The Democratic Labor Party of Trinidad: an Attempt at the Formation of a Mass Party in a Multi-Ethnic Society
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THE DEMOCRATIC LABOR PARTY OF TRINIDAD: AN ATTEMPT AT THE FORMATION OF A MASS PARTY IN A MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETY By YOGENDRA KUMAR MALIK A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA December, 1966 Dedicated to US HA SUNITA ARVIND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author is indebted to various individuals and organizations for their cooperation and help in completing this study. A research grant from the Caribbean Research Cen- ter at the University of Florida, a Summer Fellowship awarded by the College of Arts and Sciences, supplemented by a research grant from the Asia Society in New York in 1965, enabled the author to travel in the West Indies and to conduct extensive field work in Trinidad. The author expresses his sincerest thanks to all these organizations. The author also owes a debt of gratitude to the mem- bers of his Supervisory Committee: Dr. M. J. Dauer, Dr. Walter Rosenbaum and especially to Dr. John W. Spanier and Dr. Herbert J. Doherty who went through the text and gave a num- ber of suggestions. To Dr. A. J. Heidenheimer, the chairman of the author's Supervisory Committee, the author would like to express his deepest gratitude not only for his most useful comments and criticism of the draft of the thesis, but also for providing the author with an opportunity of conducting empirical political research. Four years of association as 111 . a graduate student with Dr. He idenhe inner at the University of Florida has been intellectually most stimulating and profes- sionally rewarding. Inside and outside of the classes he has always been a source of inspiration and encouragement for the author In conducting field work the author received help and cooperation from numerous quarters. The author expresses his special thanks to Dr. A. B. Singham and Mrs. Nancy Singham of the University of West Indies, Mona, Jamaica for putting him in touch with a number of scholars on the politics and history of the West Indies at the University of the West Indies. In Trinidad the author and his family received hearty cooperation and very useful help from a number of East Indians. However, the author would like to express his special thanks to Dr. and Mrs. J. N. Supersad, Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Dolesingh, Mr. and Mrs. Hari Prasad Singh, and Rev. R. G. Neehall from Port of Spain; the Sriram brothers from Chaguana; Mr. and Mrs. S. Baldath, Mr. and Mrs. Narian Singh, Mr. Frank Miser, Mr. H. V. Gopal and Mr. K. Gopal from San Fernando; and Dr. J. M. Dube from Princes' Town. From among the present and the former leaders of the DLP in Trinidad, we are especially grateful to Messrs. S. N. Capildeo, L. F. Seukeran, Stephen C. Maharaj, Vernon Jamadar, iv Bhadase Mara j , Peter Farquhar, and Dr. R. N. Capildeo for providing the author with numerous opportunities for discus- sing personally the party politics of Trinidad. The author also wishes to thank Mr. C. L. R. James and Mr. A. C. Reinzi, who not only gave the author highly useful interviews, but also lent him some rare published and unpublished research material. At the University of Florida the author has been helped in various ways by a number of his friends and col- leagues, and he would like especially to mention the names of Mr. Peter Nixdorff, Mr. Anthony Maingot, Dr. R. M. Singh, and Dr. William Muller in this connection. In improving the style and the quality of the lan- guage, the author owes a special debt of gratitude to Dr. R. B. Henderson, Chairman of the Department of Government, South- west Texas State College, San Marcos, who, in spite of his busy schedule, took special pains to edit the whole text. The author also wishes to thank his student assistant, Miss Joe Ann Able, for typing the bibliography; Mrs. Elizabeth Cox, Secretary of the Department for typing some sections of the dissertation; and Mrs. Barbara Persenaire for typing the final copy of the dissertation. v . Last but not Least, the author must express his deep gratitude to his wife, Usha, who tirelessly helped him not only in field research, processing the data, and making tables, but also in typing and retyping a number of drafts of the dis- sertation. But for her utmost cooperation, and tireless efforts, the author would not have been able to finish this work in time VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii LIST OF TABLES xi INTRODUCTION 1 Chapter I. THE PLURALISTIC SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF TRINIDAD. 10 Multi-ethnic Societies and the Concept of Cultural Pluralism 10 The Political System in the Context of a Pluralistic Social Structure ...... 