Politics, Corruption, Cookies and Trinidad and Tobago

October 20, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

Normally I avoid the topic of politics. People who know me know why; I consider politics to be an abstraction of the actual issues - and in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as everywhere else in the world, the level of abstraction related to issues is too high. We need to get back to the issues.

Everyone has been abuzz with Calder Hart, UDECOTT, corruption Chinese workers and... well, the Beetham Gardens incident is largely forgotten. It's all rather amusing when viewed from a distance, but some interesting things have happened.

Keith Rowley's gone on the offensive in a large way. UDECOTT Worse than Piarco tells that story well, and Mr. Rowley's been pressing the point home on Facebook - where he's got 366 people presently following him; a small figure yet respectable in its own way. That few people seems more real than the many renditions of Patrick Manning on Facebook. And Rowley's allegations, spoken from a soapbox of his own personal vindication, is damning in its own way.

For better or worse, that splits the PNM base between the blind followers and those who are paying attention. And this is good for a number of reasons:

• The moral basis against corruption should trump law. Trinidad and Tobago has a poor track record when it comes to that, and while it might be nice to say that it's as bad in other nations one should wonder whether mediocrity is a worthwhile goal. Of course, celebrating a football team that scores one goal - against itself - in the World Cup speaks volumes...
• That people are being encouraged to think critically by Rowley.
• COP and UNC supporters feel as though they've won something (though they, too, have lost ).
• The voter demographics are going to become more complex, which could indicate a further movement away from race-based politics.
• It makes for good drama. "These are the Days Of Our Lives" meets "The Old and the Clueless."

Politically speaking, it's a brilliant move. No matter what happens, Rowley wins. If he challenges and wins the leadership of the PNM, he wins. If he loses, he splits the party and can bargain with another party for the voter base he brings from the PNM.

But at the core of this, nothing actually changes. The UNC-A through UNC-Z remains a broken entity with Jack Warner leading Ramesh around by his wallet. COP remains a largely unknown entity, smeared and bloodied by a vindictive Silver Fox and his pack, and....

Oh, the corruption continues. Everything moves around. Let me have Ernie and Bert explain it to you, with Ernie being the politicians, Bert being the discerning public (hopefully, you), and the cookies being the national treasury.

Pay attention.

Any questions? I didn't think so. That rascally Ernie fixed everything!

So while the drama is impressive - corruption still exists. Count the cookies, people.

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