- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Hier 06:14

A nation divided

DR GABRIELLE JAMELA HOSEIN  JUST SHORT of three months after the April 28 election, we are a nation divided. First, the PNM has not found its feet. Even under new leadership, it has not admitted to specific governance and development mistakes made over the last ten years. There’s been lots of reputation management, and a surge in hour-by-hour blogger pettiness, disinformation, and vitriol, but little accountability for more than "not listening" – which is both far too obvious and far too nebulous. What specifically could the party have done better across sectors? What did a post-mortem suggest should have been completed, implemented, evaluated, legislated, and much more? And why wasn’t it? The party has gone into the most stereotypical of opposition modes and there is no clear sense of what might be different next time. Martin Gonzales “Bangladesh or Delhi” description of Indo-Trinidadian citizens never received appropriate public opprobrium from the party. This will not be forgotten. While many looked on since 2015, ethnic parity on boards was a non-issue in a PNM town so the hysteria feels hypocritical now. This feeling abounds. What could a PNM statement about the SoE possibly say when the party made a similar decision just months before? And, when the UNC’s axe turned to Cepep, and PNM lawyers gathered around contractors, why not also concede that spending unaudited billions for a decade was negligent at best and scandalously suspect at worst, facilitating the potential for trough-feeding yet to be fully presented to the public. Cepep Company Ltd CEO Keith Eddy’s affidavit, as reported by the press, should leave us livid about the mess that was left, now costing us in the courts. Poor and politicised oversight created the context for Cepep workers, among the poorest in our population, to now suffer. The party could therefore take down the show of moral high ground and admit these things to voters who are non-aligned, not convinced by spin, and willing to swing. I wish the Ms Beckles well as she has a near Sisyphean task ahead. On the UNC side, it’s a kind of "signal when it’s time to hold yuh head and bawl" situation for we know our overall economy has contracted and it will take a co-ordinated, serious, and results-based approach to inch ourselves away from the quagmire. No one yet knows if this government has what it takes. On the one hand, there is a "it’s been 11 weeks, how come all the national issues haven’t been solved" circus. On the other, across vastly neglected swathes of land past the lighthouse, a sense of relief, satisfaction and optimism remains sustained, though such faith is deeply fragile. In some instances, boards should have already received instruments of appointment and the business of ministries kept from stasis. In others, party loyalists and executives are being rewarded with positions. Some of those appointees could be suitably qualified, but it leaves a sceptical population thinking "PNM or UNC: same thing" when it is not clear what those qualifications are. Also, it’s not clear whether gender parity in those appointments matters in 21st century TT, including in terms of board chairpersons, particularly as there are more women with professional degrees and qualifications than men in the country. I have my own scepticisms about excitement to get into power, but shallow commitment to progressive politics once there, despite having a woman at the helm of the state. So, we find ourselves here. PNM people, right up to the top, are acting as if there was no corruption, waste, or mismanagement, leaving us broke. UNC people are holding to a populist discourse of love and care in the hope that they don’t begin to read headlines about indefensible elite politricks and personal aggrandisement among their own. They are as anxious about corruption a second time around as they are desperate for competent leadership and ministers that do not gallery. Meanwhile, social media feels like one nation comprising divided people who demand pretence about themselves and honesty about their opposition. We are caught between anger and anticipation; populations with very different emotions; those who accepted or condemned the SoE then and those who accept or condemn it now; those who felt victimised before and those who feel victimised today; those who see only Indian racism and those who see only African racism; those who attack mercilessly but complicitly defend their own; and those pushing hate and propaganda for one side or the other. We are distracted by our own in-fighting. Meanwhile, the poor keep getting poorer. Diary of a mothering worker Entry 560 Motheringworker@gmail.com The post A nation divided appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.