Citizens and Tobagonians in particular may have been caught by surprise yesterday when Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine revealed that he and his colleagues had resigned en masse from the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP).
Alongside Augustine, Faith B Yisrael, Terrence Baynes, Tasha Burris, Natisha Charles-Pantin, Wane Clarke, Sonny Craig, Naill George, Zorisha Hackett, Trevor James, Ornaldo Kerr, Megan Morrison, Ian Pollard, Joel Sampson, Nigel Taitt and Certica Williams-Orr tendered their resignations effective December 1, 2022.
Effectively then, they did what they should have done weeks ago when Duke resigned as deputy THA Chief Secretary on September 15 and fired Augustine, B Yisrael and Alicia Roberts-Paterson from their executive positions within the PDP.
Mr Duke’s decision then, which came following a public spat between himself and Augustine over a group of Tobagonians who encountered difficulty during a cultural tour of the US, effectively made him an independent in the THA alongside the People’s National Movement’s Kelvon Morris, the lone survivor of the previous PNM-led THA regime following last December’s 14-1 thrashing at the hands of the PDP last December 6.
Naturally, Tobagonians were most concerned about whether the governance of the island would be disrupted by a total implosion of the PDP just one day shy of its first anniversary in office.
Augustine immediately tried to assuage public concern during a media briefing addressing the impact of their decisions.
“I wish to assure the people of Tobago that we remain completely focussed on the business of the THA and serving the people of Tobago. I also wish to state that this transition will be seamless and swift, and I will address this matter further in due course,” Mr Augustine explained.
While the crossing of the floor is neither novel nor illegal, Tobagionians may well be within their right to be concerned about the THA’s governance ahead.
This is because Farley and his independents were voted into office by the people on the basis of their espousing the tenets of a new PDP ideology for the island and its future.
Their campaign slogan of “Leh We Fix Dis” was meant as a clarion call to Tobagonians to reject the longstanding leadership of the PNM in favour of a new dynamic “homegrown” hierarchy that would do it differently.
Alas, having overseen a magnificent collapse of the PDP after a euphoric rise to power in under ten years of existence, Tobagonians may now be in a quandary with a one-man party and a party-less THA executive.
Indeed, it is now quite possible that those who voted for the PDP last December may be in two minds about whether the individuals now leading and Mr Duke, who again becomes a leader in waiting, have the moral authority to continue to govern.
Former prime minister Basdeo Panday is famous for saying that politics has a morality of its own. Mr Augustine and his team did not have the conviction to leave the PDP weeks ago. Perhaps they were testing public response to the quagmire that developed at the time. However, now that they have done so, while the trauma of three elections in three years may be too much for Tobagonians, it may well be a situation where returning to the polls is the only ethical thing to do.