When Bill Lindo called me and said he wanted to come back on the Kremandala Show, that was on Thursday the 29 of November.
This was big news, and the reason it was big news was that Bill is not only a member of the executive of the ruling People’s United Party, but no less a figure that the Rt. Hon. Party Leader, Mr. Said Musa, had told him to come off the show around May of this year.
It appears that when the PUP’s Leader Emeritus, Rt. Hon. George Price, joined his voice to Mr. Musa’s at the party’s national convention on July 1 in Corozal Town, Lindo decided to follow instructions. After leaving the KREM show, he began to take part in discussions on the PUP radio station’s talk show on weekday mornings, and when the party began their own Kremandala Show clone production – “Believe in Belize” – Lindo was a charter member of the panel.
Now when Bill suddenly called seeking reinstatement, the first person I called was Rufus X, because I had reason to believe he would disapprove of Bill’s return. And so it was, except that Rufus was much more adamant in his resistance than I had expected.
I then called Amandala editor Russell Vellos, who had been forced to occupy the chair vacated by Bill. I say “forced,” because Vellos had been sitting in on the show reluctantly. While Russell and Rufus are close friends, I knew that Russell, contrary to Rufus, would welcome Bill’s return simply because it gave him an exit route.
I asked Russell to call Rufus, to reason with him. After speaking with Rufus, Vellos told me that Rufus refused to countenance Bill’s return, and that Rufus had taken it on himself to approach a couple PUP personalities. Rufus thought that Bill had been trying to wreck our show. He had told me, as he repeated to Russell, that he would ask the attorney Anthony Sylvestre, Jr., who is the PUP’s Queen’s Square standard bearer, and another new attorney, Arthur Saldivar, if they would like to be on the show. I had no problem with that. In his communication with Russell, Rufus was threatening to come off the Kremandala Show, and I didn’t want him to do that.
It so happened that on that very Thursday evening, November 29, Rufus had to accompany Yaya Marin Coleman on a flight to Panama for the annual general meeting of the Central American Black Organization (CABO). He would not return until Monday, the day before the Tuesday, December 4 show.
I am explaining these things to you because my sense is that the radio and television fans of the Kremandala Show, by and large share Rufus X’s opinion about Bill Lindo’s return. All of us believed that it was the same party executive which had pulled Bill off the show in July, which had instructed his return. Bill, of course, denies this postulate. His unexpected announcement on the Tuesday, December 11 edition of our show, however, that he was appearing on “Believe in Belize” the following night, would tend to confirm our belief.
It is reasonably clear that the PUP, as they swung into general election campaign mode, decided that they absolutely had to undermine the Kremandala Show, which dominated Tuesday night talk. They moved to disturb the balance of the show. By removing Bill Lindo, they hoped to achieve the same effect a person does who suddenly jumps from behind a door, for instance, on which someone else is pushing with all their might. The PUP wanted the show to become a caricature of itself. At the very least, they wanted their supporters to stop watching it. The more optimistic PUP leaders hoped the Kremandala Show would fall on its face.
For the past few years the Kremandala Show has been generally anti-PUP. Between 1994 (when the show began) and 1998, the show was mostly anti-UDP. It is difficult for an independent discussion show not to be hostile to the ruling party, whichever it is. In the newspaper field, when the UDP are in power, The Belize Times sells on the street. When the PUP are in power, Belize people don’t buy their newspaper: they buy the UDP’s Guardian. Right now WAVE is hot. If the UDP win, the people will want to hear what POSITIVE VIBES is saying. You get the sense?
Once Bill left in July, most of the time our show was overloaded with critics of the PUP government. Under these circumstances, there were several times I had to present the government position, in order to seek the barest modicum of balance. I didn’t enjoy the situation. When Bill is on the show, I have a comfort zone. I know he will defend his party and his government, which allows me, in the chairman’s seat, to roam at will. I like it like that.
We are now just a couple months away from general elections. The political temperature is high, and it is rising. If a new PUP spokesman appeared at this precise time to present the government side, it would be a little risky. The Kremandala Show is a show which derives a lot of its appeal from the frank and sometimes bitter nature of the conversation. In such a climate, William Lindo has an extraordinary attribute. He almost never gets angry. And he does not take things in a personal way. The man is a professional.
This is a quality I admire in the people who speak for the PUP. Take Foreign Minister Lisa Shoman, as another example, and listen to her in her appearance on KREM Radio/TV’s WUB in October of this year. She was measured, precise, and methodical. When a formidable lady lawyer of the opposite political persuasion confronted her on the telephone, Ms. Shoman never gave the slightest indication of being ruffled or becoming irate. She was professional.
While Dr. Louis Zabaneh will take offence at being considered a PUP spokesman, as the chief executive of the controversial Social Security Board, the people of Belize consider him as such. I heard him call WAVE Radio after 9 a.m. last Friday morning, December 14. (I did not hear his call to KREM an hour earlier.) Dr. Zabaneh is the son of one of the wealthiest men in Belize, besides being in possession of a doctorate. He allowed himself to be cross-examined in a hostile manner by WAVE Radio hostess, Juliet Thimbriel, and he never became impatient or angry. He was professional.
I am saying to you that in these weeks heading up to general elections, the Kremandala Show requires someone to speak for the PUP side, and Bill Lindo is my choice. I am supported by Cedric Flowers. And Rufus X, finally and with great reluctance, acquiesced. After the general elections, we can open this discussion again.
I think that sometimes we lose sight of the fact that the PUP were elected, in free and fair elections, in March of 2003 to govern the country of Belize five years. What this means is that the majority of the registered adult citizens of Belize who cast their ballots on that day almost five years ago, voted blue. General elections are as close to democracy as we get in Belize. You can get as angry as you want at the corruption and arrogance of the PUP, but you must recognize the fact that for the last half a century and more, they represent at least half, and usually more, of the voting electorate of Belize.
I am not one who buries his head in the sand. How can I chair a serious and relevant discussion show without seeking representation from the PUP?
The same applies to the UDP. When they get angry at the Kremandala Show, they pressure their people to come off the show. Don’t you see why this is so? Political parties are about propaganda, which is what generates passionate and unreasoned action. Impassioned, unthinking action is what our party politics is about. And that is why our democracy is as weak as it is. The politicians aspire to be gang leaders of sorts. They are not about education.
I have written out of respect to those fans of our show who share the opinion and position of Rufus X. Without the fans, we don’t have a show. Simple as that. The Kremandala Show is a professional exercise. We sell advertising time during the show to gain the revenues which help pay our radio and television salaries and bills. I want you, the fans, to understand my reasoning on this matter. As angry as some of you are, I don’t expect you to accept my reasoning. Just hear my side. In a little while, it will be a whole new ball game. Either more blue or red one more time. At that point, adjustments will have to be made. That’s the way it is. That’s just the way it is.