The myth of PNM resilience

THE EDITOR: Over the past few days we have heard from the leader of the Peoples National Movement (PNM) of the so-called resilience of the PNM. Mr Manning has been quite keen to portray triumphantly his tenure as leader of the PNM. I had asked the Prime Minister in the House on several occasions to consider his legacy having led the PNM continuously since 1987, for almost two decades. While politicians can be excused for “getting high on their own supply.” Addressing a Hilton function to honour stalwarts of the PNM, Manning noted that the PNM won all 36 seats in the aftermath of the “black power marches.” What Mr Manning conveniently ignores is the “no vote campaign” of 1971, which left the PNM with all 36 seats. Does this demonstrate PNM resilience? Again Mr Manning, and indeed his small band of faithfuls, are always eager to elevate the return of the PNM in 1991 to mystical proportions. They assert the fact that the PNM got three seats in 1986 and five years later came back into government with 21 seats.

While this is so, the PNM devotees ignore the reality that the National Alliance For Reconstruc-tion (NAR) erupted into a civil war by 1988 from which the United National Congress (UNC) was born. Although the PNM got three seats in 1986, they also got 183,635 votes or 31.8 percent of the popular vote. In the 1991 elections, while the NAR and UNC had 15 seats together, both parties accounted for over 278,000 votes which is 44,000 more votes than the PNM, which formed the government. Again by December 2001, a division in the ranks of the UNC led to the return of the PNM, again with a minority of votes via the UNC.

Mr Manning may be on safer ground to lay claim to fragmenting opposing parties to the PNM and benefitting from that division. But to claim resilience in the face of fragmented oppositions is carrying it a bit too far. As far as the UNC is concerned, might I remind the public that when the PNM faced the enormity of corruption charges in 1986 they got three seats, when the UNC faced the scandalous and venomous corruption allegations in 2001 the UNC got 18 seats!! It is public record that the PNM is in Government by virtue of having obtained approximately 1,200 more votes than the UNC divided amongst the so-called marginal seats in 2002. Indeed the UNC has claims as being a party of fortitude. It is understandable that any party in government will spew the rhetoric of invincibility and equally seek to depress the supporters of the opposition by claiming that the opposition will never get back into government. This is fine for political banter, however, it is important for the citizenry to remember our electoral history.

The Opposition will take comfort in the fact that since 1986 every government has lasted only one term (more or less). And from the response of the population to the current PNM administration, it is unlikely that this pattern will change. Mr Manning will only win another term if the Office of the Prime Minister moves to the Red House and a local Roman Catholic Archbishop is appointed.

DR ROODAL MOONILAL,
MP San Fernando