THE election of an African (Jack Warner) as Chairman of an Indian political party in Trinidad shows an African can win over Indian support in Guyana if he (she) is sincere about his political beliefs, pursues racial unity, services his constituents, and cares for ordinary people. These are the qualities of Warner and that were largely responsible for him to be popularly re-elected as Chairman of the UNC. Mr. Warner has crossed the racial rubicon by courting Indians.  If Africans were to do same in Guyana, Indians will also consider voting for Africans.
Warner’s victory in the election was no surprise. Jack, or Uncle Jack, or Jack mamoo as he is popularly called, is well liked among UNC supporters and poor Africans and although he ran as an independent his reelection as Chair was expected. No amount of allegations or mud thrown at Jack could have changed Indian confidence in him. Even today, Jack leads in all opinion polls as the most effective Minister of Government and the best M.P in T&T – servicing his constituents like no one else does. He is known as the person who can get the job done. The Express Newspaper in April ran a survey in which it said it could not find one person who was disenchanted with Jack’s representation of his constituency. Everywhere else, voters are fed up with their M.Ps.
In the UNC election, what people were really interested in was the margin of Jack’s victory over his challengers and how many people would vote because people were increasingly expressing disenchantment with the government whose popularity had fallen to an all time low.
I was in Trinidad the week before the voting to conduct a NACTA poll on the outcome and returned for a follow up poll days before the election as well as an exit poll after the voting.  Everywhere I went, people said they were voting for Warner and that he would triumph by a landslide – the caption of a NACTA poll release on the election in the local media. On Election Day, some 90% who left the polling stations told me they cast ballots for Warner. The pre election and exit surveys showed Warner as winning in every electoral district as well as obtaining the most votes among all candidates in almost every constituency particularly so in the Indian heartland.
As a columnist correctly put it, Jack Warner has made the crossing over the political, ethnic, racial and geographic Rubicon—from the (African) east-west corridor to the (Indian) Caroni — and has done so in spectacular fashion. Without the endorsement of the hierarchy of the United National Congress, indeed, against its wishes, Warner sauntered into the heartland of the UNC to capture the chairmanship of the party and by an extraordinarily wide margin.
The pre election poll found limited enthusiasm in the election. The exit poll had found a very low turnout. On election day, as I traveled around to several polling stations, turnout was trickling in at less than 10% by mid day. But turnout increased during the latter part of the day as candidates bused in supporters. Some 20% of the membership cast ballots which is relatively high for this type of election.
The pre election poll found that Warner and incumbents would win big and that there would be split ticket voting with people casting ballots for individuals in different slates. That was the actual trend in the exit poll and that was also verified in the outcome. At many polling stations, many voters told me they voted just for Warner or just for a few candidates who they like.
The pre-election poll found that Basdeo Panday’s Next Generation slate would be wiped out and it was. Ditto for another slate called UNC Soldiers. The pre-election poll found that Dr. Roodal Moonilal’s Nationalists would win almost every post. And it won all the posts it contested save Warner who ran as an independent; Nationalists did not challenge Jack. Roodal ran an effective, well organised campaign with heavy hitters (several ministers) in the line up but could not trump Jack in total number of votes received.
Jack got the highest number of votes at 12,695 followed by Roodal at 11,066 and Glenn Ramadhar 11,031. The talk about the election throughout Trinidad was the resounding victory of Jack and what it means for the future of the UNC. As people said everywhere, Jack was responsible for the party and the coalition successfully coming together in 2010 to defeat the PNM. Can it win again? The election is three months away and anything can happen in such a long period. The lesson behind Jack’s victory is that an African can emerge as a leader of an Indian party.  Similarly, in Guyana Africans can win over Indians if they make a sincere and genuine effort to court them.