The mystery of New Party failure

In testament to the veracity of this political science principle, many Trinbagonians also believe that the current political climate in Trinidad and Tobago cannot accommodate new parties and that they are all destined for certain failure.

Based on what we see with the parties that have branched off (not out) in the last decade or so, there is a lot of truth in that belief; but it was not always like that because the system back then favoured new parties. With that said though, ironically, the country’s first party always finished last, and despite a merger and a resurrection, it still died a natural death in 1981.

Under the leadership of Arthur Cipriani, the Trinidad Labour Party (TLP) became the country’s premiere political party in 1934 when the Trinidad Workingmen’s Association ceased operations as a trade union due to stringent measures introduced by the very restrictive Trade Union Ordinance 1932. It wasn’t long before bellicose Buzz (Tubal Uriah Butler) parted ways with Cipriani’s gentle, meek and mild approach to form the Butler Party in 1936.

After spending several years in prison, Butler returned to resuscitate and rename his party in time to contest the 1946 general election, with great success. Butler’s success continued when his party gained an additional three seats in the 1950 general election, despite a strong showing by independent candidates who captured approximately 50 per cent of the total votes. By this time Dr Eric Williams had returned and was making his name by giving political lectures as he built the platform for the formation of the People’s National Movement (PNM) in 1955. As the ‘new kid on the block’, the PNM steam-rolled all competition in the 1956 general election, and that dominance lasted three decades. The PNM efficaciously stunted all new growth.

Eventually, the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR ) - notwithstanding some old faces from the PNM administration on the ballot - came with fresh ideas and new policies, which was exactly what the populace wanted and it was reflected by the landslide victory in the 1986 general election.

The United National Congress enjoyed similar success when a NAR schism opened the doors for a new party and as the sun rose the day after election, Basdeo Panday made history. However, although several parties existed during those periods, the two-party system was not yet properly established until the UNC got involved.

And because of that, we were stuck playing ping pong with rotten eggs. Then the Congress of the People and the Tobago Organisation of the People both found the secret recipe – they broke into the two-party system in a big way; but, we soon realised that power was the end-game and the ‘Fyzabad Declaration’ was signed just in time for the 2010 general election. Suffice it say, the revolution of change disappeared and that insatiable hunger (greed) for power took over.

History has shown us that new parties are not automatically dead on arrival; in fact, as seen above, those parties have been the most successful, but it all depends on timing and message. History has also shown us that new faces and ideas have always been a craving of the electorate, but that has not been the case in recent times.

Too many new parties are not really ‘new’ because they are branches that have fallen off of very old trees, and if you observe well, those branches usually die very quickly, even though they may lie on the ground longer than necessary. Needless to say, unless a new breakaway party was publicly wronged like the CO P was, it would not stand a chance; Trinbagonians no longer want recycled politicians, policies or promises.

If society believes that a new party’s primary motivation for politics is to settle a grudge (MSJ and ILP), their political aspirations will be like running on a hamster wheel.

These new parties continue to repeat the mistakes of others; they almost always refer to themselves as the “third-party option” like the Third Force Movement; some are a one-man show like the Youth Empowerment Party; and others are completely myopic in their national vision like the many nation-dividing “Tobago” parties.

So here we are: disillusioned, disappointed, and left bereft of hope in the two available political options and the new parties just can’t seem to get it right. Will another party ever be able to break through? I strongly believe that lessons will be learnt and the 2016 Local Government Election warning signals will reverberate through the 2020 general election...

and that will be the end of the two-party dictatorship.

(jamille85@msn.com)