Last week I was genuinely overcome with a great sense of compassion for those persons who continue to support this Anguilla United Movement (AUM) Government. It is becoming obvious that the AUM’s capacity to manage the various challenges of leadership in this period is severely lacking. Since their ascendance to office in 2010 they have provided me with a “mother lode” of issues on which to comment, to the extent that in April my column in The Anguillian will have been running consecutively every week for three years. I may have missed a maximum of six issues over that period — but never for lack of material. The AUM’s tenure of office has been characterized as “stumbling from crisis to crisis” and “committing error after error” in the process of administering the affairs of this island. In such an environment there was always something to write about — yet there was precious little to boast about. Last week there were two events in particular which I found to be most embarrassing even though I did not vote for the Government. Namely, the interview with the Chief Minister last Wednesday and the House of Assembly last Thursday. Were I a supporter of this Government, in addition to being embarrassed, I would have seriously questioned my own judgment as a voter in the last general election.
As a run-up to the embarrassments of last week was the drama of the past weeks as it culminated with the resignation of the former Minister of Home Affairs, and the swearing in of the Elected Member for East End in his stead. In the matter relating to the now former Minister of Home Affairs, I always make it clear that he is innocent until proven guilty. And that in the circumstances of the charges against him, we should allow the judiciary to run its course — in other words keep the politics out of it. Our party has also adopted this approach to ensure that the former Minister’s character be not impugned before he has his day in Court — and we are also conscious of the fact that by virtue of his office he is vulnerable to unfair attacks.
In this context, I therefore expected the Minister to be similarly gracious in the comments in his letter of resignation — so I was surprised to hear him, true to the usual form of the AUM/APP elected and selected Members, launch an all out attack on the past Government and the FCO. He said: “This Government came to power at a most delicate period for our island. The Government was saddled with a debt, we were at our borrowing limit, the previous government left not a cent in the reserves, visitor numbers were down and there were calls from the FCO to cut back on the number of civil servants”. I am at a loss to understand why the former Minister would have considered it necessary to bring such divisive politics into his letter of resignation — rather than use the opportunity to unite the community around the defense of his “character and reputation” in a more cordial manner.
In similar fashion the Chief Minister, during the swearing-in ceremony for the incoming Minister of Home Affairs, true to form, took the “low political road”. He used the opportunity to cast aspersions on his opponents by trying to paint himself and his colleagues as a party of “the clean”. A label which is more and more becoming an unsuitable description of the manner in which he and his colleagues appear to be conducting themselves. One would have thought that the Chief Minister would have used the opportunity to reassure the community that he has things under control even amidst the uncertainty of the charges brought against one of his Ministers. He said: “I say to Jerome (Roberts) you have a very difficult task — a task of survival because whenever a Government is clean, whenever people want to live by the regular standards — that Government is coveted; and that Government does not have an easy task. You have expressed your willingness to choose between what is clean and what is not clean and for that you are going to be challenged on many fronts. This Government has been struggling for survival from its very inception and I only hope that the Government will last long enough for you to have some experience as a Minister before the next election.”
It is obvious that the Chief Minister and his colleagues do not appear to have grasped the gravity of the situation in Anguilla. As a consequence they believe that they can continue to use the same “worn out” political stunts of the past three years to carry them through the next two years ahead. The former Minister of Home Affairs seems to believe that he can deflect attention away from his personal trials by playing the blame game. While the Chief Minister believes that he can continue to bamboozle the electorate by giving the impression that his political woes and his inability to fulfill his promises is as a consequence of being “clean”. When will the Chief Minister and his colleagues understand that the community is concerned about the uncertainty surrounding the moral conduct of one of his members and about his plans to create jobs and business opportunities?
This “run-up” created the momentum for the two events of last week — mentioned earlier. When the Chief Minister’s interview at 1.30 pm, Wednesday February 27, 2013 with Keith Stone Greaves was announced on Radio Anguilla, many persons waited in great expectation that the Chief Minister would be making an important national statement. Like me, I am certain many persons were extremely disappointed when they heard more of the same. Mr. Greaves was very incisive in his questioning and the Chief Minister clearly tried to dodge many of the questions. However, his response to what I considered a most appropriate question on the Cap Juluca issue left me flabbergasted. The Chief Minister response was: “Don’t ask me about Cap Juluca! Ask the Governor! He took it over. I have nothing to do with it!” Mr. Greaves seemed stunned by the response as well and pressed for further clarification — but to no avail.
I was embarrassed because I could not believe that the Chief Minister could feel justified in making such a dismissive response to that question over the national media. As the Chief Minister, elected by the people to represent their interests, and as a self-proclaimed “Champion of the Workers,” one would have expected that a project like Cap Juluca would receive his undivided attention. And as the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism such a matter crosses over every single one of his portfolios. Why did the Chief Minister abdicate his responsibility to defend the interests of Anguilla and Anguillians so readily? Does the Chief Minister really believe what he is saying? Do the other Ministers of Government also accept that the Governor has taken responsibility for Cap Juluca? These are questions that supporters of the AUM should be asking themselves because they elected a Government that they expected to defend their interests. If the Chief Minister actually believes that the Governor has the authority to take over the negotiations of Cap Juluca then he is not competent to serve in his high office. If, on the other hand, he knows that what he is saying is total nonsense then he is deliberately fooling the people and, in some cases, insulting their intelligence. In any event, his response either on the one hand exposes his ignorance of his role as Chief Minister or on the other confirms that he is a deliberate liar. None of these determinations make him a fit and proper person to lead us — but all make us embarrassed.
The other event that caused a great deal of embarrassment was the behaviour of Members of the House of Assembly on Feb. 28, 2013. It should be noted that the fracas was not between Government and Opposition but between the members of the Government themselves. It is my understanding that were it not for the quick intervention of the Sergeant –at- Arms there would have been a serious exchange of blows. All of this took place during the debate of a simple Bill brought by the Government side of the House. While no physical blows landed the conduct of the members was most unbecoming to the extent that one of the Ministers dared the Chief Minister to fire him. Needless to say, the Speaker was unable to maintain any decorum for extended periods. And what was most embarrassing was the fact that in the wake of the resignation of the former Minister of Home Affairs, there appeared to be further disunity, in the ranks of the Government, which the Chief Minister seems totally helpless to contain.
I am not being facetious when I say that my sympathy goes out to the key supporters of the AUM. I really believe that they have tried hard to get the Government to settle down. After three years into a five-year term they still have not been able to focus on their job without looking for scapegoats. They still continue to make silly statements about being able to reduce a 70 million dollar deficit in three months without any source of increased revenue; they still continue to blame the Opposition for their inability to function; they are still talking about a British conspiracy to starve Anguillians into submission; they are still talking about water and electricity from St. Maarten-St. Martin; they are still using political solutions to fix technical problems; and now that they have run out of new adversaries they are now fighting among themselves.
If the silly statements that the Chief Minister is making about not being responsible dealing with Cap Juluca embarrass me — then I can only imagine how persons who voted for him feel. Here is a project that is built on 179 acres of Government land; employs over three hundred workers; has been the flagship of Anguilla’s tourism industry for several decades; provides business opportunities for the private sector; and generates high levels of direct revenue for Government, which the Chief Minister is surrendering to a transient Governor leaving Anguilla in six months. This certainly is not what they voted for and I am certain not what they can continue to accept.
But I was even more sympathetic when a once strong AUM supporter just happened to pass by when I was tuned in to the House of Assembly. Upon hearing the ruckus, he said to me:- “Boy Banks dem finish you know! All de King’s horses and all de King’s men can’t put dem back together again!”
