WILL HE or won’t he (the PM) contest the next election? When is that election likely to be anyway? What will be the fate of UNC rebels who dared challenge the hegemonic headlock of "the Kamla?" Will some smaller political parties ever find the time between cussing each other out on social media and trying to tickle the UNC’s chin to actually concentrate on the weighty task of changing our political culture? Is Mickela Panday the one to bring balance to the force?
There’s no easy path to answers. Fortunately, there are the purgatives of the festive Christmas season rolling right into Carnival to flush these vexing concerns from our systems.
Recently, I saw a video of PNM celebrants in unrestrained revelry as they cheered on the successful screening of Kareem Marcelle for the Laventille West constituency. Marcelle was chosen to replace Fitzgerald Hinds who will probably be rewarded for going quietly with an even more lucrative and prestigious posting abroad, a la Darryl Smith.
As I puzzled over the ecstasy on the contorted faces of PNM supporters, I felt a brief pang of envy; oh how it must be to have weightless heads, vacant of knowledge and reason.
The PNM is gearing up for a third consecutive term in office. Even though the red-shirt brigade isn’t short on enthusiasm, commentary about the ruling party across social media platforms offers a less-than-rosy view of public sentiment. Many citizens are using digital platforms to offer caustic assessments of what will be ten straight years of PNM "excellence." There’s a fair bit of PN-enmity in the air.
With speculation rife about Rowley’s plans, Amery Browne slapped down reports that he is replacing him as candidate for Diego Martin West. The political leader has, on more than one occasion, hinted that his time in electoral politics is over.
In a television interview perhaps two or three years into his first term as PM, Rowley mused wistfully about life before the smothering restrictions of public office. Even then, this was a man whose words conveyed genuine discomfort with the demands of the job.
But then, Keith Rowley always seemed more about the fight and less about the unromantic, arduous intellectual rigours of leadership. His memoir, From Mason Hall to Whitehall, was launched in 2016, less than a year after he became Prime Minister. The unavoidable inference here is that for this career politician, the objective has always been the attainment of office rather than being accomplished in it.
Still, not setting the record straight on his political future must be somewhat problematic for the PNM, given that the party thrives on continuity, even if it's the continuation of the suboptimal.
Perhaps it’s best the PM mothballs his Savile Row suits and fully commits to the semi-bucolic life of golfing and goating. Now might also be the right time to write the much-anticipated follow-up to his 2016 bestseller – a potential title might be this: From Mason Hall to Whitehall to See Y'all. I’m not married to that, mind you. We can tweak it once the contract
