The Manicou Report

Winston Dookeran, I call upon you once more to meet with me in the public glare to decide how we should unite the forces of the opposition and remove this dictatorial regime of the PNM. I await your answer.

I am prepared to meet at any time, in any place, I ask only one condition: that this meeting be held under the full glare of the media, the reporters, the television cameras recording every word we say to one another….No one will therefore be able to deny what he said. No more lies! The public has a right to witness such a meeting so that they may judge for themselves what are the concerns and objections of the Corpse to this question of unity.
- Basdeo Panday

I’ll tell you tonight, I give Mr. Dookeran and the Corpse 21 days….And if after 21 days they eh unite, I Jack Warner go after Dookeran. I’ll give him 21 days! Because at the end of it all, if we don’t unite, is unity or death.” - Jack Warner

I prefer the original version of this song from the 70’s when Player sang it. Back then it was called “Baby Come Back” and singer Ronn Moss was not yet portraying Ridge Forrester on the Bold and the Beautiful. The original lyrics went like this (feel free to sing along if you know the tune):

Player

Spending all my nights, all my money going out on the town
Doing anything just to get you off of my mind
But when the morning comes
I’m right back where I started again
Trying to forget you is just a waste of time

Baby come back, any kind of fool could see
There was something in everything about you
Baby come back, you can blame it all on me
I was wrong, and I just can’t live without you

All day long, wearing a mask of false bravado
Trying to keep up the smile that hides a tear
But as the sun goes down, I get that empty feeling again
How I wish to God that you were here

Baby come back, any kind of fool could see
There was something in everything about you
Baby come back, you can blame it all on me
I was wrong, and I just can’t live without you

Now that I put it all together
Give me the chance to make you see
Have you used up all the love in your heart?
Nothing left for me, ain’t there nothing left for me

Baby come back, any kind of fool could see (oh darlin’)
There was something in everything about you
Baby come back (listen baby), you can blame it all on me
I was wrong, and I just can’t live without you
I was wrong, and I just can’t live

The truth is that I don’t know what it will take for the Congress of the People to win this election. It probably depends on which poll you’re listening to. Some say that the Congress can win it alone and yet others say that they are lost without the UNC. That having been said, if the UNC and the COP do unite, what kind of unity could this be? How can the UNC call on the Congress of the people for unity and insult them in the same sentence? I think that an alliance between the UNC and the COP will be a marriage doomed from the very start.

There may be no ‘i” in “team”, but there’s definitely an “i” in “unity” and Basdeo Panday’s predicament is that he is much too aware of it. You see, the problem with Basdeo Panday is that Basdeo Panday thinks that it’s all still about Basdeo Panday, when in fact it hasn’t been about Basdeo Panday for a long time now. And being amongst his croonies hasn’t helped him let go of himself.

For me at least it has been bewildering to watch the UNC as they try to get ready for this election. No political leader, a questionable “alliance” and now calls for unity to a party that the UNC has repeatedly dismissed. Where exactly is this bus headed? Pretty soon all UNC followers are going to have to come to the realization that Mr. Panday cannot win this election — wishing so won’t make a bit of difference.

Why this call for unity now anyway? Before he was known to the UNC as Mr. Dookeran, he was “the duck”, “duck and run”. Said Mr. Panday, “He (Mr. Dookeran) is a harmless, useless duck. You ever see a duck fight? Chicken does fight. Duck doh fight.” Said Mr. Jack Warner, “Take your jahaji bundle and go, bhaio aur baino.”

Now listen to the pleading and the ultimatums that border on threats and guess who’s popular again

I have to say that even though I’m a little relieved at Mr. Dookeran’s declaration that there will be no unity between the UNC and the COP, I have to say that I’m worried, nervous and anxious all rolled into one. It’s kind of like that first time you move out of your parents’ house. You know that you and only you are responsible for your successes and failures. The Congress of the People has stepped out on its own and now more than ever before, will have itself and only itself to blame for its own successes or failures. That is a pretty big responsibility to shoulder especially when the future of the nation is at stake.