Hats off to the Prime Minister for effectively neutralising the efforts of those who would want to topple her Government, to this woman manhandling these 17 male chauvinists who would seek to intimidate her, to this East Indian woman consigned to the kitchen by tradition, making a meal out of them. Embodying her personal mantra to "go brave" in the face of difficulty, she did precisely that in successfully warding off these marauders who, with no respect for queen and country and no thought of tomorrow, had promised that "all hell will break loose" if their demands were not met. How ironic it is to win a battle by waving a wand of peace against flashing sabres seemingly ready for the kill. For this is precisely what she was able to achieve, bowing to their demands of returning to the negotiating table to begin the process but without the elimination of the so-called five per cent cap which they so desperately wanted.
In this scenario the state enterprises can only give what can sustain them and this can be the same five per cent or less, or more, which can't be much. Some victory for the unionists, pyrrhic if that much, but they had the good sense to recognise that it was none such, but a subtle declaration of war. It is interesting to note, first, the rationale of the PM in her bold stance, and the reaction to the leadership's obvious stomping. She seemed supremely confident in the news conference that there will be no shutdown as threatened for the simple reason that there were too many people still with good will for the Government and who, out of an understanding of the implications for future development of the union's demands in these difficult times, would want to see their country survive and succeed. Was that wishful thinking? Hardly, for the media polls and the average man in the street, more likely to be independent in their judgment as against the union membership, concur that it is not.
And what of the response of the union leadership? It reminds me of the village badjohn anxious to maintain his image after he has been humbled, screaming out, "Hold me, hold me" in true Naipaulian fashion, even as the villagers knowingly and derisively oblige in pinning his arms behind his back, with the expected follow-up that "next time we go see"-to mean in this instance that Carnival would be a better time for a shutdown because the dislocation would be greater. A media poll after the meeting showed that 86 per cent of the respondents were against the removal of the five per cent cap, which tells me that the threat of a shutdown is all illusion, that it is a front to intimidate, but this "Iron Lady" will not be. With the astuteness of a seasoned politician, but with the gentleness of a woman, she has burst their bubble and sent them packing licking their wounds.
Dr Errol Benjamin
Via e-mail
