(Outgoing Supervisor)
(Incoming Supervisor)
Outgoing Governor of Anguilla, Mr Alistair Harrison, has showered a great deal of praise on Mr Colville Petty, OBE, who has relinquished his appointment as Supervisor of Elections which he held for twenty-six years, and thereby supervised six free and fair General Elections on the island.
Speaking at the historic event at Government House on Tuesday evening, July 9, Governor Harrison told a large number of invited guests that it was a bitter-sweet occasion because it was the last reception he was having as Governor of Anguilla before leaving the island next week Thursday. He said Mr Petty, who held the post of Supervisor of Elections from 1987, supervised his first election in 1989 and that from then he had very much been a fixture in Anguilla’s history in two senses. The first was his position as Supervisor of Elections, and the second was him being one of the preeminent historians of Anguilla, running the wonderful Heritage Collection Museum – the living embodiment of Anguilla’s history.
“Colville has had an extremely distinguished career as a public servant in many different positions, and his time as Elections Supervisor has been a flawless demonstration of the commitment of the publicservice,” the Governor stated. “I am sure that Colville will wish me to say that he has never been a one-man team. He has been supported by Returning Officers in every district, Presiding Officers and Polling Clerks, in each of the 18 polling stations, and so I would like to pay tribute not just to him, but also to the team who have run the elections with such competence and integrity. That was the first thing that struck me about the elections back in 2010 – the only elections during my time as Governor – and the great skill and professionalism with whichthey were run by the entire team under Colville.”
Governor Harrison continued: “He is one of those people who seem to be irreplaceable, or almost irreplaceable, but he is being replaced by the excellent Aurjul Wilson [Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs] who I firstly congratulate and also wish her well…We are really here in particular to pay tribute to Colville. Firstly, thank you very much for your selfless public service, Colville, which was delivered with such professional results in six elections over the years. Secondly, let us wish you well in the future.”
Mr Petty delivered some well-scripted farewell remarks in which, among other matters, heemphasised the importance of free and fair elections in a democracy, and his objective and accomplishment over his 26 years of service to be non-partisan and fair to all. His remarks were as follows:
“After twenty six years, I say farewell to the business of supervising elections in Anguilla. During that time I supervised six general elections, and I am thankful to the several Governors who had sufficient confidence in me, to have allowed me to serve my country in that capacity over so many years. I am also thankful to our Chief Ministers who trusted my ability to manage and supervise the holding of free and fair elections. I am certain that if they had no faith – no trust – in me, they would have recommended to the Governors, long ago, that I be fired.
Having said that, I am pleased to say there was never an occasion when any Governor or Chief Minister, or any politician for that matter, tried to interfere with, or attempted to influence, the way I conducted elections; and that speaks well of their respect for the independence of the administration of the electoral process and, perhaps, of their confidence that I would do a good job – that I would be non-partisan and fair to all.
I am indeed glad to have contributed in some way to the peaceful transfer of political power in Anguilla. The peaceful transfer of political power is central to the stability and survival of all democracies and, in that regard, Anguilla, as a fledgling democracy, could take much comfort. Its people should feel proud of the way their elections are conducted and of the respect they have always shown for the results.
Our electoral system is not perfect. Actually, no system is. But a major improvement in ours was the introduction in 2009 of a system of continuous registration of voters thereby replacing the once a year registration timeframe. That aside, I was hoping that during my tenure other deficiencies would have been remedied by the Constitutional and Electoral Reform exercise which started way back in 2002. I am not here this evening to go into those deficiencies, but one matter which I had hoped the Reform exercise would have addressed is the redrawing of the electoral boundaries which have not been changed since they were first drawn in 1972 some 41 years ago. There are serious disparities in the distribution of voters among the seven electoral districts. This situation is not good for our democracy and therefore the redrawing of the boundaries needs serious and urgent attention. I would also have liked to see, during my tenure, the introduction of voter identification cards and legislation to regulate party campaign finance but I am hopeful that these will be dealt with in the not too distant future.
Despite the foregoing issues, we in Anguilla have a lot to be thankful for. For example, in Anguilla no one can say that ballot boxes go missing – or that the boxes are corruptly stuffed with ballots for a particular candidate. No one can say that our polling stations run out of ballot papers or that some polling stations open late, and therefore voters had to go back home without casting their ballots. Such things don’t happen in Anguilla. And no one dare say that our returning officers count the ballots wrongly. That cannot happen because the whole of Anguilla counts the ballots, one by one, at the same time.
I must admit that I like the way we count our ballots: right before the eyes of the voters themselves – viewed on television and heard over our radio stations live – and most people, in their homes, with pencil and paper doing their own tallying. That is transparency at its highest. Some people say that the system is antiquated – but I don’t mind that, as long as it ensures legitimacy and transparency and builds people’s confidence in the electoral process. Having said that, there will come a time when we will have to change the system. It works fine now because of the smallness of our electorate. Indeed, small is beautiful but we will not always be small.
All things considered, I am satisfied that the management and conduct of elections in Anguilla ensure that our elections are free, fair and transparent. And this is possible only because we have a cadre of well-trained, well-disciplined, honest and hardworking electoral officials who take their duties seriously. When election time comes around they know what they have do, and carry out their work without fear or favour. If my tenure as Supervisor of Elections is ever regarded as being a successful one, it would be due largely to the support that I received from that cadre of workers. We worked as a team and I say, to all of them, thanks a million for your unwavering and always willing support, and for contributing – through the proper conduct of the electoral process – to Anguilla’s development as a stable and peaceful democracy.
I say to my team, I am confident that you would give my successor, Ms Arjul Wilson, the same quality of professionalism which you gave me. Ms Wilson, you have my best wishes, and please be assured that I am willing to offer you any support and advice you may need as you embark on this new endeavour.
Finally, I say a hearty thank you to Governor Harrison for hosting this evening’s event in my honour. And I also use this opportunity to thank you, Governor, for your four years of service to the people of Anguilla. I wish you and your family every success in the years ahead.
Thank you.”
Mr Wycliffe Richardson, a former Returning Officer, expressed thanks and appreciation to Mr Petty, on behalf of the team, for his loyal years as Supervisor of Elections in Anguilla. He joined Mr Petty in stressing the importance of free and fair elections and took the opportunity to offer hisbest wishes to Ms Wilson, the new Supervisor of Elections.
Speaking privately to The Anguillian, Ms Wilson made the following statement: “I am really humbled by the fact that I have been chosen to serve Anguilla and its people in this position. I am also assured that Mr Petty has told me that if I ever need assistance he is there and always willing. I can only hope that I can bring the same degree of integrity to the office and fairness and openness as he has.”
