The United National Congress, and the myriad of political parties that preceded it, have all carried within them one fundamental flaw—the party was always molded by its leader, as opposed to the PNM, whose leaders have always been molded by their party.
This has led to the constant splintering and creation of new political identities each time a successor rose up within the rank and file of the movement, and threatened any incumbent political leader. Within the lifespan of the UNC alone there have been four major political parties, and a host of less significant ones, who have for one reason or the other, branched out with a portion of the membership, thereby dwindling the support of the UNC while simultaneously mitigating any real challenge to the PNM’s sovereign reign of our country. This made 2010’s internal election especially significant, since it was the first time that an incumbent executive was completely swept out of office. This change in administration also allowed many of the disillusioned and departed to return to the ranks of the UNC and strengthen the party sufficiently to allow them to win both the general and local elections that same year.
But as time went on, supporters and members of the party soon began to realise that the change that they were convinced to vote for may not have been as comprehensive or as effectual as they would have hoped. Moreover, the administration and coherence of the party began to dissipate as a result of a focus on the governance of the nation rather than the management, or even proper maintenance, of the UNC. As a result, constituency executives and party groups were left to stagnate and perish, while members and supporters were left disenfranchised once more, which led to the most debilitating loss of our most secure seat of Chaguanas West in 2013 as we were whitewashed in the four elections we faced that year, and the eventual defeat in the general election just two months ago.
We are now left to ponder the Kamla takeover of our party in 2010 and whether or not we actually betrayed the founding father of the UNC, Basdeo Panday. Our entire legacy as a political movement has been to follow great leaders, who, through various institutions, have fought for our rights and our freedoms against those who would attempt to suppress them. For all his issues and baggage, we cannot deny the contribution that Mr Panday has made to our nation, the crowning one being the formation of the United National Congress.
Whether we care to admit it or not, the UNC was formed from the same type of scenario that formed parties such as the COP and the ILP, and Mr Panday did create it with his own set of ideals in mind. Whether we felt in 2010 that those founding principles were no longer achievable or in our best interest, or whether we believed that Mr Panday had betrayed those conventions himself, neither can abnegate the fact that we abandoned both him and his vision out of fear and self-righteous indignation. But what is clear however, and what we have yet to accept, is that the day we removed Mr Panday as leader, we unwittingly replaced the UNC with Team Kamla, and today we are now right back where we began, without a leader, a party, or a vision that we can believe in or that can return us to government.
Ravi Maharaj
Via email