Platform Talk 3: A Regional Party

“Peo­ple have told us they're not vot­ing red or yel­low and tonight we have giv­en them, all who don't want to go left or right, come to the cen­tre.”. Those were the words of the Chairman of a new political party launched in the capital city recently.
The Port of Spain People’s Party (PPM) is a regional party which has made it clear that it is only contesting the capital city’s corporation in the December 2 Local Government Elections. This is not the first regional party in such elections. In 2016 there were at least 2.
The Chairman had previously told the media that “Peo­ple are very, very dis­sat­is­fied with what’s pass­ing for gov­er­nance in TT”. He is the author of a book titled “Conspiracy Against the People” which examines the Local Government arrangements in Trinidad.
It would be logical to expect that this party would be bringing a new approach to local governance. After all, Local Government structure and function are defined in a piece of legislation, an Act of Parliament – the Municipal Corporations Act, Chapter 25:04 of the Laws of this country.
So, if this new party were to succeed in defeating the PNM-UNC political monopoly (the red and yellow), the PPM will not be in a position to change the law governing local government since it will not be in Parliament.
That would be the case even if it were not a regional party, but national, and won a majority in every one of the 14 Corporations.
In fact, not even the ruling PNM sitting in the Parliament and Government has been able to bring about any reform of the Local Government system which it promised in the 2016 Local Government Elections.
The fact that the PNM won 83 of the 137 seats in 2016 gave them no ability to make any changes to the system or even push their own Government to make the changes which they told burgesses they needed during their campaign.
They even went so far as telling electors that by voting in 2016 they were voting in a referendum for the PNM’s Local Government Reform policy even though its contents were not even fully known to the public.
Before them, the UNC holding the majority position in the People’s Partnership and the other parties in that Government failed to bring about Local Government Reform which formed a major plank of both General and Local Government Election manifestos.
There were consultations, but no change.
And, before that the PNM in Government for almost a decade, promised Local Government Reform and postponed elections 3 times but never changed anything.
The city of Port of Spain is in dire need of revitalisation, of re-planning and re-design and modernisation. This need has existed for well over 60 years. It is much more than getting rid of 3,000 latrine pits that the PPM has promised.
In the 1960’s, Pegasus, the organisation founded by Geddes Granger, with the input and participation of scores of professionals and ordinary citizens, developed a plan for the revitalisation of Port of Spain, Project Port of Spain.
Architects, Engineers, Surveyors and Civil Servants volunteered hours per week to develop this project in 1966-67 which would have to be implemented by Government. The Government supported it in words but took no action.
Since then, almost every Government has promised redevelopment of East Port of Spain and the present administration recently presented its own ideas about revitalising the capital, plans largely developed without the input of the burgesses and without a philosophy needed.
In 2019, for a new regional party lamenting the state of decay of the city, points to the failure of successive Governments and to the real desire of the People for a voice in decision-making that affects their lives at a fundamental level.
For our governance to advance, to open the road to Democratic Renewal of our Electoral and Political processes and for the advance of the nation-building project, the PNM-UNC Political Monopoly must be defeated.
The PPM has offered itself for that purpose.
So, while an elected PPM, may not be able to change the Local Government law and may carry out only so much of a work programme that the central Government funds, they will have the opportunity to engage the burgesses in Residents’ Associations and otherwise in the new governance of participation in decision-making. This will be most valuable experience for the future.
Despite the limitations of the present Local Government structure, the burgesses of the Port of Spain Corporation have an opportunity to contribute to that advance by defeating the PNM-UNC monopoly on December 2.
Hopefully, they will grab that opportunity!

Clyde Weatherhead
A Citizen Fighting for
Democratic Renewal of
Our Society and Empowerment of
the People.
November 2, 2019