PROTESTS FOR PEACE

The protest march may have been disappointingly small for the organisers. This was particularly so after Monday’s fiery public meeting calling for a large turnout; and the some five hours of waiting on Tuesday, the day of the event, for the crowd to build up. Whatever was the impact of the demonstration, its organisation had some good characteristics. It was a peaceful and colourful march which, except for the placards and slogans, could have been mistaken for a religious procession heralded by a cross and the singing of “Onward Christian Soldiers”.

In intensity and size it was a far cry from the riotous days of 1967. There were no shouts of anger outside the Governor’s Office. There was no other form of unruly behaviour – no one attempting to break through the gates or jump the concrete wall fence. The protesters simply stayed behind the fence, lustily singing several popular hymns while holding aloft their placards which, notwithstanding the terse messages they carried, bore no threats of violence and there were very few words (if any) of disrespect. The Police stood within the compound with no obvious reason to expect a breakdown of law and order.

The Governor added to the virtually calm atmosphere by emerging from his office and graciously meeting and accepting a delegation of two women (bearing the petition and a list of complaints,) accompanied by Ministers of Government and the political advisers in their ministries. The Governor and Chief Minister greeted each other with the customary warm hello and handshake, showing no coldness or remorse.

The calm atmosphere during the Governor’s greeting outside his office was no different inside the Executive Council Chamber where the two ladies read the petition, for the recall of the Governor, and the list of issues against him, to which he responded briefly and promised to give an official reply in good time. Such was the apparent spirit of serenity in the Chamber that the delegation, through Jerome Roberts, strangely took the liberty to request the Governor to allow them to make copies of their documents for circulation, something they obviously should have done in advance for themselves.

The protesters left the Governor’s Office, and the Old Ta area, to the strains of “We are out to build a new Anguilla.” Back at the original assembly site, off the George Hill main road, Jerome Roberts, Special Adviser to the Chief Minister, referring to the small turnout of protesters, stressed that the Opposition had no reason to comment negatively on the matter. He said numbers didn’t matter – the message had been delivered and there would be further protests as might be necessary.

The protesters made their case with respect to their opposition to the transfer of Permanent Secretaries,complaints against the Governor and their reasons for demanding his recall. But it was a minute representative group for a population of some 15,000 and, the question is: What is really the thinking of the majority in light of the fact that so many people even at the grass-root level, stayed away?

There is a need to commend the organisers and the protesters for their peaceful march, and the Governor and Staff, and the Police, for the manner in which they handled the event. It is hoped that the separate, but cooperative, functions and responsibilities of the Governor and the Government will eventually be understood, appreciated and respected by all concerned; that the interest and welfare of the Anguillian people, caught in the middle, will always be paramount; and that even through peaceful protests, some common ground for mutual understanding and the forward movement of our small, but complex, society can be found.