Kamla’s delusion

TREVOR SUDAMA

MANY comments, both partisan and independent, have expressed consternation at the inappropriateness, disconnect and irrelevance of the statement made by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar purporting to give the reasons for the defeat in the recent US presidential elections of the Democratic Party’s candidate.

I, too, am of the view that the statement was gratuitous, ill-informed, hyperbolic, and slavishly repetitive of the Trumpian message and propaganda.

I am not sure on whose ill-conceived advice the statement was made or whether it had its origins in the overwrought thought processes of Persad-Bissessar herself. However, if it was motivated by the belief that Trump’s divisive and inflammatory rhetoric and his insidious populist appeal could be replicated in TT to revive the political fortunes of Persad-Bissessar and propel her to the prime ministership, it is the stuff of delusion.

Her 20-point elaboration of the so-called disaster of the Biden administration (despite a robust economy, very low unemployment levels, huge investment in the physical and climate adaptability infrastructure, expansion of health facilities, and lowering of health costs, etc) included a number of falsehoods and distortions, such as forced health mandate, the defunding of the police, removal of religion from schools and public institutions, persecution for holding religious beliefs, virtue signalling (whatever that means), social media shadow banning, censorship of free speech, two-tiered justice system, and weaponising of the justice system against those with opposing views.

She conveniently did not mention the elephants in the room – misogyny, anti-black and brown racism, scapegoating of immigrants, and white supremacist sentiment.

There are many questions to Persad-Bissessar arising from the above list, such as:

Was the Biden administration wrong to:

1. Mandate that the covid19 vaccine should be taken as a precaution against infection and for the containment of the epidemic?

2. Follow the dictates of the Constitution to separate church from state?

3. Expose the criminal and lawless character of Trump (convicted of sexual harassment and assault, election fraud, conveniently lying about the value of his business assets to avoid taxes and deceive credit providers, etc) and to compare him with the unblemished character of the Democratic nominee?

4. Seek to restrict the rampant misinformation, disinformation, outright falsehoods, hate speech and pornographic content promoted on social media platform?

5. Investigate and prosecute Trump for infractions of the Official Secrets Act, his attempt to overturn the legitimate results of a free election, incitement of his supporters to invade the Capitol building and stop the lawful transfer of power?

6. Bring the perpetrators of criminal activity to face justice?

In the first seven of the 20 points mentioned above, Persad-Bissessar seems to be obsessed with the question of sexual definition and orientation. Given the Trumpian agenda which includes discrimination against and persecution of gays, lesbians and transgender people, legitimate questions to Persad-Bissessar on this segment of the society are:

(a) What is your position on gays, lesbians and transgender people in TT and in your own party?

(b) What is your stance on consensual sex of people of the same gender in TT and in your party?

(c) What is your position on abortion rights for women?

Then there is the indication that she is opposed to left-wing and progressive politics. As a founding member of the UNC I had significant input in the drafting of its constitution and its aims and objects, for example:

(a) To inculcate an abiding appreciation and respect for the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity of our society to foster harmony, national unity, purpose, and cohesion.

(b) To eliminate all forms of discrimination whether based on race, colour, origin, religion, gender, class or region, and to ensure that equal treatment is meted out to all citizens.

(c) To ensure a just and equitable distribution of state resources as between groups, communities, classes and regions.

I am constrained to ask questions about the current direction of the party and its philosophical reorientation and whether it is adopting an ultra right-wing posture a la Trump, which would be inimical to the pursuit of the above stated objects.

The people of TT stand on the cusp of making a critical political decision in the upcoming general election. The current PNM administration has been in office for ten years and is possibly the weakest, most clueless and least effective in the history of this country.

It has signally failed to accurately identify the most critical problems facing TT and find solutions for them, whether in the sphere of safety and security, sustainable and inclusive economic development, provision of social and physical infrastructure, good governance, the functionality of crucial national institutions, empowerment and upliftment of the majority, and addressing the general malaise and drift of the society into hopelessness and despair.

I am convinced that the majority of voters in the country, including those sympathetic to the opposition parties, as well as those who are non-aligned and independent, would welcome a change of administration and a fresh perspective and direction.

However, the absence of a credible alternative in terms of platform, policies, programmes, mobilisation and leadership offers little hope of change. As regards practical electoral politics, it is difficult at the moment to conceive of a fragmented opposition winning the majority of the marginal seats, which is the guarantee of electoral success.

Should the PNM win the upcoming election, it would be by default because of the disarray of the opposition and particularly the incredible failure of the distracted, disoriented and intellectually bankrupt leader of the main opposition party, the UNC, who has had ten years to mobilise and regroup the opposition forces to remove the PNM.

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