Opinion
- Editorial- Commentary
Basil
Ince: A
legacy of Eric Williams
From
the middle of the 19th century until approximately
the first quarter of the 20th century, the Ottoman
Empire was labelled the "Sick man of Europe" because
it was falling under the financial control of European
powers. It had also lost territory in destructive
wars. Approximately a century later Eric Eustace
Williams labelled Trinidad and Tobago "the
sick man of the Caribbean."
Eric Williams, a PhD from Oxford and author of
the celebrated Capitalism and Slavery, was back
in Trinidad, readying to embark on a lecture tour
to make the case for party politics in Trinidad
and Tobago. The background to this venture was
his displeasure with the government of the day,
its corrupt nature, and a constitution that he
believed did not befit Trinidad and Tobago.
He supported the minority report submitted by
Dr Patrick Solomon who had outlined the shortcomings
of the constitution under which the 1950 elections
were held. The executive council was such that
the governor, head of the executive, would name
the leader of the opposition. In other words, there
was no credible opposition. All these ailments
contributed to the illness of the body politic.
The doctor had a prescription to cure the disease
-party politics.
It
was on September 13, 1955 that Dr Williams gave
his first public lecture on "The Case
for Party Politics in Trinidad and Tobago" at
Woodford Square. This public lecture was sponsored
by the People's Education Movement. Williams was
so convinced that his prescription would end the
suffering in the colony, that he repeated this
lecture on eleven occasions, between the 14th and
28th of the month, in Barataria, Cantaro, Princes
Town, San Fernando, Chaguanas, Point Fortin, Fyzabad,
Palo Seco, Arima, and Gasparillo.
Dr Williams wanted to ensure that the seed of
party politics would take root hence the national
tour. He was appalled that there were 91 independent
candidates in the 1950 elections, and that the
characteristics of the existing parties were bedeviled
by personality politics and fleeting alliances.
That the seed took root is evidenced by the just-concluded
elections in which there were five independents
sticking out like sore thumbs among the 126 candidates.
In 1950 independent candidates looked at political
parties in askance bordering on hostility. They
had observed how political parties had popped
up at election time only to disappear after the
elections. In campaigning one candidate treated
affiliation to a party as a burden. He proclaimed
that he had "no axe to grind, no party affiliation." Another
referred dismissively to "so-called political
parties."
Dr Williams outlined the disadvantages of the
independent candidate-the inability to put forward
a coherent programme as a party would. Instead,
a party could draw on the collective competence
of its membership. Ninety-one independents were
likely to present 91 separate programmes. In the
same fashion, it would be impossible to implement
the litany of individual manifestos.The party could
undertake the job of political education to get
people not only to do things for themselves but
to also think for themselves. Most important, discipline
would be absent among a gaggle of candidates but
a party could ensure party discipline.
Today, political parties are the norm, and independents,
anomalies. In fact, they are jokers in the pack
of party candidates. The candidate of the PIMP
party was representative of that thinking. Party
politics has come home with a vengeance. With the
exception of the five, all candidates sought the
cover and emblem of a party. Williams had made
his point
Membership in a political party has become a virtual
sine qua non for election to parliament. That also
obtains in the case of senators, save, in the main,
independent senators appointed by the president.
What Williams did not foresee was the use of political
parties which would provide safe havens for those
flitting from party to party.
Some individuals has changed parties as though
they were changing shoes. The non-ideological nature
of the parties have facilitated this movement.
After the popular Kamla Persad-Bissessar was not
named leader of the UNC, many perceived that she
had been treated unfairly. She received an open
invitation from the COP to join the party. It was
also rumoured that she would have been received
with welcoming arms if she chose to join the PNM.
Party membership has proven to be a pathway to
Parliament for individuals who have little previous
experience or are not well known to the public.
They were referred to by Williams as crapauds.
What party membership did for them was to extend
a modicum of visibility and enable them to be
elected by a popular party. The idea for Williams'
now famous crapaud originated in the United Kingdom
where the party system is so strong that candidates
realised that "outside the party there is
no salvation." One voter had declared that, "I
would vote for a pig if (my) party put one up."
A political party is an engine by which majorities
are produced and political power is implemented.
Planting party politics in the Trinidad and Tobago
soil is one of Williams' enduring legacies. Even
if it has not worked as it should at all times,
it has cured the nation's body politic of the rampant
individualism in party politics
Basil
Ince is an article writer in Trinidad Express,
one of the leading newsdaily in Trinidad & Tobago.
Petroleumworld not necessarily share these
views.
Editor's
Note: This article was first publish in Trinidad
Express, Monday, November 11th 2007. Petroleumworld
reprint this article in the interest
of our readers.
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11/ 11/07
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