Tobago’s enlightened electorate

THE EDITOR: What was interesting about a TV news clip on Sunday 7 is that two Tobagonians seemed very decided on voting for change, one particularly harping on the opposition she is likely to face when news of her decision got out.

The latter concern on her part would have probably been derived from the prevailing assumption that all people of African descent, which she was, would automatically vote for the PNM, considering the ethnic divide which is ingrained in the politics of this country as a whole.

In this instance, the two respondents in the news clip seemed to have bypassed the traditional tenet of “PNM till you dead,” as much as diehard core Indian UNC supporters are likely to vote “UNC till they dead,” and instead thought about the issue of economic neglect in Tobago as the motive for voting for change.

Perhaps they would have likely fallen back on the old PNM adage were it not for the presumably African-based PDP (Progressive Democratic Patriots) arising from the homogeneity of the Tobago population, basically African. I would venture to speculate that if the PDP appeared to be “Indian”-based or had an Indian leader at its head it would have been hardly likely that the two respondents would have been as adamant for change as they appeared to be.

This is an exciting reality for the future of this country as a whole for it appears that once the racial divide is not apparent, the people would vote on issues and the government of the day would have to account. It is this singular fact that underpins the politics of this country that people would forget the issues and would fall back on the racial divide, as has always been the case in our national elections.

On this issue, it is instructive that of late the Indian-based UNC hasn’t offered a candidate in Tobago, whether Indian or African, for the majority-based African population would likely vote for the African-based PNM against the UNC.

That dilemma seems to have subsided in the current Tobago election because racial divide has been supplanted by racial homogeneity and the idea of the “issues” is now coming to the fore. Congrats to the people of Tobago for showing this kind of maturity in the politics, albeit by the force of circumstances which has negated the racial divide.

Unfortunately in the country as a whole the racial divide is very much intact and alive in the politics. Of this our leaders on both sides of the divide are well aware, which they exploit to the fullest doing and saying as they please, and critics could jump high or jump low, as the local parlance goes, they know that their “ethnic” vote is assured and the jacka---- like myself could “bray” ad infinitum (“Let the jacka-- bray,” according to the father of the nation in response to criticism from a famous calypsonian).

But 1986 tells a story, for even as the nation is ethnically divided the NAR was able to negate the usual racial fallout by conveying a sense of unity between the Indian-based UNC under Basdeo Panday and the ONR, the latter, though not basically “African” – more middle class and intellectual, inclusive of all the races and having an “African” at its head – giving a semblance of unity. The rest is history: 33-3 with victory for the NAR and defeat for the PNM.

The fact that the people voted for some semblance of national unity in the NAR against a predominantly African-based PNM signalled how desperate the people were for change and they showed that at the polls. Of course this was all illusion, for the NAR would split apart out of power issues and perhaps because of an intrinsic ethnic consciousness, but the Tobago situation can set a great precedent for how the people can unite for the good of the country.

But if even that is not at all possible, can we not at least dream?

DR ERROL N BENJAMIN

via e-mail