18 Characteristics of the Pluralistic Society of Trinidad 20 The Multiplicity of Religious Denominations 24 The Numerous Sub-cultures 25 The Absence of Inter-racial Ties 33 Lack of National Identity and the Formation of Political Parties 43 II. THE ARRIVAL OF EAST INDIANS AND THE GROWTH OF MULTI -ETHNIC SOCIETY IN TRINIDAD .... 49 Trinidad Before the Arrival of East Indians 49 vn Chapter Page The Abolition of Slavery and Search for New Plantation Labor . 51 The Immigration of East Indians to Trinidad 54 Contribution of the East Indian to the Trinidad Economy 60 Occupational and Rural-urban Distribution of the East Indian Population 64 III. MAIN FEATURES OF THE EAST INDIAN SUB-CULTURE 77 Cultural Diversity and the Process of Political Socialization in Trinidad ... 77 Role of the East Indian Family System and Kinship Group in the Perpetuation of Ethnic Loyalties 79 Religious-cultural Cleavages among the East Indians 85 Sub-group Rivalries and Emphasis on Particularism among Different Religious Groups of East Indians 94 IV POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS AND ATTITUDES OF EAST INDIAN ELITES 110 Composition of the East Indian Elites on the Basis of Religion Ill Comparison of Elites on the Basis of Their Occupation 116 A Comparison of the Educational Background of the East Indian Elites . 122 Attitudes of East Indian Elites towards Various Social and Political Issues . 124 Political Perceptions and Attitudes of the Most Frequently Mentioned East Indian Leaders . 162 viii Chapter Page V. THE RISE OF PARTY POLITICS IN TRINIDAD AND THE BIRTH OF THE DLP 175 The Birth of Representative Institutions in Trinidad and Tobago 175 The 1956 Constitutional Reforms and Introduction of Internal Self Government. 193 The 1956 General Elections and the Birth of Party Politics in Trinidad 196 The Founding of the People's National Movement and the Democratic Labor Party . 214 The 1958 Federal Elections 237 VI. THE DEMOCRATIC LABOUR PARTY: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND THE CHANGES IN ITS LEADERSHIP ..... 249 Factional Struggle in the DLP 1959-60 . 249 Dr. Capildeo Assumes the Leadership of the DLP 255 The DLP Campaign Strategy in the 1961 Elections 273 Main Features of the 1961 Election Campaign . 283 Ethnicity: The Primary Determinant of Voting Behavior 294 The DLP Defeat in the 1961 Elections as Seen by East Indian Elites . 299 VII. THE DECLINE OF THE DLP AS AN OPPOSITION AND POTENTIAL GOVERNMENT PARTY 3 07 Constitutional Development until 1960 and the Role of the DLP as an Opposition Party 3 09 IX Chapter Page The 1961 Constitutional Reforms and the DLP 3 16 The Independence Constitution and the Role of the DLP 317 The DLP's Decline as an Opposition Party in the Post-Independence Period 337 The Decline of Cohesion within the DLP . 346 An Ideology and Constitution ....... 351 Failure to Develop a Poly-ethnic Following. 361 VIII. CONCLUSIONS AND ASSESSMENT 379 Decline of Cohesion within the DLP 379 Failure of Efforts to Ally with Non-East Indian Elements 386 Decline of the Threat from the PNM 387 Failure of the DLP as an Effective Opposition 390 The DLP as a Party of the Minority Ethnic Group 391 Lack of a Will to Power 3 94 Lack of Organization. 396 APPENDIX I 402 APPENDIX II 410 APPENDIX III 412 BIBLIOGRAPHY 417 x LIST OF TABLES Table p age 1. Religious Distribution of the Elites Interviewed with Their Educational Background • 2. Occupational Distribution of the Elite Selected for Interviewing 3. Distribution of Trinidad Population on the Basis of Races 20 4. Religious Distribution of the Population of Trinidad 24 5. Attitude of the Leaders from Different Reli- gious Groups Toward Marriage with Negroes . 35 6. An Assessment of the Attitude toward Marriages with Negroes on the Basis of the Generations Lived in Trinidad 36 7. Attitude of the Elites from Different Religious Groups toward Marriage with Whites 37 8. Club Membership and the Religions of the Elites . 40 9. Expansion of Trade after Indian Immigration. 60 10. Population of East Indians for the Corresponding Period ... 61 11. Rate of Illiteracy among East Indians of Trinidad ........ 66 12. East Indian Urban and Rural Distribution of Population in 1943-46. ...... 66 XI Table Page 13. Racial Distribution of Rural and Urban Populations in 1964 66 14. Occupational Distribution of East Indians in the Late 1930's 69 15. A Comparison of the Position of East Indians in Different Professions 72 16. The Type of Family in Which the East Indian Elites of Different Religions Were Born . 82 17. An Assessment of the Influence of Family on Their Lives by Elites from Various Groups. 83 18. Religious Distribution of East Indians .... 86 19. An Assessment of Hindu-Muslim Differences by the Elites of Different Religious Groups . 94 20. An Assessment of the Political Affiliation of Hindu-Muslims by the East Indian Elites. 98 21. An Assessment of the Attitude of the East Indian Elites of Different Denominations toward Inter-religious Marriages 104 22.