Letter: Political competition scaring Rowley

Keith Rowley: TTFM is "in the bosom of the UNC"

Keith Rowley is running scared as the country gets closer to Election Day. The object of his latest concerns is the Third Force Movement (TTFM), which he sees as a group that can attract undecided voters.

Speaking at a small gathering of PNM supporters in St Joseph Monday night, Rowley charged that the TTFM is “in the bosom of the UNC” and its aim is to get votes from people who were unhappy with the UNC and the Congress of the People (COP), and may be leaning towards voting for the PNM instead.

“They know that those persons are likely to vote for the PNM so Mr. (Timothy) Hamel-Smith and his group and the UNC conspired to form a political party with no hope whatsoever of winning a seat or polling division nowhere in the country,” Rowley said. “They are hoping to syphon them off from the PNM. In other words it is another UNC wolf in sheep clothing,” he said.

There is no conspiracy. 

The reality is that Rowley and his PNM have failed to attract votes outside the core PNM group of loyalists and instead of presenting attractive ideas to woo them Rowley is blaming the UNC. If the people who are likely to vote for the PNM are now going to shift to the new movement then it is an admission of PNM failure and instead of complaining Rowley should ensure that his PNM can keep the votes regardless of who else is courting them.

But he can’t do that because those people never intended to vote for the PNM, which is today a poor shadow of its former self led by a man who has no fresh or original ideas and who is content to keep the PNM as a single hegemonic party with its irrelevant theme: “Great is the PNM and it Shall prevail” while the PP and its leadership put people first, regardless of their politics.

Hamel Smith stated last week that his group would be happy to meet with either of the two main parties to discuss a partnership arrangement. But Rowley has maintained that he won’t partner with any other group unless it is necessary.

So with that level of arrogance Rowley should not be complaining about the TTFM; he should find a formula to get the undecided to vote for him instead of them. And if as he says they would suddenly leave the PNM for the Third Force then he is admitting that the PNM cannot deal with the political competition.

It’s a free country and a person is free to support a party of his/her choice. And in a general election that person is free to vote for whomever she/he chooses. Today’s technology has opened up myriad communication channels to educate the voter so she/can make educated choices. 

And that frightens Rowley who still thinks victory comes from waving the Balisier symbol.

Unlike Rowley, Kamla Persad Bissessar understands the value of coalitions as demonstrated in the partnership she put together to defeat the PNM in 2010. It is to her credit that she kept her coalition together for five years. Although David Abdulah and his MSJ chose to walk away she never abandoned her labour-friendly agenda.

You see a coalition put together before an election is a commitment to the people that such an arrangement would deliver the best to the widest cross section of the people. The PNM will never go that route because it thinks T&T is PNM country and only PNM people must benefit from all the resources of the state. 

-Sylvester Campbell