By Michael De Gale
October 12, 2007
Mr. Manning’s decision to turf the party’s deadweight and replace them with a seemingly talented young group free of political baggage and eager to prove themselves, was a demonstration of decisive leadership, political fortitude and foresight. For too long, the PNM had been burdened with parasites, dinosaurs and political opportunists, who were nothing but an Albatross around the party’s neck, weak links, millstones, liabilities and losers. For this bold and courageous move Mr. Manning should be loudly applauded.
Despite the numerous criticisms levied against him, his inflated ego and his political blunders, I have always believed that Mr. Manning is a man of integrity who has the best interest of the country at heart. Surrounded by sub-standard ministers intrigued by the idea of power but lacking the intellectual acumen and commitment to shoulder the responsibilities of high office, the party’s performance lagged and a prolonged period of public disenchantment ensued. With the recent housecleaning, that period should now be over and the PNM could look forward to the coming of better days filled with fresh ideas, farsightedness and people commitment and capable of ensuring the country’s continued development. They have five years to prove themselves capable.
During the previous UNC administration and in this party’s present bid to recapture the top political prize, it is increasingly clear that the UNC is a polarizing force in the nation despite the present of their African mascot – Mr. Warner. Under the leadership of the convicted felon and mean-spirited Mr. Panday, the UNC has no hope of ever regaining political power in T&T. As the saying goes, “they spinning top in mud.” Anyone with political aspirations and good intentions will be well advised to disassociate themselves from that group of Neanderthals, who lack credibility and hope to attain political power through the destructive strategy of divide and conquer – hardly a recipe for growth and harmonious development. This is inconsistent with the spirit of T&T where the motto is still, “Together we Aspire, Together we Achieve.” A UNC victory though highly unlikely, would be nothing but a pox upon the land.
Although a neophyte in the political arena, the COP poses a credible threat to the ruling party but the capabilities of its leader is questionable. With a wide ethnic support base and enjoying a degree of popular support, Mr. Dookeran’s past association with the UNC should be cause for concern. Inquiring minds want to know if he is capable of advancing the interest of the nation as a whole, or would he pander to special interest and race oriented groups. More than that, the public toying with Mr. Dookeran for leadership of the UNC was both emasculating and publicly humiliating. Mr. Dookeran allowed himself to be strung along for much too long before COP came and arrested the problem. Even then, he looked a little shakey. One has to question his ability to be decisive after being turned into a pappy-show in a game of carrot and stick. All these issues raise questions about his strength as a leader, the seriousness with which others should view him and certainly his vision for the nation.
Granted the PNM has made a number of blunders in the past but from inception, it was always clear that this party was a unifying force with the best interest of all the people of T&T at heart. Despite being dogged by political mongrels, contemporary / historical social issues with more than its fair share of scandal, they have managed to keep this juvenile democracy on its feet, stable and growing from strength to strength. Ample evidence around the world is living proof that this is not an easy exercise. After the recent house cleaning – which I hope is certainly not complete, I believe that the infusion of new blood into the party is a good sign. Young, educated and hopefully with vision that extends beyond the narrow confines of small island politics, the future looks bright for the PNM. Unlike the political imbecile and the illiterates who boldly proclaim, “PNM till ah dead”, the people of T&T must vociferously demand, “Good Governance Forever”. Given the current line up of political aspirants anxious to rule supreme in the local corridors of power, the Peoples National Movement is well placed and capable of answering this fundamental human and distinctly democratic call.
mdegale@hotmail.com
i enjoy reading your blog, even though i dont post comments, you seem like a party animal, i mean political animal who seems to be having a great time analyzing, deciphering, questioning. Your thoughts are dynamic, and it seems that your giving us the views from the ground up. I appreciate it. Thank you.
I enjoyed reading Mr.De Gales piece, but unlike him I am not so convinced that the new PNM line up represents new thinking and the hope of a new beginning. What remains obvious to me is that the PNM is still under control of the same old forces, and these new faces probably just represents those who are powerless and can be manipulated and forged via the leader’s will. None of them have any proven track record that Mr. de Gale can source to justify that they truly represent a new injection of hope for Trinbagonians!
Mr. De Gale has also neglected to mention anything about the PNM’s apparent lack of ability when the economic stewardship of the country is concerned. Since Wendel Mottley’s time, the major economic minds that the country has seen are the Yetmings and the Dookerans….people that currently reside in the COP. This he can not deny. What he also can not deny is Mr. Dookeran’s obvious good intentions (he mention’s Mannings good intentions, but one serioulsy can not believe that this could be serious justified…arrogant, and dictatorial seem more apt charcter traits here) and inclusive policies.
Im not sure what the process is for sticking ads on T&Tec light poles but why is there a van with three guys in the tray driving by at almost midnight sticking not one but approx 3 PNM posters on each and every light pole in the area?
Did anyone ever read Vision 2020??
