Guest Column - Rumors, Rumors... (What now Prakash?)

by Phillip Edward Alexander (reproduced unedited from the blog PLAIN TALK)

Even though Mark Twain was able to say with some degree of smug satisfaction that the rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated, at some point down the road he did eventually die, making the rumor not so much an inaccurate or even mischievous report but at worst a premature or mistimed bit of news. 

Similarly, the rumor that gripped the country on Wednesday of the firing of Political Leader of the Congress of the People Prakash Ramadhar from the Cabinet, while being dismissed as wholly false and unfounded, may yet prove to eventually be true. 

The fact of the matter is the moment he threatened to vote conscience over the Partnership line he set a series of responses in motion that were always going to force a resolution, and I sincerely believe that yesterday's rumor was deliberately spread to both gauge the electorate's response to the eventuality of his political demise and to send a warning to any others who may still be chafing under the political whip; toe the line or leave.

Not even a week since the COP's leadership announced that they were going to continue Marlene-Gate as a tantrum that the Prime Minister demonstrated decisively that she has had enough of it. 

Cleverly handled from the start, she outfoxed and outplayed the COP leadership at every turn and left them standing in the end with even less power than when they embarked on this foolish crusade. Now the members of the Congress of the People have to be asking themselves what could possibly be the point of remaining members of a party that has so clearly lost its way?

Warned from the start that he was waging a war that he could not win, he barreled on ignoring good advice and making promises that he had to have known he could not keep. 

So what now? 

Now that the campaign launched on righteousness and strong language has ended with a whimper, where does he and the rest of his leadership turn to for political authority? 

The facts as they exist in reality cannot be denied, and while he can be applauded in some quarters for having the fortitude and gumption to embark upon the campaign in the first place, now that it is over and all the chips are lost, it is he and he alone to pay for his decisions. 

The Congress of the People could NOT have afforded another blow, especially one this devastating and straight to the body. Now even members who were willing to stick around to the bitter end must be questioning their loyalty when contrasted with their own hopes and political aspirations.

Westminster is tradition more than anything else and the convention in these circumstances demands that the political leader, for bringing shame and ridicule upon the party, resigns or be removed from Office. 

Had he the courage of his convictions when challenged to either walk or shut up he had walked, this article would have been written of him in glowing terms just for being more than just talk. By being the one to blink first he lost whatever political capital he had left and in failing to walk when read the riot act he sealed his own political fate.

Now the thing is at an end and I strongly suggest that he digs deep in the hope of finding enough character to resign both as Minister and as political leader and make way for those who are truly able to carry the fight. 

His role was always to bring youthful enthusiasm back to the party, to visit all forty one constituencies carrying a message of hope and establishing the Congress of the People as a viable alternative for when the election bell is next rung. He was supposed to carry the torch of 'new politics,' to stand in the gap for the weak and the dispossessed and keep the government honest, not fight down political posts and patronage for friends and supporters. 

His failure here is one of both political immaturity and an umbrage built on a successful career in a totally different field. Here the rules of engagement are different, and all appeals goes directly to the people's perception as no one follows a weak leader. Out of compassion for what is left I hope he finds the grace to leave while the decision is still his to make.