It is always worrying when boldfaced parochialism, insularity, and xenophobia rear their ugly heads. If Christlyn Moore, interim political leader of The Tobago Forwards, was hoping to secure a win in last week’s Tobago House of Assembly Election by attempting to mimic a Trump-styled campaign of “them and us”, she failed miserably, and not surprisingly so.
The results in the end were ten seats to the PNM; two seats to the Progressive Democratic Patriots; zero for The Tobago Forwards.
It was unfortunate, to say the least, to hear Ms Moore, an attorney and former minister of justice in the People’s Partnership government, in a radio interview during the campaign in the THA election held on Monday last, make the most outrageous statements purportedly to object to and highlight what she claimed to be voter padding by the PNM; She alleged the PNM was bringing in Trinidadians to do sham work in Tobago for a sufficient period of time to become eligible to vote in the THA election.
That would have been accepted as a legitimate grouse in respect of a party notorious for electoral gerrymandering, but for the tone of Ms Moore, and the language employed by her in her accusations when she said, “I say to hoteliers and small guest house operators (in Tobago), when they come in yuh house, yuh know what? Don’t feed them. We say treat them with scant courtesy, they must not be encouraged to come back, I say drop Visine (a brand of eyedrops) in dey water, give them diarrhoea, they must go home.” To add insult to injury, the interim leader refused to take responsibility for her comment, instead claiming it to be playful banter. I beg to differ, her comments were vile and a record-breaker in terms of political malevolence.
The utterances of Ms Moore suggested that she views “Trinidadians” as “outsiders” in Tobago. This is astonishing in a twin-island republic where every Trinidadian can freely move to, live in, work, and enjoy Tobago and, every Tobagonian can do the same in Trinidad. But it appears The Tobago Forwards leader apparently doesn’t see it that way.
This is gravely hypocritical and somewhat ironic, given Ms Moore was a minister in a PP government, a former tutor at the Hugh Wooding Law School, works and manages Renaissance Chambers in Port-of-Spain, was the recipient of a lucrative PP legal brief as instructing attorney to the Commission of Enquiry into the events surrounding the 1990 attempted coup, appeared on behalf of the attorney general in several matters, and the recipient of a consultancy contract with Nidco after her unceremonious exit from Cabinet—all in a sense “Trinidadian” gifts—yet the same Trinidadian taxpayers are “outsiders” in her Tobago. Her mindset that Tobago is for and about Tobagonians and no one else is simply distasteful.
Ms Moore needs to be reminded that our beautiful twin island has never prevented and/or discriminated against Tobagonians as evidenced by the numerous amount of people who have ascended to and achieved much in our country’s national institutions. Doddridge Alleyne, Eugenio Moore, and Reginald Dumas, are all Tobagonians who ruled the Public Service. Hilton Guy became commissioner of police, and his cousin Russell Martineau, SC, was an attorney general and now a prominent leader at the bar. The present chief justice hails from Tobago. ANR Robinson became prime minister and president. And of course, our present prime minister hails from Mason Hall. Watson Duke himself, leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots, is a Tobagonian who represents public servants as head of the PSA.
Is it then right, fair, and proper in the context of such a history for Ms Moore to speak about Trinidadians as outsiders when the same Trinidadians have welcomed and accepted Tobagonians to participate in the governance of our twin-island nation that is T&T? Absolutely not. The statements of the leader of the Tobago Forwards were right down there with the infamous 2013 Sandy “Calcutta” comments, and the more recent “Chinee” comments by a PNM THA candidate. Something is terribly wrong when in the 21st century politicians and would-be politicians alike think that this kind of distasteful posturing has any appeal. Thankfully our Tobagonian sisters and brothers rejected this notion of “them and us”.
For a twin-island republic already polarized by race, this was an irresponsible statement to say the least, fuelled by the belief in the old fashioned principle of divide and rule.
Given our country’s current political climate and its people’s rejection of politics and politicians who refuse to embrace selflessness, non-discrimination, and equality amongst all people, Ms Moore missed a brilliant opportunity as leader of a new party to promote togetherness and unity of our people amongst and between our twin islands, T&T, the place we all call home.
Mickela Panday
