Political integration of willing leaders

“The best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.”

History and the volatility of West Indian politics promise equally that our ambition driven Prime Minister will die a frustrated man when his time comes.

Surely he does not expect that whimsical profligacy is the solution to our many exponential problems born of studied neglect?

The resurrection of a modified federation of separately inconsequential states buoyed up a mini petro State’s avuncular Head, promises  far more than he imagines.

While the conventional wisdom sees contraction and economizing and a consolidation of economic ambition as the way forward, he sees expansion and spreading the wealth as true best practice.

That T&T’s greatest growth for the past decade has been the development of our criminal industry making us foremost in mayhem seems almost a deliberately orchestrated effort. 

Every move of our leader has facilitated crime by the evidence of its galloping success. Perhaps he sees political integration as the means of sharing this contagion with our wannabe wards? 

Like our many Constitution re-drafts, this proposed mini federation has been the PM’s personal brainchild, much as has been his dedication to creating community leaders by patronage whereby criminal activity has burgeoned.

The day may not be far off when open criminals may be appointed as our ambassadors to Caribbean states linked by a Caribbean mafia controlling our resources.

Wise citizens committed to the democratic process seem to have forgotten that their open confrontation of evil is a moral imperative. Gentle appeals to reason will not convince a man driven by a greater ambition.

Contributors to the PM’s political machinery are guilty of supporting all of his policies that have produced the evils in the land including murder, rape and kidnappings.

That funding has given the marketing power to make evil seem unimportant. It is not merely fanatic “PNM ‘til ah die” constituents who hold the key to PNM re-election. It is moreso the financiers who assist in ensnaring their votes.

And there is reason to believe that the PNM may be willing to re-employ thuggery to secure votes as claimed before by our litigant Imam.

Already it seems that some of our Caribbean colleagues are prepared to turn an equally blind eye to PNM shenanigans  as our financing political barons.

That a CLICO jefe-cum-PNM official could transfer millions from his near-insolvent company managing funds for a politically plural citizenry to a political beneficiary of his personal choice, and have this equated with a citizen supporting the party of his choice by the Chairman of the PNM, must serve as an indicator of the amorality of the PNM.

The question is what will political integration with impecunious small island states bring to T&T? The negatives are several and all promise a pauperisation of our indigenous citizenry.

Our small island state simply cannot afford to sustain satellite states and their citizens. We cannot hope to benefit from shrinking trade with states whose citizens have emigrated to our Island.

The problems we face with crime, health, education, justice, infrastructure and corruption et al, will all be exacerbated by political integration with non-descript partners.

MFRahman