PRIME Minister Dr. Keith Rowley appears to be trying a political ruse similar to that carried out by Dr. Eric Williams a half-century ago.
Media commentator Martin Daly has identified and written about the gambit.
Rowley seems to be hemming and hawing on whether he would contest the upcoming general election based on the future of the lucrative Dragon Gas project.
The Prime Minister may opt to again contest the Diego Martin West seat and stay in politics if there is a great prospect that the rich gas field would be explored and monetised.
If not, he may ride out into the political sunset, as he recently hinted.
Rowley has said that the bountiful project would come on stream in 2027.
But there is speculation that the venture would be derailed by the anti-Venezuelan policies of the incoming Donald Trump United States administration.
Rowley recently grew testy over media reports that the US would use Trinidad and Tobago as a military base in an offensive against Venezuela.
The Prime Minister’s outburst was seen as a move to appease Venezuelan despot Nicholas Maduro.
Daly wrote: “There may be a link between our unsettled future regarding the receipt of Venezuelan gas and the alleged re-emergence of (Amery) Browne as a candidate for election to the House…
“Will the Prime Minister want to be around to face the consequences if Venezuelan gas does not materialise to re-float the economy, which has been left very dependent on such flotation?”
The Guardian newspaper recently suggested that Browne would replace Rowley as the PNM’s candidate for Diego Martin West.
The current political scenario is eerily similar to the 1973 retirement manoeuvre of Dr. Williams, T&T’s first Prime Minister.
In the midst of a weak national economy, Williams announced to the PNM annual convention that he would step down as party and national leader.
“Like a bridge over troubled waters, I will lay me down,” he said, quoting a hit Simon and Garfunkel song of the period.
The party began a search for a successor, but Williams was later persuaded to stay in office.
Mere months later, a major international development in the energy sector bailed out the national economy and reinforced Williams in office.
During an Arab-Israeli war, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo on the US in retaliation for the Americans’ decision to support Israel in the conflict.
That led to an unprecedented oil boom, during which Williams famously said: “Money is no problem.”
Williams led the PNM to electoral victory in 1976.
He died in office in 1981, at age 69.
Rowley, at age 75, appears to be gingerly walking a similar course as Williams amid a comparable state of the economy.
With sharply reduced oil and gas production, the Rowley Government has presented deficit budgets in eight of its nine budgets, and has borrowed heavily to sustain spending.
Cross-border gas is the only major hope to rescue the economy in the short term.
The Rowley Government has not delivered on its manifesto pledges to diversify the economy and earn other sources of income.
If the Prime Minister is adopting a similar line as Williams, it would be interesting to see how it plays out.
The election must be held within the next year.
