Saturday, November 3, 2012

Guest commentary - Ganging up against the PP - by Chandra Harnanan

The attempts to cause the very successful People’s Partnership Government to falter continues apace with the latest salvo being the “march" which took place in Port of Spain Friday. 

It is said that the lust for power makes friends of sworn enemies. This was the case in POS this afternoon as Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, David Abdullah, Ancel Roget and Kirk Waithe locked arms in protest against the government. 

The problem is that Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj is a known turncoat who is an opportunist of the highest order and who will be remembered as selling out the UNC to the PNM in 2001.

Who will forget the saga of Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj selling out to the PNM and forcing an election which dispossessed the supporters of the UNC from the hard won electoral victory? Who will forget that Ramesh was a member of the Youth League of the PNM? Once a PNM, always a PNM!

In the case of David Abdullah, shame is too tame a word to describe what he is doing to sully the good name of his family who have been “symbols” of integrity in this country. Here is a person who was “cussing” the PNM two years ago and now is kissing Rowley et al.

Ancel Roget who criticized Manning and the PNM and vowed to run them out of Office, who defamed the supporters of the PNM in the months before the elections of 2010, now tell me what is so sweet for him in the PNM he described as an “albatross around the necks” of the citizens of T&T.

And Kirk Waithe who professes to fix T&T but is not ashamed to join the hands of the very PNM he too has highly criticised. Now tell me what do all of these men have in common? Lust! Lust! Lust! Their mission is a naked grab for power and they are willing to use non democratic means to achieve this.

Where is the integrity in these men who have been bastardizing themselves and pretend to hold themselves as exemplars of those who care for country and for nation. Give us a break! 

The selfishness of these individuals as they hug tight the PNM has made it clear that what happened in Port of Spain Friday afternoon is not about Clause 34 but about a group of political pirates bent on plunder and destruction. This is about a group who do not care whether their actions precipitate the destruction of POS as happened in 1990. 

They never worked hard to build those businesses. As a result they do not care. The Syrian community (and African businessmen in POS) should therefore take note and do so NOW! The businessmen who are financing the marches will also do well to take note that if social disorder begins (remember 1990) they will all loose and perhaps much more than a business. 

I heard Penepole Beckles on the evening of her victory at the PNM internal elections, saying that there are those who are investing in the PNM. Well these investors will be seeking their pound of flesh. No doubt this is okay for the PNM, because they are accustomed to promoting corruption in public affairs.

Ancel Roget attempted to mount marches with the labour movement and workers but failed miserably. He therefore has changed his tune and now talks of governance. Well Mr Roget let us be allowed to examine governance in the OWTU after the departure of Mc Cleod! While you march, the PP govt continues to settle the industrial relations agreements left outstanding by the very PNM you have joined, the ones who offered you one per cent. Or have you forgotten? 

There is a big difference between nine per cent and one per cent Roget, a big difference. It goes to prove my point that this is all about politics and more so the lust for power. It is not about Clause 34!

The PP Govt has been doing very well with respect to governance. Yes it has faltered here and there but it has never absconded. It has never refused to face the music in parliament to man for man (woman for woman) debate the motions of no confidence and censure. The PM did not send the AG to London as did the PNM with respect to former AG Jeremie. 

The Prime Minister has at all times as required taken action even against her own Ministers. This is an example of good governance in the interest of the public good for this is what governance is all about making and implementing decisions in the interest of the public good.

Mr Jack Warner in his interview Friday outlined the platform of good governance upon which the govt stands. He said, "Governance is about how decisions are made and implemented in the interest of the public good. This government of the People’s Partnership has a good record.”

So what is the problem? It is not all about governance. It is that there is a perception that the political pendulum has swung too far away for the PNM to recover. The ability of the PP to deliver is outstanding. 

It is interesting that the media hardly focuses on the performance of the govt in meeting the needs of citizens. 

It is that the largesse enjoyed by those accustomed to the PNM trough has gone. It is about a new group of entrepreneurs who have come on to the scene and are competing aggressively for the contracts and doing the jobs well. It is about the govt refusing to pay high prices for jobs. It is about the new political culture of equality for all , of rural empowerment, of justice for all, of transparency. It is about the good governance of the PM and the PP which does not fit the PNM’s definition of good governance. 

There would have been no problem if the PP had allowed things to stay as they were after winning on May 24th 2010. But the players have been changed, the money is being spread all over rather than in the pockets of a few. 

The PM cannot be bought and sold. She is a woman of high public values. And it is all of this and more that the PNMcannot cope with.

As a result they want to mash up the country. They are like cry cry babies from whom the comforter has been taken away>

No comments:

Jai & Sero

Jai & Sero

Our family at home in Toronto 2008

Our family at home in Toronto 2008
Amit, Heather, Fuzz, Aj, Jiv, Shiva, Rampa, Sero, Jai