Milestone achievement for PNM

THE EDITOR: The electorate who voted in the recently concluded July 14 Local Government Elections must be applauded for a more than generous contribution to our national development as a people and as a nation. That they have voted a People’s National Movement representative in every municipal Corporation across the length and breadth of Trinidad is indeed a grand demonstration of inter-racial harmony and solidarity which has been promoted by the PNM for the past 47 years since the Party’s establishment in 1956.

As the Prime Minister pointed out — this note-worthy display of nationalism and patriotism marks an important turning point in race relations in Trinidad and Tobago, and will undoubtedly serve our Nation well as we embark on our journey to make Trinidad and Tobago a fully developed nation by the year 2020 which is just 17 years away. I must mention the PNM stands out among all political parties at home and in the English and non-English speaking Caribbean; because of its unique operating philosophy enunciated by the late Dr Eric Eustace Williams in the 1956 Peoples’ Charter. I quote — “Nor are we an ordinary party in the usually accepted narrow sense of the word. We are rather a rally. A convention of all and for all. A mobilisation of all the forces in the national community.  Cutting across race and religion, class and colour with emphasis on united action by all the people for a common cause.” This operating philosophy has enabled the PNM to withstand the test of time emerging victoriously on two occasions from Opposition to Government under the capable watch of its Political Leader the Hon Patrick Manning.

Additionally, the PNM’s Party structure as enshrined in its Constitution, promotes peoples’ participation and consensus building in every sense of the word. For example, the party-group functions primarily for the development and implementation of programmes for ensuring the credibility, acceptability and dynamic presence of the People’s National Movement in the local community. The Constituency group is responsible for the formation and implementation of programmes to give life to party policies at the level of the regional community; for example, a collection of a number of local communities in a given geographical area. The General Council is responsible for the translation of strategies and policies into operational programmes — focus is on the Nation Community... and the annual convention where general strategy and policy formulation are evaluated. Furthermore, there is the Women’s League and the Youth League which function to work with special interest groups, women and young people.

All of these features have contributed to the stability and progress of the Peoples’ National Movement over the years and were expressly designed for the government of a plural society. When Trinidad and Tobago attained its independence from Great Britain in 1962, our Nation’s founding father, the late Dr Eric Eustace Williams proclaimed — I quote, “Two races have been freed; but a society has not been formed. It takes more than national boundaries, a national anthem, however stirring to make a nation.” Today, Mr Editor because of this milestone achievement of finally crossing the ethnic barrier, thus minimising the traditional opposition propensity for dividing the Nation, the PNM can proudly send out a challenge to all of Trinidad and Tobago. Let us continue to rekindle the old flames of our ancestral pride and keep these fires burning.  Let us continue to help make the light of a true national community spirit shine brightly for all to see. Let us continue to move forward ever, backward never, in realising the national aspirations of our people as proclaimed in our National Coat of Arms, “Together we aspire, Together we achieve.”

RISHI LAKHAN
St James