Thinking about the Congress of the People in T&T Politics

In Trinidad, many of us try to convince our peers that we exist 'above the politics', or that 'we are not into politics'; statements often accompanied by the disdainful snort. To reveal one's political association is considered taboo. Unfortunately, our sanguine views of maintaining our untainted state from anything so lowly as politics, is classical of the trappings of Third World thinking. It is also indicative of our lack of understanding of our responsibilities as citizens of a democratic Republic. Political awareness in the individual is the fundamental precept for a successful democracy. Every one of us must bear the responsibility of the continuance of our democratic state by exercising our right to vote. Living in a democracy is a privilege, and should not be taken for granted.

Sadly, because of the 'first past the post' bicameral democracy in which we live there are a large number of citizens who feel disenfranchised simply because there is no party that represents their vision for Trinidad and Tobago. Many therefore opt to refrain from voting rather than support parties with ideologies at variance with their own. It is with this in mind, to our understanding, that the 'Congress of the People' (C.O.P.) came about. Its motto is about "New Politics". More than just a catch-phrase, "new politics" aims to restructure the present hegemony of centralized government, and to replace it with community-driven, people-based government. It also encompasses the altogether alien(!) concept of accountability and transparency in government. Two ways of attempting to arrive at such a government state would be the introduction of referenda for issues of national importance, as well as the ability to recall members of parliament who do not perform within the constitutionally stipulated parliamentary term. The other premise of the new party is to harness the intellectual capital across the spectrum of diverse fields, including criminology, law, infrastructure, energy, and others. In this way the party seeks to ensure that policy direction and implementation are put together by respective experts in particular fields rather than by party-card holders, or by party sympathizers, who may not have the credentials, nor the experience, to run complex ministries effectively. Anyway, that's the gist of the plan.

The bad news is that, in Trinidad, that is not the end of the story, as it would be in a First World country populated by a pragmatic electorate. As we have stated elsewhere, Trinidad is mired in the politics of the Third World. Tribal associations flourish, insular agendas are the only agendas, corruption and favouritism act as brokers for votes. The C.O.P. is attempting to reach beyond an ideology of "we'll fill up your personal bank account, and your pot-belly if we get into power." Abstract associations, and thinking beyond anthropocentricity in its most literal sense, is a very hard ask of our electorate. Patrick Manning is extremely shrewd in his assessment of the voting public, albeit, we are hoping that it is a dated assessment. The mandate of the C.O.P., to change the politics of the country, is the easy part: changing the mind-set of a population will be the challenge. Indeed, the politics of the day is merely a mirror of societal attitudes, and stereotypies (and we make deliberate use of the psychiatric connotation here). The voting public must be taught to make causal associations between the 'abstract' topics such as global warming, carbon dioxide emissions, protection of biodiversity for instance, and how those said nebulous subjects will determine whether food gets on the table in the future, or how much of our coastline will disappear beneath the sea thus affecting our 40% plus coastal-living population, or how our water-supply will be affected. Our activities affect the whole ecosystem of which we are a part, and nothing that we do can be construed as taking place in isolation. Obvious to us, obvious to the C.O.P., but not to the majority.

The problem we have in Trinidad is a generational one. That is, it will take generations to fix. Indeed, it can only be solved through an evisceration of the current primary education system, and with mandatory parental guidance programmes. The purpose of an education system is to produce empowered, intelligent, empathic, accountable, and socially erudite citizens capable of full operational thought processing. We fail on every level. Belching out SEA candidates in an examination- / certification-oriented culture is the modern-day estimator of 'success'. Or that 'x' number of schools built is another denominator of 'success'. Frankly, some of our best classes took place under a Mango tree at the back our primary school: concrete structures do not necessarily build minds.

What about Panday, and the United National Congress (UNC), you ask? As far as we are aware, they have outlined no future path for the country, nor do they seem interested in doing anything other than lambasting Mr. W. Dookeran, and then calling for 'reconciliation', often during the same speech. Many argue that Mr. Panday was the best Prime Minister we have ever had. We do not presume to debate that point, however, that conclusion is derived based on comparison: could it be that other Prime Ministers were so bad that Mr. Panday emerged looking quite good? Incidentally, we believe that Mr. Panday should share some responsibility for the Caroni debacle, which disenfranchised the same people he so vociferously fights for.

The bottom line is that Trinidadians and Tobagonians now have a larger selection of parties from which to choose. Will we choose the new route on election day, or shall old habits prevail? We guess the latter: change takes time, but time is not on our side. We must someday soon learn to vote as custodians of a future First World Nation, so that possibility becomes actuality.

The Congress of the People Official Website can be found here.

- May 2007.