Letter: It was always obvious...

One has but to read recent dissertations on the subject of the PNM from authorities of the calibre of Selwyn Ryan, Selwyn Cudjoe, Michael Harris and not least, Ferdie Ferreira, for confirmation of what has long been obvious.

Those authorities on Eric Williams, the man and the party he formed in '56, have traditionally supported and defended both the latter.

They have recently, however, been unanimous in dismissing the dangerous incompetence and arrogance of Patrick Manning and now admit that he is a destructive consequence of the flawed Williams legacy.

Why have Ryan and company only recently found it "politic" to examine and conclude that which was always obvious? None need speculate on what took them so long!

It was that flawed legacy, and the support of their silence, more than any other factor, which enabled Robinson to foist upon a hapless and unsuspecting T&T on 24/12/01 the mismanagement, squandermania, patronage and corruption of the last 9 years.

Robinson could not have acted as he did on that day without the prior consent and support of certain so called economic exemplars and those political gurus.

Those "wise men" who previously emulated the 3 brass monkeys who could neither see, hear or speak of any PNM evil, until Manning made their positions untenable, now have much to answer for.

Had they spoken as was incumbent upon them either before before Robinson ignored the majority vote of 10/12/01 how many murdered since that date might still be with us today? Had they spoken out earlier would Robinson still have so dared?

Pray tell Dr. Ryan, what made the UNC/PNM coalition (which you torpedoed) proposed by an undefeated Panday after 10/12/01 to a minority supported Manning in '02 any greater a threat to public stability than the 5 party coalition which defeated the PNM on 24/5/10?

I respectfully contend that given economic dictates, geographical location and natural resources with which T&T is blessed, all the touted achievements of the PNM from inception - Pt. Lisas industrial estate, Mt. Hope medical facility, the Twin Towers etc - were all inescapable inevitabilities, regardless of ruling dispensation or political philosophy.

Further, those PNM "achievements" are further discredited by the fact that they were executed only at the expense of criminal socio/economic neglect of their own areas of hard core support which 50+ years later still remain blood soaked and crime ridden ghettos, devoid of hope or prospect.

In light of the foregoing, the vaunted PNM boast of performance in power is but another political deceit and a clever distortion of fact.

Enhancing the wealth of the already wealthy in return for financial support and pseudo respectability has always been the PNM's first priority.

It was against that level of home grown fascism that Daaga led his legions in 1970 and desperate villagers have blocked roads with burning tyres since '08.

That neglect, for which the entire society is now paying a bloody price, was not accidental. It was always part of the syndrome of patronage and dependency by which Williams retained power.

Under Manning it was not merely retained with the same objective, but refined and expanded, resulting, not unnaturally, in today's rampant crime. So much for progress, social or economic for any but an already affluent minority since '56 under the PNM!

The PNM neglect of agriculture and our Indo brothers, clearly expressed in the closure of Caroni '75 Ltd. and betrayal of its workers by the Manning PNM, was a pogrom of official ethnic discrimination launched against the same significant sector of our rainbow society which Williams publicly excoriated as a "hostile and recalcitrant minority."

For that failed and irresponsibile attempt, to cripple the UNC in it's heartland, the average wage earner is still hard pressed to put food on the table, while Manning's meals were catered by the Hyatt Regency!

When to the latter is factored in the blatant corruption, nepotism and cronyism of the recently defeated Manning PNM, it becomes obvious why Ryan and company found it necessary to tell it as it has always been and why excision from the national psyche of the deeply implanted and malign legacy of the late Eric Williams must, as an issue of top priority, demand the urgent attention of the new ruling dispensation.

Since a majority of that dispensation are of the same ethnic background so insultingly dismissed and neglected by Williams and persecuted by Manning, is it not meet and just that Manning and his minions must be repaid in their own coin for the obscenities of '01 to '03 inflicted upon a deposed UNC, Indo society and the pubic at large?

Failure to act promptly and decisively in repaying that "compliment" is a guarantee of their own premature political disaster.

Any prospect of constructive or positive PNM leadership, in or out of power, from the likes of Keith Rowley, Imbert or any other alumni of the university of Woodford Square may be instantly rejected.

Politics is for them limited to self serving malice, mischief and deceit. As recently made obvious, Rowley places political pragmatism above the dictates of personal and/or national integrity. As such, he is no different to Patrick Manning, Imbert, Jeremy or even ANR Robinson.

They are all, whether they admit or even recognise the fact, malleable tools, governed and manipulated by a deeply flawed Williams mindset; one which has always been inimical to equity, harmony and national progress - viz "the killing fields" of Laventille.

A PNM in power is to its members, financiers and apologists a passport to affluence and status at the public expense. National progress is to them indivisibly linked to their personal profit and aggrandizement.

As such, therefore, the PNM will always represent a direct threat to the safety, equity, development and prosperity of even their most ardent supporters. They must all, therefore, individually and/or collectively - and without delay - be made to answer for their crimes against society and the patrimony.

Only thus may we be assured that the PNM will never again be permitted to disgrace or imperil the political landscape of T&T, from which they have reduced us to the status of both the sickest and wealthiest member of the Caricom family of independent nations.

Absence of a viable opposition as a result of PNM convictions, incarceration or flights from justice, need cause no concern. Inevitable differences in opinion, likely to surface between parties forming the victorious coalition, already presents all the elements for credible in-house opposition.

While any such dissent should be avoided, such an opposition can only be considered superior to baseless aspersion, innuendo, racism, subversion and criminal mischief.

The foregoing has from inception been the only stock in trade of the PNM, in or out of power!

For evidence, reflect upon the negative stance of both Rowley, as leader of the opposition, and Imbert, as his rival, for their party's leadership. Which of those 2 has ever donated a cent of their parliamentary stipend to those whom they have oppressed?

Never again must negativity, arrogance and greed wield influence in the affairs of this nation. Let the cleansing of the Augean stables begin now and let the process be thorough.

The blood of 3,000+ plus, guilty and innocent alike, murdered since 24/12/01, all victims of PNM's commitment to power at any price, demands no less!

Protect the beloved country!
TG Mendes - via Internet