Better quality of life for all and for generations to come….how does 2 Smelter plants and a Bigger power plant ensure generation to come have a better quality of life and a “sound environment”…ever heard about Hydroelectricity Patrick and people of this country???
WAKE UP CHANGE YOUR DIAPERS……….STOP CRYING over spilt milk forget who did what when they were in power come in power and show me what you can do. Show me that my opinion counts and not go across the world when people protesting and say “We will have two smelter plants by 2008” …….What is DICK-TATORSHIP ….Patrick Knows. Do you??????
I promised myself that I would stay out of the dotishness called the political pre-election campaign. Nonsense spewed forth by ignoramuses,with loudspeakers,is still nonsense.
The commentator “in diapers” is full of it. Hydro-electric plants need POWERFUL water, like the Hoover dam, and waterfalls like Niagara. A hydro-electric plant cannot be built on a sluggish backyard drain like the Caroni. Where the Caroni begins on the northern side of Mt.Tamana, flowing through Cumuto, San Raphael and Talparo, it builds up speed in the flood season, but by the time it gets lower down, it does not have much force. We do not have mountain ranges over which massive water falls. A mile from Niagara, you can feel the vibration of the ground, as millions of cubic feet of water go over a cliff. I have not been to Victoria Falls, but was informed by one who was there, that you can hear it a long way off, in the stillnesss of an African night. It creates a cloud of its own, based on water goiing over. I have seen the Demerara, and if the government of Guyana needed to, they could dam that,high up in the Guiana Highlands and use the force of the water for energy.
We are not in that league. We need to look at harnessing what we do have to poduce long-range benefits for future generations. Hydro-electric power for TnT is nonsense, plain and simple. But much political talk falls into that category. Pie in the sky nonsense is also part of the “silly season”.
To all detractors , please note that the greatest quality of any leader is to make a decision and go through with it , there are in our politics many who want to lead but do not have the balls to forget who pays the piper and make bold decisions.
Mr. Manning is taking the bull by the horns and doing what the country needs at this time, forget party ,forget race , GET THE BEST WHO ARE WILLING TO SERVE and give them the opportunity to take us to that higher level. All and every decision of a leader is not necessarily democratic but at least he makes decisions. That is not a dictator, just a good manager.
I respect Michael’s right to his views and opinions, but from my perspective that’s all they really are. I find it a real stretch that to view Manning as a good manager! I agree that decisive governance sometimes tend to be non-democratic, but in the end these decisions have to be beneficial to the country!
I have no issue with the PNM candidates..they all seem bright, willing to serve and all of that. But in the end, the people must benefit!!! We have had collectively 9 years of manning’s PNM (PNM has ruled collectively for maybe 40 years), and what does T&T have to show for his stewardship and so-call management skills? Do we have great quality healthcare, hospitals, traffic management, crime control, or water provision? What is there to suggest great management skill and capacity?! We are living in a country that that benefitted for oil/natural gas windfalls not once but twice, and what do we really have to show for it?
We probably have gotten used to mediocrity, but I just think that maybe we should give someone else a chance.We need to get away from the politics of race and just demand a damned government that can perform and give results. The only government that showned an incling of this and any real “balls” was the NAR…. and a lot of those guys are presently with CoP. Mr. manning’s management skills….hard to buy. Really!
he he he! Hydro electric power in in TnT!? he he he he! thats so funny!
I havent seen the Caroni in many years, about once in the past 30 years… but the Caroni cannot even be called a creek by Canadian standards..which is the comparative I now know.
there is a water way in St catharines Ontario -POS twin sister city- called 5 mile creek which is probably no wider than the Caroni but it is so full of water, with such force and power and so deep, that to fall in there is very certain to drown.
this creek carries many, many times the volume of the Caroni even at full tide, as it empties into lake Ontario at Port Dalhousie…and it is only a creek which is part of the Niagara water system and not dammed by the Canadains
what the Canadains have dammed in that area – the niagara Falls and river – in conjunction with the americans is far, far, far larger…. which is what I believe a nation needs to have for the derivation of hydro electric power
What TnT has in abundance relevant to energy production is sunlight…and long agao I thought that fact, along with an abundance of oil money to shift into other areas of national development… would have been reason enough to drive my old home place to the cutting edge of sciene and development in the area of soloar power.
and of course there is wind power which new technologies appear to making into viable electric power for homes…a sound alternative in TnT as elswhere
now such could easly form a plank in a party platform that would make positve discussion in an election…rather than nonsense like hydro power.
but then politicians are all grandstanders with no real actual power anwhere, as they feel obliged to be answerable to a permanent monied government behind the scenes..globally…..enforced by the US imperium
poweless ciphers then they appear to feel free to clown as much as necessary to get elected, to then sell themselves and their nation out for the personal riches they deem far more important that the ultimate survival of their people and culture such as it is.
so has the worst human element in all and every society and nation, come to populate the most traitorus class ever evolved by the human species…politicians