And.. it is over.

The PNM has won. Did anyone have a doubt? I mean really.. apart from hope, did you think any other party had as much of a chance?
COP split the vote, COP split the vote. The next rape is 'our' fault (i use our because I'm writing this from the standpoint of a semi-COP supporter, although I share allegiance with no political party to this date). If a family member of mine is killed it's my fault because I split the vote.. well no I didn't vote, so it's the other COP supporters faults.. It seems that this is the new anthem of the UNC. Really.. how bitter and small can you get?

To me, this is the situation: some people are choosing to live in a backwards society where you have the least options available to you, rather than trying to move forward into a new age of democracy, where you actually start having a better choice. Yes, this will not work now because the PNM is so entrenched in the mind's of its supporters. But in the future maybe.. hopefully.
This argument I myself am at odds with because on the one hand, I'm for the multiple party choices, but on the other hand I know that once it is not the PNM that has split, they will win. In this vein I am admitting that vote splitting has been ONE factor to the demise of any real opposition to the PNM's power.

However, on the other hand, and all the while I was checking the figures and doing the math, the UNC would still not have won, even with EVERY SINGLE ONE of the COP voters voting for them.. an extremely unlikely, nigh impossible occurrence. Apart from this most logical and statistical evidence, preventing other parties from being in the running would just be another method of keeping this country from moving forward to first world status, however many decades in the future that is. Isn't that really what an election for this country is supposed to be about? Choosing the most worthy candidate to take us forward?

I say this and I laugh to myself because I know the truth.. no, this election is not about who is the most worthy person. Die-hard supporters of each party prove that this is not so. Racial voters for each party prove this is not so. Together these two groups make up quite a sizeable proportion of the voters.. so no, Trinidad and Tobago elections have never been and have not been this year, about which candidate was most worthy. We are apparently stuck in our third-world mentality and cannot see past our parents' voting or our friends' voting. It is because of this, that I am happy for the COP. Happy not for the COP themselves but for the third option as it represents, to me, a step in the right direction.

and yet still people find a way to bring race into the debate. Indians vs indians. UNC vs. COP. Why does it have to be about race? Of course I'd expect race to factor in between the PNM and the UNC but why is it still about race with the COP? and some people FIGHT for this argument.. why is it indians have to be fighting so, why can't they unite against the black people.. come on.

what saddens me is that most of the examples I've used for this bit of writing have come from people my own age. Tonight I was going through a facebook political group and reading wall posts. For the first time in my life I actually felt a sense of hopelessness and helplessness for the future of this country. I felt as though no matter how many free-thinking individuals we have, the majority is always going to lie with the ignorant, narrow minded, self-righteous, never-wrong, bitter and egotistical persons. This is really fighting against my hopes that we are making (baby) steps towards a better future. What is one new party compared to thousands of these falsely intellectual persons? It is an incredibly daunting situation.

perhaps I have digressed from my original point, or perhaps I have expanded to incorporate other feelings, making this yet another general political post. Either way, it continues;

I was thinking about it and while I still stand by my 'fuck Jack Warner' stance, I would have liked a different party to win this election, just to experience something different. If it turned out to be worse then we live with that, if it turned out to be better then fine. I'm just in the mood for a change. The PNM has been in power for 10 years straight now, onward to another five. That's almost half my lifetime gone there, though I vaguely rememeber the UNC being in power. But perhaps this mood change can still come. Haha again I think I am kidding myself. My thinking in the previous statement was this: if the people speak, government has no choice but to listen. Are you laughing yet? the statement itself is a noble thought yes, but when applied to this country it becomes a laughable prospect. The smelter issue is a perfect example. From the people not being able to fully come together to a prime minister who had no intention to heed any voice of HIS people, it just went to show what the real situation is. Furthermore so if/when he becomes executive president.

I have a question. I shall post this in a new note so it gets the attention I'd like it to. Would you rather have a corrupt prime minister who steals money but can run a country OR a most noble and honest prime minister who cannot run a country? It saddens me that my morals must take a bend for this one but I think I'd go with the corrupt prime minister. I'd rather have my country in top shape than have it in no shape at all with a leader who won't lie to me.

As this is getting quite lengthy I think I'll stop here. Thus, onwards we go into the next half-decade (which I reiterate from a previous post, is far too long a term) with much of the same, if not more stupidity and injustice being done to the people of the country. It is the ultimate shame when a country's people have no voice and are suffering when its leaders are sitting on gold toilet seats.. and this is the shame we will face every day for the next five years.

which reminds me.. I should make a post about Haile Selassie that may make me pretty unpopular with my rastafari friends.. all zero of them.

peace to my fellow countrymen. Whether you are a UNC supporter, a PNM supporter or a COP supporter, we must all live in the same country tomorrow. You may not have voted the man into power but you have to live with it now so deal with it. (which may not have to be passively. I do not advocate inactivity.)