Can London's PNM prevail?

Every era has its hero and heroine and when the Tobago PNM was down and out from 1977 through the 1980s and 90s, they needed a hero.

Out of the blue there came Orville London with a well timed entrance into the political arena. A former school teacher and college principal, Orville London was no fool.

He clinically analysed the political situation in Tobago. He must have seen that the Tobago political maestro ANR Robinson was now off the scene while the once mighty DAC/NAR political force in Tobago was in turmoil with a certain faction holding the view that Hochoy Charles, the new leader was not 'qualified' to lead them.

As history will show, Deborah Moore-Miggins formed the ill-fated People's Empowerment Party (PEP). This party did not have a chance to win a THA seat but it was to play the role of spoiler that is, they took away votes from Charles and played into the hands of Orville London.

Orville's entrance into PNM politics came at a time when the then THA Chief Secretary Hochoy Charles found himself in an unnecessary war with the Basdeo Panday led UNC Government. Charles found himself starved of cash and his forays into 'get cash' schemes such as ADDA and Ring Bang became cannon fodder for London and the PNM.

The new Tobago PNM leader and his party members were in a rampant mood in the 2001 THA campaign and even if Charles fought a dogged campaign, he simply did not have the resources to hold on to the THA. Orville London led the PNM back into power in Tobago after years of being in the political wilderness.

Orville London became the toast of the PNM, his gifted flowery speeches, his swagger, cunning and down to earth style was the inspiration the Tobago PNM needed. Under his leadership, the Hochoy Charles saga virtually came to an end. Election defeats in the following THA and General Elections resulted in the Charles led DAC losing their once dominant 11-1 majority in the THA and their two parliamentary seats. The PNM boasted that Tobago was 'PNM country'.

Orville London was now part and parcel of a party which had its own traditions and style of governance. In many ways, the politics of the PNM had over the years developed a cultish nature about it, in the sense that if you were 'in the loop' then your business was supposed to be fixed. Therefore, it would have been difficult for Mr. London as a Tobago based leader to effect any fundamental operational changes in how the PNM party culture operated. Even before Mr. London's entrance into PNM politics, there was the talk in local political circles that 'you must have a party card' to acquire the goodies from the state.

So in playing the politics of the PNM Mr. London as Chief Secretary had to deal with the demands of the PNM family for 'piece of the action' and the PNMites who were 'out in the cold' now found themselves in the big times.

One of the major strokes in the governance of Tobago under the new Orville London administration was the introduction of his cousin Anslem London to take charge of the THA finances and he has remained firmly in that position.

Over the years of the Orville London administration, there have been some changes in the THA personnel.

The long serving party stalwart Cynthia Alfred has been put out to pasture. Former Goodwood/Belle Garden representative Hughford McKenna was one of the new London PNMites who was not prepared to tow the line and soon locked horns with the Tobago PNM boss and eventually had to take his leave.

There were a few PNM THA representatives in the first coming of Mr. London who did not 'make the cut' and had to move on.

One of the major pluses for the London THA regime was that they benefited from the massive increase in funding from the central government after Hochoy Charles took the issue of THA funding to the Dispute Resolution Commission.

With this increase in funding the London administered THA was in the position to expand employment and to give more grants to the people. They also embarked on a number of mega projects which have all suffered from massive cost overruns and which have all not been completed on time. However, the PNM THA can claim successes in the construction of community and health centres and road works.

The London THA administration has been affected by some party members and supporters whose reputations and method of operating cannot be considered a plus for the party image. Some have used their influence to acquire personal fortunes from contracts and membership on various boards and they foolishly boast about such personal gains.

The nature of party politics in Trinidad and Tobago is that the fortunes of the party on the national stage help to determine the party's fortune on the Tobago stage.

This meant that the fortunes of the then PNM leader and the Tobago PNM has made, what can be classified, as a desperate attempt to make an about turn in their political pronouncements by trying to take over the Tobago struggle which the PNM had traditionally opposed.

However, with the exception of a desperate few who have been traditionally opposed to the PNM and are now looking for a political life line, it is difficult to imagine the stalwarts, of the Tobago struggle shifting their political ties to the PNM.

Surely, Mr. London and his confidants will believe they have a chance to extend their term of office to 16 years. Anyone who wishes to believe that Mr. London does not have a chance to retain power in the THA could be making a mistake. The Tobago PNM does have a chance to hold on the THA but it is not going to be an easy fight to take on the broad based power of the Peoples Partnership. We shall see.

Reproduced unedited from Tobago News, Friday, July 13 2012. All credit must be given to the author 

Opoku Ware.