The colourful Tobagonian, Watson Solomon Duke, loudly announced, in fact, warned, that he is “coming to Trinidad.” “I will fight all elections in Trinidad,” he declared. Duke reminds me of Eddie Murphy’s movie Coming to America in which, after several hurdles and rebranding himself, Murphy, an African prince, eventually got what he wanted – a bride. Duke comes but will he conquer?
The media-savvy founder and leader of Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) has already opened offices and is preparing for the next local government elections as a run-up to the 2025 general elections. But many warn multi-ethnic Trinidad is not Tobago.
Tobago, Duke boasts, gained its “self-respect” and he and Farley Augustine intend to bring that to Trinidad. What else? Anything about reducing crime, about “morality in public affairs?” Anything about roads, drains and potholes, the Police Service Commission, public service reform, political accountability? Anything about WASA or reshaping relations between Tobago and Trinidad? Look, I may be pushing the envelope, but many Trinidadians are anxious for such improvements whether coming from PNM, UNC, or even the PDP. Recognising the pappyshow of campaign manifestos, however, Duke declared that the PDP will have “mandates,” not manifestos, and the THA will be held publicly accountable for them.
At his recent Mandate Monday media conference, THA Chief Secretary Augustine pledged that all THA divisional heads will publicly report quarterly on “their various successes and failures.” He intends to “change the way government works” by removing welfare programmes and payments from the hands of politicians.
Augustine is already facing some political challenges – political patronage, THA expenditure, etc. Given the integrity standards he has set for the THA and himself, he and Duke, the THA's deputy chief secretary, have to be careful to demonstrate them. The Trinidad electorate is looking on. Augustine instructively declared that his party’s 14-1 victory showed that spending plenty of money doesn’t really win elections. We will see.
Briefly, Dr Rowley’s PNM is no walkover even with its slipping political support at both the 2019 local government elections and 2020 general elections. The 66-year-old party is now feverishly striving to recover. And there is the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led UNC which, though losing the 2015 and 2020 general elections, finds hope in pointing to its current 19 seats (309,654 votes, 47 per cent) over the PNM’s 22 seats (322,180 votes, 49 per cent). Duke, apparently recognising the vulnerability of the two PNM Tobago MPs. whispered a wish to be PM. Is an ANR Robinson-type alliance possible with Duke making a way in Trinidad for Augustine as in Tobago?
Smelling the elusive possibilities, undaunted Steve Alvarez published this suggestive notification last week: “Watson Duke, Bhoe Tewarie, Timothy Hamel-Smith, Gary Griffith, Phillip Alexander, Hubert Volney, Fuad Abu Bakr, Louis Lee Sing, Londsdale Williams, Robert Amar, Erro
