The Cult of Persad-nality

by Sheldon Waithe

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There is only one correct response to the poll question ‘Do you think that the UNC will hold its internal elections for its national executive in June 2024?’

Answer: ‘Yes, because that is when they are constitutionally due.’

You can elaborate with the caveat that any political party worth its salt for an impending general election, would understand the need to display absolute adherence to its own rules, far less the rules of the nation that it seeks to govern.

Therefore, the brouhaha caused by Rushton Paray’s call for something that is constitutionally due is largely unnecessary but also revelatory, about the current organizational culture of the Opposition party.

Paray’s action has been taken as a threat against the party’s leader, offering further proof of the UNC’s metamorphosis into a political party that has adopted the US style campaign strategy based around an individual, rather than the party as whole. It has become a cult of personality, with the attachment of ultra sensitivity around questions of the Opposition Leader’s ability to win a general election.

Which proves the folly of the personality-based campaign approach. In the face of the deplorable state of the nation, that further deteriorates daily (you can now add firebombing to the latest violent trends), there should not be lingering scepticism of the opposition party being an adequate replacement for the incumbent. Yet, from both within the UNC and from a desperate population, serious doubts are being expressed because the party has remained the same, trying to unite behind a personality, instead of building a sound collective.

Yes, the people are desperate for change, but they also have been battered enough throughout the recent past to buck the trend of short memories and not seek exchange for exchange’s sake. They want to buy into something credible that offers a culture shift and viable solutions, instead of a mere replacement, because the idea of continued frustration two years into a new governing term is too much to bear thinking about.

They look into the rearview mirror and see the removal of ministers, the departure of coalition partners, the audacity and stealth of Section 34, the unaccountable $400 million spent on Lifesport, and of course the use of the ultimate tool of a state of emergency, that even 13 years later, has yet to be explained.

Thus, the party’s leader became the campaign icon, because in defiance of Aristotle’s quote, the whole of the individual leader was greater than the sum of its (fractured) parts. ?

Even as this ploy failed at the 2015 general election and was repeated 5 years later, in the midst of a country riddled by crime and corruption, the cult of personality remained, bringing us to the present uncertainty.

An uncertainty enhanced by the fact that the UNC has not won a general election since 1995. A coalition won the 2010 election, when the kingmaking Congress of the People brought over 100,000 votes before inexplicably becoming spineless once in government, to the dismay of its supporters and those hoping that it would act as a check and balance.

You do not need to continue looking into the rearview mirror for the hindsight that after the 2020 election defeat, the UNC needed to conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis, to redefine itself and plot its way towards a victory in the 2025 election. Perhaps it thinks that it already has undertaken the strategic planning and that keeping the same leader is a source of strength because life under the PNM is so dire, that this will assure victory for the Opposition. A case of being the only alternative.

No doubt there are the party faithful, a significant cadre of voters, but what about those that need to be swayed? The recent displays from the Opposition Leader have been filled with examples of easily taking the bait from the government, discrediting critics and falling into the trap of losing focus of the bigger picture of astute campaigning, that could convince the country that they should vote in the UNC instead of voting out the PNM.

Instead, we have the incredulous and incendiary statement to “empty the whole clip and reload too”, the language of the gun culture that is killing our people. It would be better to be bold and state that if elected, they would go after the source of guns, if they dare.

There are the discriminatory undertones from a personality that preaches unity but uses the term ‘Oreo’ and worse, attempts to achieve superiority by referring to a ‘slave name’ after being baited by the government. This cannot be representative of the Opposition party; it needs to hold itself to a higher standard.

There are the swaying relationships with potential partners that are admonished one day and welcomed the next, while some should not be in the picture at all. This is not a cultural departure from the fragility of the last coalition government, rather it could act as a harbinger.

The UNC has wasted the opportunity to rebuild and rebrand itself, while its opposite number still holds office despite its own failings. It has not evolved, because it has kept the cult of personality around a leader that has been the common factor throughout its missteps and defeats, yet it expects different outcomes.

In the quest for meaningful change in how we are governed and regardless as to who wins the next general election, we need the Opposition to enact changes from within itself. ??