The UNC's setting sun

Paolo Kernahan

POLITICS, it’s said, is the art of the possible. Politics, however, is also the illusion of choice; a choice usually between two political parties that are, on close inspection, fundamentally the same. The conductors and shadowy commercial interests at the apex of society yoke the population with the fallacy of self-determination through the ballot box.

Ordinary folks are herded through the same process on a cyclical basis to reaffirm their faith in a system designed to keep them compliant and inert. Meanwhile, the "silent partners" closest to the levers of power siphon off the real choice – untrammelled wealth, acquisition and influence. The true beauty of this illusion is that average people – the voting schmucks – are their own mental jailors. Party devotees buy into the divisions, malice, racism and other tribal unifiers weaponised by politicians.

Over time political hatreds become family heirlooms and self-sustaining loyalties – the manure in which politicians sprout like mushrooms. Aspirant political parasites needn’t do much beyond tapping into infinite reservoirs of defiant voter ignorance and/or dispassion to fuel their ambitions.

In the perfunctory UNC internal elections, the "insurrectionists" were invited to publicly slit their own throats by the party leadership. Many Kamla-ites were heartened by the preconceived outcome. To their minds, lining up behind their leader is the only way to oust the PNM. Now isn’t the time to change captains! In most cases where that analogy applies, the captain is usually "changed" after the ship has sunk.

Perhaps a cohort of UNC supporters and the executive of the party are convinced that the PNM has done such a terrible job of running the country that victory is almost assured. This is a one-dimensional perspective on politics and the factors motivating voters, for whom going to the polls is akin to going to the toilet, even if they don’t know it.

Notwithstanding dreadful crime and dismal economic fortunes, Monday’s local government by-elections showed the PNM gaining ground. It was a statistical triumph for the party. As Colm Imbert noted, “In both seats, the UNC wasn’t able to increase its votes.” When the party in office, presiding over some of the most seismic events in our history, takes comfort from not being flogged like a crop-stealing donkey at the polls, when not losing badly is as good as a win, some introspection in the opposition might be appropriate.

The UNC’s Roodal Moonilal partly attributed the Viagra-less performance to what he called “the Paray effect;” a by-product of party infighting and mudslinging. That’s a hard sell. Even with the PNM doing its worst impression of good governance, the UNC has consistently failed to convert public discontent into any broad, measurable gains. The unpopularity of one’s adversary isn’t enough to raise your valuation among voters.

This is doubly true with our style of politics that’s hinged on pandering to the base and slandering the independent, floating voter. If you don’t vote PNM then you must be a dUNCe or an acolyte of corruption. If you don’t vote UNC then you “like it so.” We are the most black-and-white rainbow country there is.

UNC politicians, on the face of it, consider it impossible that they have underperformed as an opposition. The idea that they’ve failed to advocate aggressively and competently in Parliament, or elsewhere for that matter, on behalf of a beleaguered population can only be PNM propaganda.

From my point of view, the opposition (with rare exceptions) hasn't advanced thoroughly researched, strident and convincing positions on any number of national issues – the Petrotrin closure, the Paria diving tragedy, rampant crime, the Vincent Nelson affair, foreign exchange shortages, you name it. Any ventilation of these issues in Parliament from the opposition benches, more often than not, seems poorly prepared and dependent almost entirely on second-rate theatrics. I’m often left wondering where the opposition is on this crisis or that scandal.

On this front, one would expect the UNC to invest the most effort in rehabilitating its image – demonstrating a level of readiness to take on our complex challenges. If all the opposition can do is match wits with the witless, plainly incompetent ruling party, then it’s hard to imagine the floating and generally non-voting being inspired to be anything else.

By all indications, PM Rowley and his confederates will likely secure a third consecutive term at the wheel and will spend it blaming the opposition and the population for their continued failures. The opposition for their part will dutifully endure their hat-trick, blaming an insidious PNM, the EBC and an apathetic, deluded public for theirs.