Sounds Like Same Khaki Pants: PNM Claims Victory, No One Denies It.

The noise has begun, and based on the noise - it sounds like San Fernando East belongs to Patrick Manning. I tuned into listen because of that.

Robin Montano had made lots of loud noises on WinTVWorld about how the Congress of the People (COP) has split the vote, causing the United National Congress Alliance (UNCA) to lose seats... but in that he has shown his own personal bias. He has not addressed how the COP was able to obtain the votes that they have - or rather, how the UNCA did not get those votes. Its politics in the political analysis, as usual - but what I find most amusing is that the UNCA now has to stand up and take responsibility for not obtaining those votes as much as the COP has for taking them. Even in losing, the UNCA blames others for their own failure as a party. Basdeo Panday, for all of his charisma, has managed to maintain his health for the platform - the same poor health which allowed him out of prison. Odd, isn't that? Certainly, the COP has failed in its campaigning in that it did not win many seats - but if Robin Montano will say (repeatedly) that he doesn't want people to insult his intelligence, then perhaps he should expect others to feel the same way.

The sad truth of the matter is that if the vote was split, it was because neither the COP nor the UNCA was able to capture the voter base - and the failure of both demonstrates why the PNM is in power. A lack of cohesive opposition - something which was quite apparent in the UNC's last sojourn as Opposition, and which has become more apparent for those who were too blind to see before. Let's face facts - Patrick Manning has never become Prime Minister by popular vote. That the popular vote was split reflects more heavily on the UNCA than the COP. After all, the UNCA has been the opposition for 2 terms and has been given enough time to deal with those disenfranchised enough to cast their votes elsewhere.

That the People's National Movement (PNM) is still in power is no surprise. Perhaps something good will come from all of this. Maybe. One can hope.

But from where I'm sitting, it seems as if it is the same khaki pants. Crime remains an issue. The economy remains an issue, especially where the middle class is concerned - the middle class which is apparently disappointed with both PNM and UNCA - and with good reason. Both parties cater to majorities, and both parties seem to assure that the middle class is always a minority. Would the COP have changed things? No one knows - but the COP did demonstrate that the middle class will vote for something other than PNM and UNCA... and what that means in the long term is anyone's guess.

Will Patrick Manning speak to those who did not vote for the PNM tomorrow - the apparent majority of the country? Or will it be the same khaki pants? It doesn't matter. Actions speak louder than words - and the actions over the course of the next 5 years will dictate whether the country is ruled by a minority, or it is ruled by a Prime Minister who wishes to represent the entire country of Trinidad and Tobago.

Personally, I'm just happy I don't have the cars with loudspeakers anymore. I would have been just as happy had any other political party won - why? People all over the world get the government that they deserve, as unfortunate as that may be. Why should Trinidad and Tobago be any different? The people have spoken. That the message was not clear to the leaders does not yet seem to have been interpreted as a failure of the leaders... yet?