Rough ride

During the month of July each year, for more than a century now, the world’s most famous cycle race is contested in France. Called fittingly, the Tour de France, it is a race which takes the riders over the varied terrain of that country, hills and vales, mountains and plains, cities and small rural towns, over the taxing Pyrenees and the forbidding Alps, sometimes venturing into neighbouring European countries, before ending at the famed gates of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It is a race which tests the limits of human endurance, concentration and will power, definitely not one for the faint-hearted.{{more}}

In many ways, the term of office of any government in a society where regular elections are called can be compared to the herculean tasks undertaken by the cyclists in the Tour de France. There are highs and lows, moments of triumph and despair, smooth sailing and rough rides. Like the legendary cycling race, the outcome is not only decided by one’s own skill and efforts but also by the fortunes of one’s competitors. Weather conditions, on a particular day or during a particular week, can bring setbacks and reversals, just as the prevailing international economic or political climate can affect the chances of a government at the next polls. Mistakes by cyclists can lead to falls, sometimes causing competitors to have to withdraw. Spills can even bring down those caught in the melee unwittingly.

All of these are characteristic of our political battles. The governing ULP in St. Vincent and the Grenadines must be all too familiar with this scenario. It has had its own unsuccessful tries at the race for the political prize, and the combination of events just outlined has been its experience before it was able to triumph in 2001 and to repeat four and half years later. If it takes time to examine the Tour de France analogy, it would know that only a tiny few of those pedaling the thousands of kilometers for the more than 100 years have been able to score multiple victories. Only the elite have done it successively.

Over the next year and a half, the ULP has before it two major political challenges. Just as the Tour de France cyclists must conquer the twin mountain barriers of the Pyrenees and the Alps, so, too, must Gonsalves and company have to scale the heights of a referendum on a new Constitution for SVG, followed by general elections one year later. These must be conquered if it hopes to join that rare band of parties which includes its rival, the New Democratic Party (NDP), with not only multiple electoral victories, but successive ones at that. These political heights must be scaled if Gonsalves hopes to again drink from the cup of victory at SVG’s political equivalent of the Arc de Triomphe. (The one distasteful part of the analogy, where the ULP is concerned, is that in the Tour de France, the winner gets the “yellow” jersey!).

The comparison is not fictional or virtual; it really applies to our local political situation. The references to the influence on weather conditions on the cycling race can be borne out by the effect that prevailing economic and political conditions have on the local political situation. When things are tight in the economy, as they are undoubtedly at present, it can affect your political support just as much as bad weather may prevent a cyclist from triumphing in the race. Every little twist and turn can determine the outcome. And what may be to your benefit today may turn out to be to your detriment tomorrow.

Take the construction of the international airport for instance. Ushered in with a big fanfare, it is seen as a major trump card in the ULP’s pack. But, for one reason or another, it is entwined with local partisan politics, and even normally reasonable people, who would generally support such a national endeavour, fall into the trap of, if not opposing, at least not being supportive of the initiative. Some, of course, blinded by political or even ideological blinkers, are openly hostile to a venture which, if successful, can contribute tremendously to our national development thrust.

The government, through the International Airport Development Corporation (IADC), has just launched a Contributory Fund for the airport project. It is a good idea, in terms of involving citizens in the ownership of this national enterprise. The pity is that the timing may not be of the best. There are those of us who were of the opinion that such participating involvement should have come right up front, at the launch of the project. Whether it was done in the form of bonds or contributions, as now solicited, the project could have been launched with Vincentian output, however much we could muster. Now, one leaves oneself open to the charges of detractors, that “dey run out of money fo’ de airport,” hence the call for contributions. It can lead to reluctance, or at least a lack of enthusiasm, in giving support. Timing is critical.

The Constitutional referendum is another such issue caught in the political maelstrom. This is the testing time for the government, comparable to the Alps of the Tour de France. One only has to listen to the calypsonians and to recall the Prime Minister’s count of some years ago as to what percentage of songs were favourable to him, to realize that all is not smooth sailing. Those who mistakenly oppose the Constitution reform for political ends know that all they need to do is to block it, to give the ULP a “bloody nose” in order to score political points and provide momentum in the run-into the general election. One may disapprove of it but such is the nature of our politics, perhaps the most persuasive argument for constitutional reform and political overhaul.

There are other formidable obstacles, too, as I will dwell on in my following article, which all add up to a ROUGH RIDE to the finish. (Part 2- Next week)

Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.