Guest column: The PP needs a credible spin doctor

The following column by Dr Hamid Ghany is repoduced from the Sunday Guardian. It has not been edited except for formatting changes for online publication.

With the Hindu-Muslim tensions among supporters of the People’s Partnership being the most unlikely by-product of the controversy over the Caricom aid policy of this country, the question that has dominated the media over the last week has been the personnel change made to the First Up programme on CNMG.

The real or perceived dismissal of Fazeer Mohammed from the early morning programme at CNMG (based on which version you accept) has created a number of question marks about Government policy and the media.

Why would Hindu-Muslim tensions arise among supporters of the People’s Partnership because of the removal of Fazeer Mohammed? 

The essence of the matter is that you had a Hindu pundit in the person of Dr Surujrattan Rambachan, the foreign minister of this country, questioning a devout Muslim (Fazeer Mohammed) about his religious beliefs in a role reversal on a talk show aired on a Government-owned station. The story could end there.

Within days of that encounter, however, Mohammed is removed as part of a “cost-cutting exercise” at the station. The real issue that started all of this was the matter of the policy of this country towards giving aid to Caricom neighbours St Lucia and St Vincent in the aftermath of Hurricane Tomas.

The controversy was Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar’s statement that aid would be given as long as it would benefit this country. That statement was subsequently revised after it created a firestorm of protest throughout the region and even on the internet.

The reality is that the clarified version still has not resonated throughout the region as you do not get a second chance at a first impression. The statement was juxtaposed against the comment made at the last Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Jamaica by the Prime Minister that Trinidad and Tobago is not an ATM card.

Additionally, the People’s Partnership has not taken a position on whether it will join the Caribbean Court of Justice, because it has stated that the matter will be sent to a referendum.

These issues have created doubts in the minds of many that this Government has warm feelings towards Caricom member states.

With the number of corrections and clarifications that this Government has had to make to statements made by either the Prime Minister or other Ministers, what has been exposed is the total lack of a proper communications specialist to handle the Government’s image.

Every administration that takes itself seriously ought to have a communications specialist to handle its messaging. That is not happening with this Government.

During the election campaign, the People’s Partnership had an excellent command of the campaign and its messages. After the election, the American specialists went back home and a Press Secretary was appointed.

The problem was that the Press Secretary was an attorney who is not a communications specialist. He seemed to have been appointed more out of political patronage as a defeated candidate rather than for his skills as a Press Secretary.

Within months he was being roundly criticised for the way he was handling the job and by the time the Prime Minister and a large entourage went to New York City during the week of the Muslimeen property auction, it was clear that he was not up to what the task required.

However, a Government communications crisis still persists.

The Prime Minister is having to issue clarifications to her statements, one Minister says contractors will get bonds and another says they will not, the Minister of Finance gets parliamentary approval for a national budget that promises one thing to Clico policyholders, while a Ministerial subcommittee headed by the Minister of Agriculture is engaging in a separate dialogue with Clico policyholders to consider other options, different Ministers taking different positions on the death penalty, etc.

Somewhere in all of this there are mixed messages that the Government needs to fix and they need to fix this fast.

They need someone who has impeccable credentials to take over their communications and become the point person who can control the messages being emitted so as to reduce the level of confusion and uncertainty that a Partnership among persons who were once political enemies can bring.

Of course, the last thing that this Government needs is a Hindu-Muslim war because it will hurt the People’s Partnership more than it would have hurt the PNM, mainly because the Partnership has far more Hindu and Muslim supporters than the PNM.

In some respects, this could be an Achilles heel if the handling of the tensions that will flow from the Fazeer Mohammed—Suruj Rambachan conflict are not properly managed.

Furthermore, there are some supporters of the People’s Partnership who are beginning to wonder whether the Prime Minister is all that loyal and committed to Caricom as they would like based on the ATM comment, the referendum statement on the CCJ and the self-interest statement on relief aid after Hurricane Tomas.

A credible Government spin doctor is required urgently.

-Hamid Ghany