Analyst: Penny's PNM must show it cares

THE NEWLY-elected Opposition leader has a mammoth task on her hands.

Given the PNM’s loss in the April 28 general election, with the party losing eight seats to now have 13 seats and more than 100,000 PNM supporters losing faith and refusing to turn out for the election, the PNM, now led by Pennelope Beckles, has to climb back to its former glory.

Political analyst Bishnu Ragoonath, in a conversation with the Newsday on May 9, said the Beckles now had to change the public’s feeling that the PNM was arrogant and aloof to its pain and challenges.

He said the PNM and Beckles now had to show that it cared.

“Clearly the PNM was thought to be arrogant and uncaring. That would have led to many of their supporters deciding that they could not vote for the party in the general election,” Maharaj said.

“Having gone through an election where 100,000 people who would have normally voted for the PNM, decided to stay at home, the party needs to reassess how it treats the citizenry and more importantly its support base.

“They now have to show that yes, they care,” he said. “It is just that the leadership before had its own objectives. The new leader, a new opposition leader that is saying I am going to demonstrate now that I care for the citizenry and the members of the PNM and I am going to work with that. So that caring attitude is probably what is coming out from the Opposition leader.”

The April 28 election saw a voter turnout of 53 per cent. A total of 1,153,850 voters were registered to vote across the 41 electoral districts in TT. According to EBC, voter turnout was at 54 per cent with 617,712 votes cast. This means that voter turnout overall was the lowest it has been since 1971.

For the PNM the outlook on voter turnout was even worse. PNM got 220,160 votes on April 28, as compared to 334,874 for the UNC.

In 2020 with a voter turnout of 58.04 per cent, the PNM got 322,250 votes while the UNC got 309,188 votes in Trinidad alone.

This represents a drop in votes for the PNM in the April 28 election by more than 102,000 votes.

In contrast, the UNC gained an additional 25,686 votes.

Ragoonath said the figures tell a story of a PNM whose supporters refused to step up for them, in light of the uncaring attitude it displayed for years.

“In 2015 the PNM got more than 300,000 votes. In 2020, they may have lost about 30,000 votes, but to lose 100,000 people just by them staying home and not going out to vote, these people were voting a different way, by deciding not to go and vote in favour of the PNM.

“What we saw in this election was simply the refusal of PNM supporters to go out and vote for the PNM like they did in the past. They did not transfer their vote to any other party, they simply refused to vote.”

He said there were several examples of the PNM’s lack of concern, which led its supporters to refuse to vote.

“When the former PM said he was taking his proposed wage increase and I will take responsibility for everything that goes with that, then saying to the rest of the country and saying that they have to settle for four per cent. Those were the types of uncaring statements that you would have heard.

“People would have also spoken about the issues behind crime and being faced with higher costs of foodstuffs while the Prime Minister and the Cabinet have armed security, security vehicles, food allowances and citizens do not have those things.”

He said, now that the PNM is in opposition, it would be interesting to see the types of strategies they would use to win back the public. He said continuing the caring image through the opposition leader is one of those strategies.

“The PNM now has to show that it is caring; that it will not simply ignore people and not let hubris – the bright lights – go to their head, because they do not have those things.

“Now they have to come back down to earth and work with people to win them back.”

In Beckles' speech after receiving her appointment of Opposition Leader at the President's house, she pledged to oppose, but not obstruct the government.

“Today’s ceremony is a public acknowledgement of a solemn pledge that I have long internalised, a pledge to serve you, the people of TT, with love, humility, diligence, integrity, and unwavering commitment. It is this pledge that has guided every decision during my years of service, whether in government, opposition, or international assignment.

“I serve not for me but for you, the people. I serve for you, the parent who dreams of a better life for their children; I serve for you, the entrepreneur in need of support to thrive; I serve for you, the young person who desires to further your education; I serve for you, the recent ­graduate seeking decent work; I serve for you, the student who needs special support to attain your educational goals. I serve so that the spirit of our national anthem transcends mere words ‘here every creed and race must find an equal place’,” Beckles said.

In an example of the contrast between the former leadership of the PNM and Beckles, Ragoonath noted that she was the only person in the PNM's leadership to congratulate the UNC on their victory.