So many questions to ask

THE EDITOR: There are so many questions that can be asked about this upcoming election as the following, but as a footnote, this list was compiled before the Dragon/Manakin-Cocuina announcement:

1. Does the sudden change in leadership from one “seasoned” in the politics for a young relatively inexperienced substitute augur well for the prospects of the party in question in this election?

2. Is that change likely to be received well by the public with the country in dire straits in more ways than one and needing strong leadership, but with the latter on the way out to a well feathered nest?

3. Is the sudden election call, intended as a strategic move to the catch the opposition off-guard, having a knee-jerk effect to canvassing, with reciprocal maligning becoming the order of the day rather than clear, specific policies to bring relief to a country on the brink?

4. Is the response of the current PM that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio won’t harm TT's interests regarding energy consistent with President Donald Trump’s anti-Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's stance with the soon to expire licence on Dragon looming and the new tariffs imposed applicable to us in TT?

5. Does a collage of previous achievements in the media by one group or an itemised list of extravagant promises by the other, the funding for which is dubious, fit with the current uncertainty about the country’s future economy as one of “oil and gas” and the chronic lack of diversification spawned by over-reliance on the former? Is the much touted resuscitation of the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery by a doubtful foreign entity all illusion?

6. Is criminal behaviour in this country a mindset gone awry because of long-term neglect and can hardly be fixed by any Hulk-like figure or quick plasters when what is needed is a sustained revival of the moral compass of old through the family, the church, the school, the community et al?

7. How ethical is it for so-called “dissidents” to be thrown under the bus for asking legitimate questions about the future of a party and its leadership.

And on a more specific note, how morally questionable is it for a former member to “bad-mouth” his former party and its leadership, legitimate as some criticisms may appear to be, as he now nestles in the arms of the old enemy? Does the latter give greater force to the word neemakaram as a marker of ingratitude of the highest order?

And while on the question of ethics, how does one rate the attitude of a senior official in the other party in his gruff response of “free speech” to the concern about canvassing noise affecting children preparing for SEA?

8. Is the expression of unquestioning loyalty despite rejection a virtue to be applauded or is it a politically convenient ploy not to jeopardise future reward, which is to be despised?

9. Is the coming together of diverse elements in the politics a real attempt at unity or is it a random assembly of aspirants to power previously lost in the political wilderness but now looking for a home?

10. And now for the final question: Now that the concerns about the Dragon deal et al underpinning some of the questions above have now been converted into the horrific reality of cancellation, with no real revenue-earning potential in the pipeline, lack of diversification being a case in point, how are both parties going to fulfil the extravagant promises they have been making to the people?

And there are so many more questions that can be asked about this election, but who will ask them?

Would the majority tribe in its simple-mindedness certainly ask questions of its leaders no matter what they say or do, being on both sides so helplessly indoctrinated into silence, fearing that the other side will gain the upper hand?

Would those intellectually endowed and expected to make informed choices about who should lead do so, or would they instead, even as they may also be hit by the racial bogey, avoid jeopardising their status aspirations by not questioning their leadership?

And would others who would have crossed over to the other side for the “mess of pottage” to be had, dare to question their leadership, jeopardising their own self-interest.

Silence is golden and asking questions brings sure political death.

Come April 29 one side will win with the power to run our lives, the other would be in opposition ready to oppose, often for opposition sake. And will the people, for whom this whole charade was about in the first place, simply be a distant memory?

As usual, I leave the answers to you.

DR ERROL N BENJAMIN

via e-mail