If you were part of the mammoth Rainbow crowd in the Queen's Park Savannah around 4 o'clock on the afternoon of December 21, 1986, you would understand Anthony Isidore Smart's vision and philosophy of "One Love" for his beloved country.
It was an unbelievable time in our history. Six days before, the seemingly invincible People's National Movement, which had governed Trinidad and Tobago for thirty long years, were dethroned by the National Alliance for Reconstruction, a combination of the ONR, Tapia, ULF and DAC, parties which had dissolved on February 23, 1986, and formed the NAR.
I remember, watching incredulously and telling my sister "for how long" as the country came together regardless of colour, creed or race, in what could only be termed: Utopia.
It is now history that the 'alliance' was shortlived. The NAR fell apart very early in office and were severely defeated by the PNM in the next general election, while the incumbent United National Congress, formed the next government with the help of the Tobago NAR.
Smart, interim leader of the National Alliance for Reconstruction, vows that politics along racial lines will change, should he be elected leader of the party at next Sunday's Special General Convention at the Seamen and Waterfront Workers' Trade Union Hall on Wrightson Road, and the NAR goes on to form the next government. There are two other candidates for the position of leader of the NAR, a former Minister of Agriculture, Lincoln Meyers, who served in the same government of which Smart was Attorney General, and Brian Garner. If Smart has his way, there is going to be a vibrant NAR ready and willing to enter the race whenever the next election is called, which must be before February 2001.
"The NAR is seeking to regain the position held in this country in 1986, doing just the opposite of what the two major parties are doing, that is bringing peoples of different races together in this country in a party that represents the interests of all major races in this country" says Smart. "The fundamental problem in this country is that no window dressing on the part of either of the two other parties at this stage will convince people that they are seeking the interest of the entire community."
Although Smart's first priority is to formalise the leadership of the NAR, the party has already started its journey of reconstruction, with cottage meetings, which are ongoing with a team of substantial people. "We are seeking to broaden the membership base and also have a manifesto to present" explains Smart, "an overall plan, a blueprint for the country. We are a totally committed group laying the groundwork for running the country which will eventually evolve into a manifesto. We are dealing with education, health, and a priority under my leadership- sport and culture - since these activities have the potential to unite the community.
Smart and his colleagues are even more fired since the local election in June 1999, which they see as "a complete repeat of what has gone before, nothing has changed and there really is a need for something new in the politics, the results showed the country split down the centre on racial lines. The strides made by the NAR in 1986 have clearly evaporated and we are seeking to regain this ground. We do not know how soon it will be achieved, because we are building from scratch. I am working as assiduously as I can because I am absolutely convinced that if it is not achieved now, it will be done at sometime."
"The NAR's vision and philosophy are the only hope for Trinidad and Tobago and neither of the major parties at this time is capable of achieving that hope. A week can be a lifetime in politics, for it is one spark that ignites and creates a revolution, things may fester for years and then it is usually one spark that creates the conflagration. We know exactly what we want to achieve. As regards a time limit, I would like it to be sooner rather than later, and it will be sooner if we can find as soon as possible a sufficient number of messengers who understand the message of the NAR and are prepared to preach that message from the housetops and the alleyways."
"It would be a falsehood to say we have the base of 1986, quite a number of persons have parked up, some have gone to other parties." But Smart, a passionate man about politics, and his team are seeking to get them back on the highway again. And pays tribute to the hard core of members who have stayed with the party, "the majority are grassroots people who have a collective wisdom that gets it right on political issues and on personalities involved in politics nearly every time."
And although the party is working towards a successful conference on April 30, Smart is quite aware that "success in these matters is determined by the number of people you get to go."
He is convinced that the NAR's vision and philosophy of "One Love" or 'balance' as he puts it, is the only hope for the country and that it will return no matter how long it takes, if not for this general election, in the future. But he would like to see the party so well placed that it contests seats in every constitutency in the next elections and wins a majority of those seats. "We will assess our position through informal and formal polls, and by talking to the people, as we go along, and our position at the time the election is called will determine the extent of our involvement."
He credits the one love call in 1986 for the overwhelming victory: "It is the ideal approach for this country. People identified with it and in addition the electorate was satisfied about the quality of the people who made up the party's leadership, from Robinson down to the candidates. I still have tremendous respect for Mr Robinson's energy and commitment to Trinidad and Tobago."
Smart speaks of a combination of reasons for the NAR's failure, "maybe we as leaders let the people down. maybe we did not work hard enough to achieve that miracle of one love over a sustained period, maybe the combination of personalities failed when it was put to the test, but that does not mean we must abandon the ideal."
Smart entered politics in 1979 as one of the founding members of the ONR. Twenty-one years later he feels exactly the same way "we must get up and work in order for this country to survive. Politics is the highest form of service that a human being can be involved in and I consider it a vocation, a sacred activity. It is also my avocation. I enjoy doing it. I get satisfaction out of it."
Smart, Attorney General at the time of the attempted coup in 1990, contemplated: "What if Abu Bakr had succeeded and taken control of this country? That is why a politician in government has a more crucial and important role to play than any other person in the community. It is a very, very serious thing, it is not a game, it is an art, a science, you can have the best philosophy, best manifesto in the world, but they must be combined with the ability to gather people around you, people must be able to trust you, it is a series of things which makes for success. It is a very onerous responsibility to look after the well being of your fellowmen in your community and to make decisions on their behalf."
Most importantly is the ordering of priorities, an essential task of governing, so you have to order those priorities in the best interest of the largest number of people in the community.
Turning to the immediate task to settle the leadership of the party, the interim leader is appealing to members, supporters, people looking for change to come to the conference, and be part of the movement seeking once again to re-establish the vision and philosophy of the NAR. Thereafter, says Smart "we have a tremendous amount of work to do."
How does Anthony Smart see the newest group "AIM.'" He is not thinking about Aim, but is thinking about the NAR.
How does he view any possible political accommodation of parties in anyway whatever in future governance of the country. "Once I am satisfied that anybody seriously adopts the philosophy and vision of the NAR, once I see anybody is seriously prepared to adopt that, I am prepared to work with them. I am absolutely certain it can work, if you interview every single individual in this country I think everyone of them is going to say: what I want is for my Indian or African brothers living alongside of me to be united."