Rude Awakening

Vernon Paul, who is apparently an underworld informant, has alleged that the cocaine and missiles found in the water tank at the home of then-Government Minister Sadiq Baksh in 2002 were planted there by PNM agents, in an attempt to demonise Baksh so as to gain an electoral advantage in the marginal San Fernando West seat.

Mr Paul’s story has been investigated by the police but, partly due to the reluctance of Paul to provide specifics or a signed statement, has not been substantiated. Moreover, the contradictions and unlikelihood of the story he has so far given do not provide a sufficient basis to set up a costly Commission of Inquiry. And, as Mr Jeremie pointed out, such Commissions are called for when there is reason to believe that routine police procedures will not be sufficient. Neither criterion is fulfilled in this case.

The UNC, naturally, has glossed over the many holes in Paul’s allegations. He has claimed to be an agent of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, then merely an informant. The DEA, however, has denied any knowledge of Paul, apart from his criminal record.

Paul also claims that the PNM agents were going to pay him US$100 million to set up this operation — a figure which implies not so much a man whose skills are highly valued, but a man who is delusional. Most damagingly of all, however, the UNC has avoided the fact highlighted by this newspaper that, less than a year before alleging a PNM plot in a daily newspaper, Paul told a weekly newspaper that the planting of the cocaine and missiles was a UNC plot, hatched within that party by persons opposed to Baksh. And, if Paul’s story has even a sliver of truth to it, then, given what the public knows of the PNM’s and the UNC’s modus operandi, the original story is more probable than the second one. The likelihood, however, is that both stories are falsehoods, created by a man who is either delusional or seeking some sort of monetary advantage. Beyond that, however, is the question of the UNC’s insistence on pushing this matter to the extent of filing a motion in Parliament.

Their political motive is obvious - to fling enough mud at the ruling PNM in the hope that enough sticks to repel enough voters in the next general election.

No doubt the UNC is happy that the AGhas rejected their call for a Commission, because they can now trumpet that the PNM doesn’t want to reveal the truth while ignoring the valid reasons for refusing to set up a Commission. Yet that strategy in itself shows how out of touch the UNC is with the citizens. The last time the UNC demanded an inquiry into a matter — the Tobago Hospital/Landate affair — Mr Singh refused to appear to give evidence even after being so vocal about the matter. Between its 50-year history and the charges that have been laid against Government MPs Franklin Khan and Eric Williams, the PNM has black marks against it in the corruption table. But the PNM’s Achilles’ heel is not corruption, but incompetence. From crime to poverty to health to infrastructure, the Manning administration can be faulted on several grounds. And these are citizens’ real concerns.

Yet the Opposition prefers to bypass such criticisms in favour of mudslinging. That is because the latter is easier and does not require the suggestion of alternatives to bad and ineffective policies. However, if the UNC thinks that mere mudslinging will convince the electorate that they are a viable government-inwaiting, they may be in for a rude awakening.