The politics of division

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s two Independence Day statements should be read as political messaging, not as interchangeable national addresses, the commentary argues. One targeted the national community, while the other spoke directly to members of the United National Congress.

Critics have treated the two statements together as evidence of division. The national address itself contained a veiled attack on the People’s National Movement, but the sharper question is why Persad-Bissessar felt compelled to issue a separate message to her party. Political leaders usually do so when they need to shore up their base, the writer says.

Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles took a similar approach in her Independence Day message, which largely repeated PNM arguments against the government. The commentary suggests that both leaders may be managing internal party tensions or preparing for them. Persad-Bissessar’s appeal to the “spirit that lived in our poor, marginalised ancestors” drew on an Indocentric historical narrative centred on the endurance and hard work of indentured labourers.

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spirit that lived in our poor, marginalised ancestors, yet who never allowed themselves to fall by the wayside

That framing contrasts with the PNM’s anti-colonial, Afro-Creole narrative associated with Eric Williams’ 1962 history of Trinidad and Tobago. The writer says Persad-Bissessar’s statement that “it’s time we grow up and stop blaming our problems on our colonial past” directly challenged the historical platform Williams used to lead the PNM to victory in 1956.

The political danger is that the UNC could appear to be serving an ethnic base rather than all citizens. In Trinidad and Tobago, the commentary notes, electoral victory requires both the UNC and PNM to win support across the racial divide. It says the PNM’s 2025 defeat reflected the failure of many of its voters to turn out, rather than a major shift of those voters to the UNC.

That leaves Beckles needing to revive the PNM’s core support. The standard tactic is to generate fear and hostility toward the opposing party, but that can alienate floating voters because political attacks are easily interpreted as racial ones. The writer concludes that Persad-Bissessar appears to be following the same path, with more explosive language, creating a tension between strengthening internal support and broadening the UNC’s appeal.

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it’s time we grow up and stop blaming our problems on our colonial past