Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 31/Oct 08:10

Failure to learn from our failures

PAOLO KERNAHAN IN ONE of PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s earliest news conferences as the re-elected head of government, she said something that was misinterpreted by many – "I was too nice." Some comments online suggested folks took that to mean the PM was too soft on errant ministers. This time around, she would take a firmer hand; she did say words to that effect shortly after her election win. That interpretation is probably false. During the PP’s tumultuous term in office, the PM fired several ministers after questions were raised about their behaviour in office and reshuffled her cabinet so frequently it was like an all-fours tournament. She never displayed a timorous nature in reckoning with scandal-spinning ministers at that time. I believe her reference to being too nice is related to the way the PP administration wilted under an unremitting barrage of attacks from the PNM and how she was plagued by Machiavellian elements within her own party. This distinction is important as it explains the version of Persad-Bissessar we’re seeing today, one that seems to have learned the wrong lessons from her time at the helm. Consequently, she and her government are operating with flawed intelligence, and it shows. During the election campaign, it had become increasingly clear that Persad-Bissessar had taken a hard turn rightward. Her peculiar, fawning adoration of Donald Trump was the first cringey giveaway. This right-wing sensibility has metastasised to a style of leadership infinitely more bellicose than anything we’d seen from her predecessor, Keith Rowley. Many seem to think this government had no choice but to side with the US in the brewing conflict with Venezuela. I don’t agree that neutrality was non-optional. Moreover, there was certainly no need for inflammatory talk like "kill them all violently" referring to alleged drug traffickers. Indeed, rather than deploying language that could diffuse tensions and put the population at ease, the PM has doubled down on her hardline responses, widening the chasm between TT and our closest neighbour. Those who are defending the government say the aggression against our country originated in Caracas. That is schoolyard reasoning. If we are to argue that the regime in Venezuela is volatile, mercurial, and prone to incendiary rhetoric, then matching that energy from our side exhibits the same qualities of this so-called rogue regime. The PM appears to be exorcising the regrets of her past by taking hardened postures that aren’t in the best interest of this nation. The opposition PNM is also showing signs of misreading its failures. After the election loss, the PNM endured a period of adjustment, one which never ended, given that there doesn’t appear to be any clear leader of the party. Its perceptions of the factors behind its resounding defeat are entirely different to those that actually caused its support to shrink and support for the UNC to expand. Penelope Beckles, Colm Imbert and others, in their retrospectives, spoke about a failure to connect with the people on the ground and "poor communication." There were also references to inner turmoil in the PNM – Rowley’s sudden abdication and Stuart Young’s hurried coronation. These hollow assessments point to much more than a grave misreading of the PNM’s electoral defeat. In laying out their trajectory of failure, they’re telling you that soaring crime, a rising murder toll, continued economic stagnation, infrastructural collapse, the Paria diving tragedy, arrogance in the face of a public buckling under the weight of rising costs of living – none of these factors played a role in the trouncing at the polls. In the eyes of the PNM, its loss was owed merely to poor communication and leadership struggles. The only way to interpret that is that the opposition is telling the population it did nothing wrong. This is as sure a sign as you will ever have that the PNM will do it all again when it returns to office. With leaders who demonstrate no capacity to learn from their mistakes, what we have (and have always had) is this interminable loop of regression – different players using the same methods, devoted to their incompetence and pride in the achievement of attaining office, rather than of being of any use in it. We’re saddled with the same fools posturing in Parliament and online, deepening the toxicity that divides the public. It’s often said that there are lessons in our failures. If we misunderstand the nature of those failures or deny their true causes, then the lessons we learn will be the wrong ones, and a repeat of those failures is all but assured. The post Failure to learn from our failures appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.