Country before party, party before leader

THE EDITOR: Why should Jennifer Baptiste-Primus's refreshing comments at the general council meeting on October 19, now in the public’s domain, become such a serious concern to the party?

Our 68-year-old party’s history of survival and overcoming internal controversy should be well known, even to our matured and experienced members who sometimes conveniently choose to ignore our party’s history of internal conflicts, and the importance and effect that constructive disagreements can have not only on our party’s future, but more importantly saving the party from electoral defeat.

Mistakes by our leaders, genuine or otherwise, are not new to our party:

1. Eric Williams’s still questionable treatment of ANR Robinson on the Financial Act cost us the two seats in Tobago and 20 years opposition in the THA.

2. The signed undated letter strongly opposed by Karl Hudson-Phillips and myself saw the birth of the ONR and subsequently our massive defeat in the east-west corridor in 1986.

3. The ill-advised selection of Eutrice Huggins in preference to Victor Marcano cost us our first defeat in Diego Martin in the 1960s.

4. The refusal to question Patrick Manning’s decisions to call two general elections long before they were due, in spite of my several documented advices against these decisions, resulted in two national election defeats.

5. Failure by the current leadership to positively respond to the leadership crisis in the recent THA election cost us control of the Assembly, and inflicted two buffoons on the people of Tobago.

Sometime ago I wrote advising the party not to control the political leader, but to contain him.

I can make several more references of injudicious and inappropriate decisions by our party leadership with the full support of the general council – with very few exceptions – which resulted in sometimes embarrassing and humiliating defeat of the party.

Our party becomes stronger when genuine dissenting voices and principled disagreements are allowed to prevail; without threats and accusations of destabilising our party.

Our party will continue to be strong and prevail with voices like Baptiste-Primus.

Finally, our party is not a secret society. It is a people’s democratic institution, unlike our traditional opponents, who are prepared to genuflect and support their leader – a former prime minister – who publicly proclaimed, “...you have to support your party, you say you support country before party – well go to hell!”

Had Dr Rowley and the PNM committed such an unpatriotic, outrageous and offensive act, I certainly would have led the charge for his immediate expulsion from the party. I can only hope that the electorate will respond with the appropriate punishment at the appropriate time to this level of lack of patriotism and outrageous public utterance.

After all, it is no secret that the PNM should and must be held to a higher standard. We are the only true national party in the nation. This was always the intention and objective of our founding fathers. In the words of the Mighty Stalin, “Stand up for something or you will die for nothing,”

There will always be those like Jennifer and myself who, rightly or wrongly, will not fear telling it like it is. Whatever the consequences, we will continue to put country before party and party before leader.

FERDIE FERREIRA

foundation member, PNM