Griffith: Lessons for local politicians in US election

NATIONAL Transformation Alliance (NTA) political leader Gary Griffith says Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election on November 6 shows people do not have to support traditional political racehorses in an election, if their jockeys cannot lead them to victory.

He made these comments on November 6 after congratulating Trump on his 277-224 vote victory over US Vice President Kamala Harris.

In a signed letter to Trump dated November 6, Griffith said, "Your election emphasises the power of the democratic electoral process, where citizens are empowered to participate and make decisions with a shared sense of responsibility for shaping their own future."

Griffith told Trump he looked forward to meeting with "your appointed ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, to engage in the furtherance of shared security discussions."

Incumbent US ambassador Candace Bond was appointed by the Biden administration.

In a subsequent WhatsApp comment, Griffith said, "A democratic process did take place there (US). We hope that next year with our general election, we hope there will be a similar democratic process without any question as it pertains to the result."

He added Trump's victory provides lessons for politicians and the population.

"What I think that election shows is many people foolishly continued to believe that the (political) horse is all that matters) and the quality of the jockey is of no significance."

Griffith said this is no longer the case in today's politics.

"We can refer that to TT where people perceive that once the PNM or the UNC is there, it is a two-horse race and people don't care about the quality of the jockey on the horse or that there may be another horse with another jockey on it that could be of significance."

Griffith said the issue is not about people blindly supporting any political party but looking critically at the quality of the jockeys on the respective political horses before casting their ballot.

He added that people should not discount third parties.

Questions have been raised recently in public about the leadership of the PNM and UNC.

After the Prime Minister hinted during the budget debate in Parliament in October that the debate could be his last, questions were raised about who could succeed him as PNM political leader.

A daily newspaper reported on November 3 that Dr Rowley rejected claims about PNM chairman Stuart Young's being favoured to succeed him as PNM leader and this was the reason why the party's convention and internal election, scheduled for November 17, had been cancelled.

Rowley said he had no power to anoint anyone PNM leader and still had to make a decision about his political future.

In a statement on October 11, party general secretary Foster Cummings said its annual convention and internal election had been cancelled.

On October 18, after a general council meeting at Balisier House in Port of Spain, Cummings said the party's constitution grants Rowley, as political leader, the authority over the party's political direction, and the general council ratified the leadership's decision to set a new date for the convention.

In the UNC, five MPs – Rushton Paray, Dinesh Rambally, Anita Haynes-Alleyne, Dr Rai Ragbir and Rodney Charles – have publicly questioned the ability of party leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to lead the UNC to victory in the next election.

They were not invited to an election preparation meeting in Chaguanas on September 1 chaired by Persad-Bissessar. In September, they were moved to the lower end of the opposition's front bench in the House of Representatives.

It remains to be seen whether Paray, Rambally, Haynes-Alleyne and Ragbir will be allowed to stand for re-election in the next election. Charles said last year he was retiring from electoral politics.

There has been a public rift between Griffith and Persad-Bissessar since February, after Persad-Bissessar accused smaller parties like the NTA of piggybacking on the UNC.

HOPE political leader Timothy Hamel-Smith's concern was what approach Trump will take with respect to Venezuela.

Referring to the Dragon gas project in Venezuela, for which TT obtained a 30-year exploration and production licence from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Hamel-Smith repeated his concern that government has made TT's economic future solely dependent on this project.

"From the politicians' point of view these revenues are what allows them to establish a patronage society which in turn helps to keep voters in their camp."

He said if Trump decides to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela, which were eased under the Biden administration, "TT could be in for a rougher ride."