A call to appoint Mickela to Senate

ASHVANI MAHABIR

TWENTY-FOUR years ago, the state of Missouri elected governor Melvin Carnahan to the US Senate. Ordinarily, such an act is perhaps not the most eye-catching or news-grabbing event. But what made Carnahan’s victory astonishing and almost bizarre was the fact that the electorate had cast their ballots with the clear knowledge that he had died in a plane crash three weeks prior to the election.

Some perceived that Carnahan’s victory after death may have reflected upon the public’s sustained and perhaps amplified admiration of him. The fact that Carnahan was trailing opinion polls just prior to his unfortunate demise seemed to strengthen that perception. Indeed, this incident triggered widespread examination into what I can only put, with poetic politeness, as posthumous political popularity.

Sometime thereafter, some psychologists developed a theory or a phenomenon known as “death positivity bias” in which people display and express a positive bias and favourable impressions about leaders, particularly political leaders, after death. The theory explains that “death seems to cement a leader’s legacy, which encourages a sense of pride and identity and tends to foster group cohesiveness.”

Further, in an article in the April 2009 edition of The Leadership Quarterly, it was noted that "leadership has long been known to shape the values and emotions of those who follow" and that, "to the extent that leaders embody the values of their groups or organisations, their deaths may inspire followers to create permanent positive remembrances of them.”

Today, as TT mourns the passing of a considered and respected iconic leader, Basdeo Panday, there have been extensive calls for the bestowment of honour and for permanent affixation of his name in tribute to his long struggles. From airport to aeroplane, from highway to high school, there has been a widespread invitation for the Government to recognise Panday in a meaningful way.

But do these public calls reflect on any “death positivity bias” towards Panday as a leader? Well, I am no psychologist, so I do not know. What I do know is this. Panday
must be recognised. And those entrusted in doing so, from the level the State, would hopefully do so.

Today I make the call from a more political perspective, that is, how does the United National Congress (UNC) as a political party pay tribute to its founder who engineered and cultivated an organisation into a powerful political institution?

Editorial space in our free media may not allow my full articulation on this, but for now, my suggestion is quite simple.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar should invite to serve and appoint Mickela Panday to the Senate. And from there, allow the political elocution and mellifluousness of Panday’s heart to flow from the eloquence of Mickela’s bright and youthful voice. And from there, allow Mickela to fight the fight for and on behalf of the people, for the elderly, for the misguided youth, for single mothers, for the poor, for the unemployed, for the unemployable, for the displaced migrant and for the working class.

And Mickela as a qualified attorney and as part of her non-parliamentary obligations should be allowed and entrusted the resources of the UNC and the intellectual library of people who constitute its membership, to lead the preparation on the “UNC’s policy paper and proposed legislative agenda towards constitutional reform.” This paper should serve as the party’s “official and detailed” strategic position on such an important matter, which together with crime and criminal activity aspire and conspire to be the top issues which will face the electorate in the 2025 general election.

My call or my suggestion is just that, a suggestion. It is motivated by no bias, not a “death bias,” nor one in life. It is motivated only by a feeling that it is the right thing to do.

For me, this would not just be a "post-life tribute" in honour of a deserving and brilliant politician and leader as Basdeo Panday eventually became. It would also be a "real-life recognition" of a deserving and brilliant politician and future leader as Mickela Panday may very well become.

Ashvani Mahabir is a former chairman of the UNC Youth Arm