Devil with one horn

It is certainly a shock that the Congress Of the People were unable to secure a single seat in the recent General Elections in Trinidad & Tobago, Winston Dookeran ashamedly losing his prized St Augustine seat to the United National Congress. The People's National Movement won by an 11 seat victory, capturing their foretold safe seats with ease.

Remarked by a friend, "it's a sad state of affairs that we are still voting by race in Trinidad & Tobago", his reaction borne out of the clear divisions of perceived racial divides that currently "segregate" our country, these invisible enclaves not necessarily a racial one, but more so a political one. I do not believe as a people we can be racist, our blood way too diluted to allude to such excuses, but we demonstrate our ignorance or, by Jove!, our natural intelligence on a national level, every 5 years.

We have searched within our communities (read rum shops) for the answer to why we persistently vote along racial lines, doing so in an ever more trendy, derogatory fashion, however, today I propose another strain of thought. I would like to first draw your attention to the fact that demographically, Trinidad & Tobago's population is divided as such : Indian (South Asian) 40%, African 37.5%, mixed 20.5%, other 1.2%, unspecified 0.8% (2000 census) (http://www.indexmundi.com/)

We are all human beings, first and foremost, tribal by nature, following ancient streams of evolutionary instinct to follow, trust those who are "like us", those who conform best to our genetic semblance. I don't think this can be changed, on any level. Human beings will always stick to their own, witness the demographics of Trinidad, whether it be for historical reasons or civic ones, the country is geographically segregated by ethnic similarities. The same goes for London, cosmopolitan, no doubt, however, the Indians live with who they know, the Pakistanis with their own, the "Safas" and Aussies conglomerate in their chic suburbs, the Arabs in theirs and we West Indians have our little boroughs overflowing with breadfruit, bacchanal and babash. I would imagine the same for most major cities internationally.

So if we will perpetually vote for our "ethnic brother", a system that works for the people depending on which party has a stronger following, the "mixed races" and "unspecified" races either not voting or going for the proverbial lesser of two evils (Mr "Red Beret" being the only candidate that I know of with a criminal record) then with all the punters looking for an alternative, all the new parties seeking change through ethic diversification of their line up, I say that this won't work. All you do is confuse people, and to confuse a Trinbagonian means you will make him lazy, he will steups and mark that ballot, at the last minute, after years of bad-talking the other party, bad-mouthing "de coolie party", "de cockroach party", "de whiteboy party", he will vote for his own. His thought process may get severely complicated for a 6am ballot casting, considering the all the speeches, the rallies, the Beenie Man, the teeshirts and bandanas, the new contract, the contracts he may lose, the Bollywood stars! (Bas boy, retire nah man, 74 is not de new 40 yuh know pal!), the voter will rub his head, rub his eye and stain his own.

I like the concept of Proportional Representation, but not on an ethnic bias. I propose we create a new race. Trinidad & Tobago is overrun by young professionals, extremely versatile, creative and vibrant 20-40 year olds. Let us think about how to get these voters out and supportive of the political future our country. A party reflective of the youth, the innate energy and passion of our islands, a force that disregards race on every level. I thought it sad when I saw Mickela Panday in the battered UNC line up, when I saw Nirad Tewarie fall prey to the hawks of COP, Nicole Dyer, Ato Boldon...why would such young innovative Trinibagonians want to follow, instead of lead. A race that represents this cross-section of our country, that understands the international politicking at play and one that knows how to ride the ebb and flow of our idiosyncratic culture. Forget the acronyms, this is just a political vehicle that will inform, educate and support the people who own this country: you and I.

The obstacles that face us will be the existing political entities who seek to perpetually divide the country, (to win elections) and the old school thought that distrusts change. Dooks came out with a positive idea, a vision, but where was the fighter in him, constantly being upstaged by the shenanigans of a silver haired Fox, out-resourced by the Pastor and consequently ousted by his constituents. It's not just change that will bring in the votes. It's also a change of scenery.

The leaders of politics in Trinidad & Tobago have remained unchanged, save a few jail sentences, corruption allegations, heart failures etc. for, well, my lifetime, and with the exception of Bas, who - come on ol' boy, by 79, you should be focusing your energies now on gardening or, come to London, let's have a pint together, relax, put up your feet - should not be around, in 5 years time, we risk seeing the same bullshit rallies all over again.

I don't offer congratulations, but ask for a humble favour that the winner of the elections, the People's National Movement, put aside their personal agendas and take stock of a country in civic decline. I don't want to know about your $3bn per annum budget, I want to come home at 3am, come out of my car, open my gate, and go to sleep. Not forever though.