Young and restless

Dr Gabrielle Jamela Hosein

THROUGH the most top-down and elite of processes, Stuart Young is now heir to the prime ministerial throne.

Politics is Machiavellian, referring to the political theory of Italian Niccolò Machiavelli and meaning cunning, scheming and unscrupulous. Seizing and retaining power is cut-throat business.

The party would have concluded that Young could pull in more campaign money from suburban and multi-ethnic uber-rich financiers. He is widely considered pro-business rather than pro-labour and already rubs shoulders in those circles; and he has been mentored for this role over PM Rowley’s tenure – the way that older men mentor younger men so they climb the leadership ladder higher and faster in a bestowing of power from elder to younger patriarch.

Known as the glass escalator, it is invisible advantage gained from class, masculinity, and “boys’ club” networks (from secondary schools to golf clubs, business associations, male-led law firms and family companies), enabling privileged men to conveniently believe that it’s their hard work and natural brilliance that fast-tracks them to the top.

Although it was never really explained why 21 MPs considered Young the best choice, throughout this brief brouhaha, I was less interested in the process of straw polling among the few than the public discourse of the many. For example, regardless of what is allowed by the Constitution and House of Parliament maths, people questioned the process of proposing to crown Young as PM of the nation “jes so.”

Dr Rowley didn’t die. He didn’t get ill. He didn’t throw a tantrum about being disrespected and threaten to retire. He didn’t even withdraw from politics. Rather, he announced both his healthiness and retention of power as party leader; likely to be the most macho figure on the hustings.

What happened was that the nation got played by a long-conceived election strategy. It might have been one thing to watch 100,000 PNM faithful be levelled to a mere red rubber stamp, party democracy be damned, but to see the position of prime minister be cynically manipulated for the gamble planned quite rightly feels suss. No disparagement of interpreters, theorists, newspaper columnists or what the opposition did ten years ago will take away from that.

People will ask questions. What has Young achieved, particularly in relation to national security, when the murder rate says it all? Will he appear as heartless, under the guise of bureaucratic efficacy, as he did during the pandemic when he wouldn’t allow the ill, impoverished, visa-less students, and a range of legitimate others to come home while some well-connected others were flying in and out? Do we believe his smart, brisk head-boy persona or his risk of mic-unmuted homophobic and sexist immaturity?

Typically, when Dr Rowley wants to appear more “man of the people,” random newspaper features, as blatant as all-out propaganda, appear with him hugging sheep. Photographs of him golfing are a major “no no” in these moments, for who in precarious urban hot spots earns $60,000 (set to be $89,000) a month and golfs?

Never having been “of the people,” Young doesn’t bring those vibes which is why Dr Rowley may roll as elder statesman/shepherd/scolding-schoolmaster on the campaign trail. As past athlete, Young might be marketed as a guy who takes a sweat with “the youths” and understands sports development as a strategy for tackling crime in communities, though it’s a little late to champion this after years in national security. We might get energy czar of the Saith and Lok Jack tradition, except our energy base has contracted and fossil extraction is increasingly associated with climate catastrophe, so, as legacy, this is a little sketchy.

We might get “fresh new face” to frame Persad-Bissessar as “aged has-been,” and some might be partial to the narrative of making ethnic history. However conceived, a media campaign will need to make him appear less “one per cent.” It will be disappointing to hear what the UNC did ten years ago dredged up as a bogey. That would mean a party unable to convince voters of its ability to deliver on promises or focus on the future.

What does all this mean for us? Watching these Young and Restless episodes, we must focus on what should be happening in our society, be loyal first to democratic and national needs instead of elites, and name exactly what we see unfolding plainly and fearlessly. We are ever at risk of leadership that offers less than we deserve, caught as we are in the machinations of one-upmanship among political parties.

Diary of a mothering worker

Entry 549

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