Column: Stand up for T&T

As the political parties gather Sunday for their respective rallies, there are going to be some disappointed people who won't be attending the events.

Among them are persons who wanted to be candidates and failed to get the nod from the leadership of their parties. It is inevitable. After all there are only 41 seats available for the contest, so no party can accommodate all the people who wish to enter the race.

But how one reacts to the disappointment is a powerful statement not about the party but about the person.

A political party is bigger than any individual, including the leader or the party's elite. It is an organization with a set of rules and a vision of what it hopes to achieve for the community and the country it serves. It expects its members, its activists and officials to accept these ground rules and live by them.

When a party wins an election some of its elected members become cabinet ministers; others enter the cabinet through the Senate. And the rules of engagement include the principle of collective responsibility.

In our Parliamentary system, there is a convention that members will vote as a block unless the party determines that each person may vote on conscience.

The People's National Movement (PNM) is an example of how this system works. The party rejected some high profile members during the 2010 screening process in what many supporters and activists considered clear victimization. They mounted protests, made their point and went home.

But in the end they remain loyal to their party, their party's ideals and will support the PNM. People like Penny Beckles, rejected twice, remain loyal. Ken Valley, kicked out and humiliated by the PNM in 2007, accepted the decision and supported the candidate who replaced him. And there are many more.

On the other side Kamla Persad-Bissessar demonstrated the same commitment and resilience; she stood firm in 2007 that she would never desert her party after being rejected for the leadership of the UNC Alliance.

She came back to lead the party in an internal election that has already changed the course of Trinidad and Tobago politics forever.

Today those who are boycotting political events because they were denied the opportunity to be candidates are demonstrating that they put themselves ahead of the party, the community and the country.

If they fully accepted the party's leadership and worked on the ground among the people on the premise that the party is the right choice, then by extension they ought to accept the final decision of the party in choosing a candidate.

Failure to do so means that the commitment was to self and self promotion, using the people as props to achieve the goal of getting a nomination.

In the case of the UNC, the party has had to make very difficult decisions about its candidates and it had to consider its vision of inclusion and unity. So some people did not make the cut despite being genuine about their commitment to the party and the people.

And some of the candidates may not be the best thing since sliced bread. However, a party expects that its genuine members and supporters will rally with it and help it win because of what the party represents. And it is critical for members to trust the leadership's judgement in times of stress.

In the UNC process, for example, Deputy Leader Lyndira Oudit failed to get the nomination for Couva South. She is disappointed and hurt, but accepts the decision. For her, the bigger picture is more important that being a candidate.

“Is difficult to hide the hurt; I’m only human...But, I will get that over because I’ve begun to look at the bigger picture and tomorrow we shall see in Chaguanas,” she told a reporter on Saturday.

That is what party politics is about. It is about a vision, a goal, a commitment and about working together as one team.

In a democratic system there will always be dissent, but compromise and consensus must guide the decision making process and members who fail to accept that are showing a measure of selfishness that is not congruent with selfless service.

If the system is broken, the membership will fix it.

Basdeo Panday did it when he broke with NAR and the result was the UNC - a party that after 21 years remains committed to its founding principles of justice, freedom and equality.

Jack Warner and the Movement for Change did it. Kamla's campaign for the leadership of the UNC demonstrated that when people feel let down they can change their leader. And she knows that if she fails the people, the people will move her.

Now is the time for everyone to put personal feelings aside, walk the talk and stand up for Trinidad and Tobago.

Jai Parasram | Toronto 02 May 2010