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Waaaay sah… Allyuh couldn’t just wrap allyuh head in African cloth, take a little chip down the road, pose for photos, and leave people to enjoy Emancipation Day?
By the time you read this, who knows what the Prime Minister would have just posted, the Opposition Leader retorted, and anyone from Marvin Gonzales, Phillip Alexander, Kareem Marcelle, and Barry Padarath fired back.
Truth is, at this point, it doesn’t matter much what they are saying anymore. You’d get more clever quips from Iran’s Lego Wars.
The UNC and PNM politicians do not seem to like each other very much. Admittedly, they don’t have to—although mutual respect from fellow practitioners, even carpetbaggers, is not such a bad thing.
But the worst part is they are trying to get us, the everyday citizens, involved in their nonsense too!
“If the PNM MPs and their supporters don’t want East Indians to participate in Emancipation events that’s their democratic choice,” said PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar, after criticism of an Indian dance routine during an African Emancipation Day event hosted by UTT.
First up, this isn’t karaoke. Normal folks go to a cultural event to enjoy or appreciate that culture—not put their own culture on the stage.
Mr Live Wire can’t remember Keithos trying to hold a mini-goat race during Divali, when the PNM was in government.
But which East Indians are trying to crowbar themselves into the Emancipation story, though? When did that happen exactly?
Or, to be blunt, why is Tanty acting like criticism of an arguably poorly conceived UNC idea is tantamount to the snub of an entire race? How did Ravi from Chaguanas reach in that?
Well, PNM MP Kareem Marcelle certainly gave that hateful pot quite the stir himself.
“Laventille West, PNM people—they doh like we, and they will never like we. But I want them to know, that we don’t like them and we will never like them…
“Whenever they say PNM people on social media, to me it’s the new ‘N’ word. They hate African people, they hate black people, they hate people from Beetham, they hate people from Sea Lots, they hate people from Maloney, they hate people from La Horquetta, they hate people from Train Line, they hate people from Arima, they hate people from Carenage. They hate we!”
Well, for starters, La Horquetta/ Talparo is actually a UNC constituency. So, as it turns out, “they” like them just fine.
But what could possibly be Marcelle’s endgame? How is advocating deeper divisions—“they will never like we… and we will never like them”—possibly a political strategy for success for an opposition party, far less a moral argument?
Can anyone identify an excerpt from Long Walk to Freedom or A Testament of Hope that could have inspired such a bitter rant?
Of course, PNM-ites can point to UNC PRO Kirk Meighoo’s spurious claim, last year, that Dr Eric Williams was not Trinidad and Tobago’s first prime minister as further evidence that a cultural war was already in full swing.
Persad-Bissessar called Meighoo’s attempt to reduce Williams’ status a “non-issue”—despite knowing full well the late politician’s role in the coming of age of non-white Trinidad and Tobago.
Similarly, Pennelope Beckles-Robinson did not take the opportunity to chastise Marcelle for his divisive rhetoric, and try to help her party find the higher ground in this toxic exchange. It is a mistake that could be damaging to her party, when the bell for the next general election calls.
In truth, it seems like a race to the bottom from all sides.
“At this time in our history, Trinidad and Tobago has found itself in a very dark period,” wrote former prime minister Stuart Young, “where our democratic rights have been continuously, unjustifiably suppressed and democracy is literally being threatened…”
No doubt, Young could find supporting evidence for his assertion. Yet, it is worth noting that Trinidad and Tobago was already in a state of emergency when the UNC took office in 2024.
And the controversial Interception of Communications Bill passed with support from all government and opposition MPs, back in 2010.
That is not to say that the UNC does not have questions to answer over its use of that legislation. But both parties have played a part in getting us here, so less finger-pointing and more solution-oriented suggestions would be nice.
Anyone else concerned about the number of times that the prime minister has used the word, coolie, since she returned to office? Does anyone besides old people even use that slur anymore? Why reach for that particular trigger—and with such regularity?
There are days that it feels like we are being run by off-his-meds Kanye West.
As for the Opposition party, I think they would find that most citizens care more about jobs, water, security and sovereignty than race.
Kamla versus Penny is getting more toxic than Nicki Minaj versus Cardi B. Enough already.
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Mr. Live Wire is an avid news reader who translates media reports for persons who can handle the truth. And satire. Unlike Jack Nicholson, he rarely yells.
