Dookeran's Strength

For the sake of the future political landscape of this nation, Mr. Winston Dookeran needs to assert himself by putting an end to the very public shenanigans that are no longer a threat, but are now tearing apart the only credible opposition to the existing Government. It is now time to show the steel required of a person with ambitions to lead a troubled Republic and thereby prove to himself as much as anyone else, that he can deal with a crisis situation.

Forward thinking ideas are all well and good but quiet diplomacy sometimes need to be reinforced by fortitude for the greater good and to enable one to attain a position to implement those same aforementioned ideas. This approach is two-fold in that it not only resolves the problems that are tearing the UNC apart but will also prove to any undecided electorate members that the leader of the UNC possesses the necessary backbone to take the country forward.

I am by no means a UNC supporter, but recognise the vital need for a strong opposition to provide the political balance required in any democracy. At the moment that opposing seat is held by the UNC and that UNC is very weak indeed. Thus, instead of using this occupation to ensure that balance, it is spent providing a public display of bickering and child-like squabbling to the amusement of an increasingly autocratic PNM. Should this situation continue, the existing Government will be allowed to carry out whimsical decisions while the opposition crumbles, so the statement that Mr. Dookeran needs to act now for the future political climate is not far-fetched.

The general consensus seems to be that Mr. Dookeran should vacate the den of disagreement that the UNC has become when in fact he should now stamp his authority onto the party and take it forward to the next general election. As the elected leader of the party he has thus far not done anything to disrupt the party, so why should he leave? He has also done nothing to unite the party so he should stay to enact this. He is the leader of what passes as the main opposition in the year 2006, so why should he start over, try to gain an impossible momentum prior to the next general election, when in theory he is already at the helm of the premier challenger in a democracy?

Mr. Dookeran needs to turn the current situation into an opportunity to rid the party of the ambiguity as to who is the true leader of the UNC, thus ending the confusion of the general public. The UNC does not incorporate the word ‘Panday’ in its title. It is generally agreed that so long as Mr. Panday remains in the party, his antiquated political practices (something we can do without in T&T’s political culture) will restrain the UNC and take the focus away from its constitution.

The former Chairman of the PNM, Mr.Khan, stepped down from this position when criminal charges were brought against him. In what is a reflection of the current political state of T&T, the Chairman of the opposition also finds himself in the same position. Perhaps Mr. Dookeran needs to highlight this corruption innuendo when using the until-now-dormant iron fist to end this laughable and sad division. To leave the UNC and attempt to start again will label Mr. Dookeran as shirking his entrusted duty as the leader of a party and one that he vacated when the going got too hot, regardless of the unlikely origin of the flame. Should he think that he will lose the hardcore ‘Pandayites’ support, he will gain many more supporters amongst the undecided and these Panday supporters will eventually return to the UNC fold.

Mr. Dookeran needs to, once and for all, shatter the very large glass house in which Mr. Panday seems intent on housing the UNC. He needs to do it to inspire confidence, to prove his mettle and to make his position as leader of the opposition meaningful. He needs to do this not just for the sake of the UNC, but for the sake of Trinidad and Tobago’s political future.



Sheldon Waithe