The big draw on Thursday evening was Dr Keith Rowley, the crowd's appetite not properly whetted when he made his balisier-waving spin on the platform last Sunday, pausing only for theatrics and the most insincere handshake ever. It was expected by all that he would silence the coalition doubters on that muggy Sunday afternoon on the PNM's battle-staging area of Woodford Square, where his gesture of silence spoke more voluminously than he ever could. You know people do not give Patrick Manning enough credit. He is reviled as being possessed of meager intellect, unrestrained arrogance and barren of tact. I could hear Mr Manning say something like, "I will gih dem all de tact dey want, I am a tactician!" That would most certainly generate laughter even if it means nothing in particular to the masses. I guess what I am saying is: Mr Manning you could go ahead and use it if you like.
For those of you who thought the political leader would not chance another term in office with his nemesis at his throat, the decision actually was an easy one for him. Rowley had so profoundly condemned the Prime Minister publicly, so exposed him as an autocratic leviathan, how could he now mount a platform and utter a word against the beast in whose name he asks the people to return him to office? The enemy of my enemy is my friend: is that not the very principle which has marshalled the opposition forces against the insidious rule of Patrick Manning? On the platform at the Starlite car park, Dr Rowley offered words to the starved ears of his supporters, many of whom raised their swords alongside him in a bloodless skirmish with their own party. Dr Rowley immediately delivered a breathtaking defence of the Prime Minister and scant reference to Udecott. Surprising, ent? It was his waterloo and a lightening rod for widespread condemnation of the Government.
He also vilified Kamla for having blocked the Lindquist probe of the airport scandal. More time was devoted to her than Calder Hart, even though he is on record as having said that corruption at Udecott is ten times worse than Piarco. We should remember, as I am sure Dr Rowley does, that he is still under investigation in the alleged disappearance/misappropriation of $10 million in the Cleaver Heights project. We were thankfully reminded quite recently by the Attorney General (who gleefully filled Dr Rowley's shoes as Patrick Manning's "kraken" to be summoned for purpose of the destruction of those who would raise a hand against the party) that the former minister, who was regularly "b...h-slapped" by Calder Hart, was never cleared by the Uff report. Indeed, Dr Rowley is still under investigation by the Government, attracting a fourth probe no less.
Before that Mr Manning had also been asked if he felt that Dr Rowley had been exonerated. The response was a cryptic "no" at the time.
In the face of all of these issues, Dr Rowley said that the "PNM had surrendered its legacy to one man who was leading the PNM down a road which, I am certain, will be filled with regret. And I am not uncomfortable with being the only person, if I have to be, objecting to the road on which the party is being taken." Early in the game, Dr Rowley made it clear that defection to another political party was not an option. His loyalty is to the PNM, the very party which he is prepared to watch the political leader lead down a path of regret for the next five years. Oh and the country will go to hell also, but forget about us for now. It also seems that the incumbent for Diego Martin West has an unparalleled capacity for forgiveness. His wife was also drawn down into the muck with an obviously PNM-inspired yarn of $40 million squirrelled away in a foreign bank account. His wife, who is also no fool, had the bank confirm with the office of the Attorney General that this information was patently false.
This generated little more than a hmmm from Mr Jeremie, who apparently will crawl naked through broken glass to do his master's bidding. Yet Dr Rowley referred on Thursday night to "disagreements" which we all have in politics. Man, I have not spoken to friends in years for cussin' me when we got drunk. I am gonna make dat call right...meow! "You all must understand that there are serious things involved in the allegations against some people today..." These words still resonate with many of us long after they were bellowed by Dr Rowley, even if he has deliberately forgotten them. "You cannot throw the captain overboard, while we are sailing," an apparently contrite Rowley demurs. The crowd trills with excitement for this long awaited, if artificial, d�tente. I like that ship analogy so let's run with it. Were you not the one, Commander Rowley, who mutinied and was promptly placed in the hold of the ship on the last voyage? Were you not hurled with insults and abuse by other scurvied crew members?
We all know the Manning vs Rowley spots so I will not regurgitate the text. It does help however to take us back to the perceived genesis of the rift. These two have been at fisticuffs since the mid-1980s. Anger, animosity, acrimony..." a very strong diagnosis from the Prime Minister of the man whom he is asking you to vote for. Dr Rowley has also attracted the admittedly mismatched fire from Colm Imbert and Emily Gaynor Dick-Forde, the former who admonished Dr Rowley to give up this obsession with Udecott so that he might at long last have peace. Were it not for this thinly veiled insult masquerading as wit, Dr Rowley might not have been minded to make reference to his other concerns, for example: "I want to tell my Government tonight that the tax I pay, I marking meh money. And it is to buy medicine for the hospital, chalk for the schools and to pay old age pension..." Yet on the platform on that balmy Thursday evening, these once searing concerns had cooled sufficiently to allow for "loyalty" to breathe once again.
Politicians need have no loyalty to the people because the people only give position, it is party that promises power. He also seems to have shed his troubles over this Government's acquisition of the beleaguered Air Jamaica, something which he had a veritable conniption over. Wonder how he feels about Liat as the next collector's item for the "Father of Caricom?" For all of the aforementioned reasons, Prime Minister Manning realised that he could effectively neuter the threat of the "raging bull" on the platform. He would do more harm to himself than Manning by condemning the one he aspires to return to government with. Ambition is a hell of a pacifier! As for the fate of Dr Rowley should the pnm get back into power or should Kamla seize victory, well we will have to wait for the evening to see how splendid the day has been.