All sectors were in Death March

Let us dissect Mr Joseph’s statement first. In commenting on the demonstration organised by the Keith Noel 136 Committee, Mr Joseph said there was nothing wrong with middle— and upper—class persons protesting. But this was not the real message he was trying to send.

What he was implying was that, because the affair was a middle—class one, it did not reflect genuine concern from the majority of the populace. This is a standard tactic of all our politicians on both sides of the political divide — to act as though only the concerns of the "grassroots" — meaning the poor and dispossessed — are real concerns. The irony there, of course, is that the poor and dispossessed have continued to be poor and dispossessed under both PNM and UNC regimes.

But what is beyond irony is the simple fact that Mr Joseph’s words are not true. The crowd which marched on Saturday contained all sectors of society — rich, poor, getting by, Indo, Afro, mixed, white, Syrian, Chinese, prominent and average. The one sector notably absent was PNM officials and activists — and, as Mr Joseph well knows, they were missing specifically because his party ordered them not to show up. So to turn around afterwards and cite the absence of the cohort who are, in fact, the main victims of the murderous crime wave sweeping the country is, to put it very kindly, disingenuous.

This, then, is the spin tactic of the man whom the Prime Minister thinks is doing a great job as National Security Minister.

With the murder rate standing at one every 24 hours, with kidnappings a weekly occurrence, and with bombs going off every month, we can only wonder what a candidate worse than Mr Joseph would do. Yet, if we are to take his words at face value, Mr Manning is clearly quite satisfied with Mr Joseph’s performance. In this, the Prime Minister is at odds with nearly every citizen of Trinidad and Tobago.

Still, it is argued in some quarters that changing the National Security Minister would make no difference to crime. But whether that argument is true or not depends entirely on who replaces the incumbent. If it is someone with experience in security matters, it may make a significant difference. If it is someone with an effective management style and skills, it may make a significant difference also.

But what will clearly make no difference is leaving Martin Joseph there to make inane comments and to talk endlessly about plans being put in place, even as he ignores the fact that his previous plans have made no difference at all. But Prime Minister Manning does not believe this. By Mr Manning’s standards of excellence, Mr Joseph is the best man for the job. And, since this is so, perhaps the public now has a new insight about why crime has reared into the monster now plaguing the nation.