OF PALACE COUPS AND INTRIGUE

Okay. Here's what we know: Prime Minister Keith Rowley has slammed the Americans twice in the last year. The first time was when he publicly blasted the American Ambassador effectively telling him to mind his own business over T&T's relations with Venezuela and the second was more recently when he blasted the US State Department over its listing T&T as a two tier country in terms of human trafficking. (It didn't matter to our Prime Minister that there is a lot of trafficking especially of young girls and women going on). On both occasions the American response was muted, but on this last time the Masters of Marli Street went out of their way to praise the erstwhile Minister of Everything and National Security, Stewart Young.


Now, here's the rumour: certain persons inside the PNM are reporting that the Americans are not at all pleased with Dr. Rowley. Well, no surprise there. But they go on that they  (the Americans) would like to see the back of Dr. Rowley, but  apparently don't want to see Kamla back in the saddle. In the circumstances, the rumour is that the Americans are seriously considering how to organize something of a 'palace coup' replacing Dr. Rowley with Mr. Young, with whom they feel much more comfortable.


Question: where is Mr. Young in all this palace intrigue? Is he actively stoking the proverbial fires of 'revolution', or is he just sitting back and letting events take their course? Or, is he actively trying to stamp out this particular fire? What is clear is that if there is any glimmer of truth in these rumours we will be in for interesting times as the PNM and the country gear up for the looming general elections. Dr. Rowley will be looking very carefully at what his Minister is doing and who he is talking to!


PNM has successfully positioned itself to be seen as the country's "default party", much like the Republican party in the United States. In other words, the country can experiment from time to time with other political parties, but the PNM will always be there to "pick up the slack" whenever needed. At least, that is part of the myth that the PNM has built for itself over the years, and as Hitler (and now Trump) found out, the bigger the lie and the more often it is repeated the more people will believe it.  So it doesn't matter whether that is true or not, or even if the PNM of today is the same (or not) of the PNM of 1956. All that matters is that the average person believes that the PNM can be counted on to save the country when times get rough. Perception, in other words, is always reality ... especially in politics!


So, the lesson is that if you want to control the country, control the party, i.e., the PNM! And that is why we should pay attention to these rumours. While it is true that as John F. Kennedy once said 'where there is smoke there's a smoke making machine', more often than not the old adage about 'where there's smoke there's fire' is often more accurate. And if the rumour has any semblance of truth in it then we will soon see some subtle moves at the top as the players reposition themselves. We should all pay close attention. It's going to be interesting.