We shall prevail and overcome as a nation

THE EDITOR: I write to congratulate Dr Rowley and his party for once again emerging triumphant from a bruising political campaign.

I also congratulate the electorate for embracing the proven stability of a party that has faced social storms for the past 65 years. No other party in TT has demonstrated such resilience.

In spite of the joy and euphoria among PNM supporters and well-wishers in the nation, I would be seriously remiss if I did not highlight the position in which the nation has now found itself.

Yes, the PNM has won the election but has it consolidated its strength and persuasion in Parliament to pass the laws which this nation needs to overcome the challenges ahead – containing crime, providing meaningful and productive employment, developing an education system which will not only empower youth and adults with academic and vocational qualifications but also an ideology which will help us all to manage the turbulence of an unfolding civilisation that confronts planet Earth.

I have always argued that victory alone in politics cannot create a strong nation. The PNM leadership will have to find a way to look beyond five years and begin with a vision that will guide the next generation and beyond to continued success. This means identifying and promoting a new ideology for all in the nation.

Our people must throw away the shackles of racist voting and thoughtless gay abandon and instead focus on a type of politics that will contribute to national development and a mindset which will benefit all in the nation now and in the generations ahead. As I see it, no nation can prevail on a platform of ethnic voting, social disharmony and inequality.

Speaking directly to the PNM, I once again preach to it to insist that not only must the PM and other party functionaries address the population on radio and TV around election time. They must also address, in an ongoing way, the population in a meaningful and scientific way to present, explain, and help us the people to internalise the development and strategic plans they have to successfully manage the challenges which await us on the arduous journey ahead.

Teamwork, commitment, and oversight must be added to the key words – discipline, tolerance, and production – of our nation.

Be assured, if we fail to change our ways as a people, we will certainly fail as a nation, turning on fellow citizens as hungry beasts do in the jungle.

Yes, the PNM has a heavy burden to lay the foundation for a new TT. Therefore, let us be a nation focused rather than self- or party-focused, and declare, “Long live TT. We shall prevail.”

Finally, political parties must start seeing government as a relay race, with successive governments represented as relay teams, determined to take their baton to its position of victory.

RAYMOND S HACKETT

Curepe