Commentary: Kamla still strong, but protests will continue

File: May 2010 - PM Kamla visits flooded areas in Central Trinidad

It is no surprise that we are seeing an acceleration of anti-government activities in Trinidad & Tobago these days.

It is normal that some people would feel that their expectations have not been met with the haste they expected and that they would want to vent their frustrations in any number of ways.

That's expeted especially when a new government is approaching its mid-term.

However, the intensity of some of the protests suggests that there is more to them that just people feeling let down. The charge that there is some organised plot to embarrass MPs and the Prime Minister, in particular, might be valid.

I say that because the opposition People's National Movement (PNM) stated clearly last December it is launching what it called a general election campaign. Party Chairman Franklin Khan made the announcement at the PNM's General Council Meeting held at Balisier House, stating that the campaign to "engage" the population would begin on January 10, 2012.

"The PNM is putting its troops out on election footing given the fact that after 18 months the government of the day has no developmental plan for T&T," Khan told reporters in December. So there is a CAMPAIGN! And it's not going to stop.

We live in a democracy and must respect people's rights to protest. 

The People's Partnership came into office on a wave of national support that spilled over from the intense leadership campaign that saw Kamla take over the United National Congress (UNC) from its founding leader, Basdeo Panday.

The KAMLAMANIA was bound to subside, although I would argue that Kamla still enjoys popular support across the board, in spite of the missteps. It is primarily because she is a genuine people's politician who has always worked hard among the people.

When she put her inauguration celebration on hold and changed her dancing shoes for wellington boots and ventured into flooded areas within hours of becoming prime minister, Kamla was acting out of genuine concern for the people. 

Sure it created a great photo-op of a leader in action, but she followed up with compensation for people and immediately tried to deal with the people's problems. And that has been her style all along. Whenever a problem reared its head she stepped in and found a solution.

And it is her dedication to unity and compromise that has kept her coalition together in spite of rumblings from labour and some elements of the membership of her coalition partners.

So when people accused her of refusing to meet with demonstrators in her own backyard last week it raised the question of whether the demonstration was genuine or one orchestrated to cause embarrassment. 

Tossing burning tyres at vantage points across a stretch of roadway running several miles certainly didn't appear to be a normal spontaneous move to raise concerns about potholes and poor drainage. The question is why didn't these people do what others in the Siparia constituency have done when they had an issue - take it to the MPs office.

Kamla has always been one of the most popular MPs long before she became PM because of her excellent representation and an efficient machinery at her constituency office. She keeps in touch and responds.

People have a right to demonstrate and fuss when they feel that they are not getting what they expect. However causing inconvenience and putting on a show for the media doesn't solve problems. 

It is clear that the opposition would have a vested interest in creating disturbances while at the same time it is also clear that all the people's expectations are not met. But few governments have delivered as much as Kamla's in so short a time.

So what they need to do today is examine what is going on inside the partnership and unite as they did two years ago. Kamla once said. "None of us is as wise as all on us; none of us is as strong as all of us." There's merit in that and as the UNC approaches its internal election there will be greater need to put that into action.

The PNM as an opposition will exploit every opportunity it can find to hurt the government. It's Rowley's style.

Kamla the People's Partnership must find their own methods to clearly tell the people what they have been doing, what they intend to do so that people will understand that it takes time to rebuild a nation that the very PNM almost destroyed through its greed, corruption and failure to govern on behalf of all the people. 

Jai Parasram | 6 February 2012