today's decisions. It's time for T&T to be run by those with an irrevocable stake in its future-not a bunch of old men looking to feather their retirement nests (or middle-aged opportunists looking to jump-start the process).
Sound good so far? Anything would be an improvement on the bankrupt political culture that currently obtains. (I'm interested to know how much support my new party would get; so, just this once, here's my email address: yawching@trinidad.net. Let me hear from you! Who knows where it might go?)
The past three weeks-for anyone foolish enough to have retained any shreds of optimism–have proven beyond a doubt that we do not have a political party worthy of governing this country. It's said that a nation gets the government it deserves; but this time, I don't agree. No one, anywhere, deserves this degrading bunch of jokers.
Think about it. In its contemptuous reneging on a binding agreement, the UNC has demonstrated that its guiding principles are dishonesty and dishonour. They cannot be trusted. They have proven this in no uncertain terms. Like pitbulls with the taste of blood in their mouths, they will clamp onto that dream of power until the bitter, perhaps bloody, end. Nothing else matters, least of all the electorate.
And the PNM, through Patrick Manning's stunning ministerial decisions, has proven that its guiding principle is sheer stupidity. I'm still trying to reel my jaw in from the floor. A psychologist friend of mine has advanced the opinion that Mr Manning is clinically delusional; and I'm finding it hard to disagree. His actions seem to bear no relation to the reality of the current situation.
And in allowing him to so effectively destroy the party's tremulous credibility, the rest of the PNM leadership has proven that the stupidity is endemic. They should have tied Manning to the bedpost, rather than allowing him to make those controversial Cabinet announcements. It's almost (though not quite) enough to make me wish I'd voted UNC: at least another clear loss would have forced the PNM to dump the Manning albatross once and for all.
For the very first time, I find myself feeling sorry for President Robinson. Between a con-man and a fool, the choice must have been a painful one. There was no right choice he could have made; and so he didn't. That, alone, will qualify him for the history books. Luckily for him, he probably won't be around to read them.
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