THE EDITOR: Since the recent THA elections resulted in an overwhelming defeat for the incumbent regime (PNM), political commentators, both within and outside the party, have been searching for logical explanations for such an embarrassing defeat by a party a mere six years old.
While these commentators have identified many and varied reasons, based on the history of previous election campaigns mounted by the PNM, I wish to identify six reasons why I believe the PNM was unsuccessful in the elections.
1. The fact that the UNC was not the political rival in the elections, the PNM could not use its usual trump card - race. (Remember the Calcutta ship?)
2. Failing No. 1 above it resorted to its trump card - divide and rule. The party's electronic campaign was designed to drive a wedge between PDP leader Watson Duke and deputy leader Farley Augustine and between the two leaders and the electorate. It failed miserably.
3. The $50 million compensation package was seen as exactly what it was meant to be - an inducement from a PNM government that is perceived by many to be corrupt to the core.
4. The PNM has completely lost touch with a young generation of voters, not only in Tobago but in Trinidad as well. The Tobago youth vote is testament to that.
5. When the political leader of the PNM mounted a platform and said no candidate on a rape charge could represent the PNM, the inference/interpretation of that statement resonated with many. It was a slam dunk for the PDP.
6. The leader of the party's Tobago council had been leading the party down a slippery slope since assuming office and the political stalwarts blindly went along for the ride.
The challenge now for the PNM is to unearth a young, dynamic individual who has the academic qualifications and charismatic personality of Augustine and who the hierarchy of the so-called 'great party' will allow to assume the mantle of leadership in the next three-five years.
RALPH A BOISSIERE
via e-mail
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