Why I will vote UNC

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
April 12, 2025

By 1959, party politics had taken hold on the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Michael Kangalee (he now calls himself Krishna, his middle name), my schoolmate at Tacarigua EC, supported the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) that was led by Bhadase Sagan Maraj. I supported PNM, which was led by Eric Williams. Neither of us could vote but we followed our parents and villagers’ preference in expressing our party allegiances. Undoubtedly, our political position was shaped in part by our racial (not racist) affiliation. Years later, I went to the United States, and Krishna went on to live in Canada via England.

On Monday, I received the following note from Krishna: “Good day ole chap. I just wondered if you are paying attention to the Trini goings-on. What is your current opinion on any polls, or might you have a sense of which party is likely to be the winning one?”

I responded: “I will vote for UNC this time around. PNM has done a bad job on crime and very little to elevate the condition of Black and poor people in the country. The UNC should pull it off.

“Canada goes to the polls the same day as we do. How will you be voting?”

Krishna responded: “I have always been left of centre and would vote NDP [New Democratic Party] were they to have a chance, but alas, that is not to be. I shall give the Liberals my vote. I hear that there is an anxious anticipation of a UNC TT win.” Politically, the NDP sits to the left of the Liberal Party.

I didn’t tell Krishna that UNC, an outgrowth of the PDP, has become a more populist party than the PNM which has morphed into a parochial party that supports and is supported by the wealthy elements of the society.

He would have been surprised that the UNC represents a more progressive thrust than PNM. It is also likely to do a better job on crime.

I did not tell him that the condition of black people has worsened over the last ten years. It is not likely to get better under PNM who is more concerned with bettering the interests of the wealthy than improving the condition of the poor and lowly. Their leader sees nothing wrong with walking away with a pension of $87,000 a month ($1 million a year) while the elderly get $3,000 per month. His Government had recommended that any senior citizen who has a savings of more than $25,000 is not eligible for a pension.

Five years ago I wrote: “Kamla Persad-Bissessar emerged as a more mature leader with a broader national horizon although she should avoid specious generalisations. She is ably assisted by the energy, intelligence, and hard work of Jearlean John who will emerge as one of our next national leaders.”

This time around, a significant section of black people have seen the hollowness of the PNM and decided to support the UNC. They feel betrayed. They have literally become the engine of UNC’s growth and development. They are determined to change the course of our history.

Our Squatter PM has offered “a new chapter”. He does not tell us the objective or the content of that chapter. Williams, however, prepared himself for PNM’s leadership by publishing The Negro in the Caribbean (1942). In it he examined the conditions of the Negro workers (his words), the peasants, and the mulatto strata in the society.

The revolutionary events of the 1960s forced Williams to revise his party’s nationalist posture of 1956. He recognised “the urgent cry” of the people to change their social and economic conditions thereby “completing the process of Independence”. He concentrated his attack on “the privileged groups” and identified himself with the dispossessed of the society.

By 2020, PNM had changed its political and economic direction. The self-help, self-reliance, and greater participation in the economic processes Williams called for in his “Guidelines for the New Society” were dead. The former Leader of Our Grief and Sorrow aligned himself with the rich and powerful.

I have been harangued by family members and deserted by my dearest friends. This is the price one pays when one decides to be a moral agent and act at the behest of one’s conscience.

The Squatter PM may offer a new chapter but Kamla Persad-Bissessar has an opportunity to usher in a new stage of social development, deepen the racial solidarity, and improve the conditions of the poor and lowly.

I intend to assist her in this noble endeavour by voting for UNC. Incidentally, I think Canada’s Liberal Party will also be successful at the polls.

—Prof Cudjoe's e-mail address is scudjoe@wellesley.edu. He can be reached @ProfessorCudjoe.

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The Slave Master of Trinidad by Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe