Divided we fall

Obviously I won’t divulge their identities or even their parties, but I was asked to meet them, and although I distrust every single person sitting in our Parliament, I was more than happy to meet to talk.

I must admit that the conversation with one member of Parliament in particular was quite refreshing; we spoke about several salient issues, but what struck me the most was a comment expressing absolute frustration at the lack of cooperation between parties towards dealing with the problems plaguing our people.

This MP then said to me in no uncertain terms, that the only way forward for Trinidad and Tobago is fresh blood – neither the corrupt UNC nor the clueless PNM have the formula for taking our beloved country from 1962 into 2020. The MP seemed genuine because the person openly spoke to me about the incompetence of fellow party members and the abject lack of love for country by the people who have sworn to serve us without fear, favour or ill-will. I listened intently and I asked my questions, all the while asking myself why a person so fed up of their party would remain loyal... is it just for power? These conversations confirmed in my mind that anything divided against itself cannot stand, succeed or progress. Regardless of what we choose to apply those words to, it remains one of the most accurate adages known to man. A country with parties that are unable to conjure up even an ounce of bi-partisanship to pass good laws and implement policies to fix issues will ultimately become a failed state.

The political division promoted by politicians and fuelled by race, socio-economic status, religion, address, and education is sickening.

The citizens of this country who are so mentally warped by their political affiliation and beliefs will exploit every event for political points. I was amused by the public discourse after storm Bret when the Prime Minister, for whatever reason, did not immediately find his way to south Trinidad.

In my view, unless God had endowed Dr Keith Rowley with the power to part water the way Moses did in the Bible, the tour of flooded areas would only provide solace, not the much needed assistance.

The residents of those flooded communities lambasted the PM for not visiting them, comparing his inaction to the former PM who made it her duty to visit every flooded community. But had they put aside their obvious UNC bias, they would have realised that after all those visits by Kamla Persad- Bissessar, every rainy season they are still left desperately trying to salvage their belongings from flood waters and save their limbs from agile caimans. The real problem is that being fair and independent is much more difficult than being partisan sheep.

So whilst the division blinds us to the truth, people continue to suffer. Even in a time of disaster too many people only saw the need to compete, not collaborate; we could not leave politics behind to bring our country together because, of course, the storm and subsequent flooding “is de PNM fault.” The political division is eating out the heart of our country. Unfortunately, many citizens are either unaware of, or choose to ignore this imminent reality, to the detriment of our country. Honestly, if some people fail to understand that the division will keep us stagnant and they choose instead to play partisan politics with everything, then they don’t deserve to be a citizen of our country. This is especially so for those who prefer to identify as East Indians and Africans when the closest they’ve been to either region is a BBC documentary.

Quite simply, if you don’t identify as Trinbagonian first and foremost, then you can never be dedicated to fixing Trinidad and Tobago, and for that reason alone you need to get the hell out and leave the rest of us to unite and do it ourselves. If there is one thing I believe, above all else, is that we will eventually get the right leadership to bring us together as a people to do what is necessary to fix Trinidad and Tobago once and for all.

It is clear as day that the only way the PNM and the UNC can win elections is by keeping us divided along racial lines; hate is the only thing they have to offer. For the benefit of your children, grandchildren and all the other generations to come, all I ask is that we reject hate and remember our national motto: To ge the r We Aspire, Together We Ac h i e v e .
Namaste...
Jamille85@msn.com