It was a great pleasure to listen to the first and second form students from Campus B of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School (ALHCS) in the finals of their Debating Competition on Tuesday evening at the Rodney McArthur Rey Auditorium. The moot was very topical in light of the current advances in communication technology. Slightly paraphrased it read: “Cell phones have had positive effects on our development”. The presentations from both the proponents and the opponents of the moot were exceptional. It showed that much time and effort went into the research, and the formulation of the arguments, as well as in preparing the students to deliver them. The delivery of the presentations was both passionate and animated. Congratulations must be extended to all the teachers and coaches who assisted them in their preparations.
Let me also take this opportunity to commend the Anguilla National Culinary Team for its success at the Caribbean Hotel Association Culinary Competition where its members once again put on an excellent performance capturing silver and gold medals in a number of categories. They continue to represent Anguilla equally well at home and abroad. And I daresay both the young National Culinary Team and the New Young Progressive Debaters (NYPD) of ALHCS make us extremely proud and encouraged by the fact that quality leadership is in the making for the future development of Anguilla.
All of the foregoing is placed against the backdrop of recent events in Anguilla. Once again, under a Hubert Hughes administration, we find ourselves in the midst of an unstable political and economic situation brought on by his obvious inability to provide the kind of leadership that is cooperative rather than divisive; conciliatory rather than confrontational; and constructive rather than destructive. But since the Westminster Parliamentary System of Government was introduced in 1976 no stable Government has included Mr. Hughes. Neither has any stable Government been led by Mr. Hughes. He has always been at loggerheads with both Governors and developers. Surprisingly, though, he claims to be the only person who can handle the British and negotiate effectively with developers. None of these claims has been borne out by the facts. On the contrary, the island continues to experience grave instability and stagnation whenever he is in office. It is therefore no surprise, to many of us, that the island is now spinning helplessly out of control while the only solutions coming from Mr. Hughes and his supporters are protest marches and calls for Independence.
The young debaters at the ALHCS are learning the skills of the Boardroom and the Parliament. They are learning how to present arguments on both side of an issue after careful research and analysis. They are learning how to respect the opinions of their opponents and yet how to respectfully disagree. They are learning how to make the case for their team with well thought-out positions rather than personal attacks. And they are learning the importance of proper preparation and presentation. Clearly these are skills that could go a long way in addressing the issues affecting Anguilla at this time. And as I looked across the aisle at two-thirds of the elected members in Executive Council and the Speaker of the House watching the Debate as well — I wondered whether they were thinking along the same lines.
As I looked at the Culinary Team Photograph in The Anguillian, it also occurred to me that, like in every other form of competition, a well-balanced “team” is critical to success. Even in a match that has a sole competitor (like tennis) it is important to have a solid support team. There must also be a leader who is capable of managing the members of the team and keep them motivated towards winning the prize or achieving the objective. Can we truly say that the present composition of our Government reflects that very important principle of “team”? And as a few representatives of the Government went to greet the returning Culinary Team – at the Ferry Terminal in Blowing Point – I wondered whether they were thinking along the same lines.
These two performances point to the importance of a balanced team that is well prepared. The AUM/APP team continues to fall short in all of these areas. This is evident when we look back over the past three and a half years of its tenure. The Government has been stumbling from error to error; crisis to crisis; protest to protest; embarrassment to embarrassment; and failure to failure. It has not fulfilled any of its major promises to its people and, as a consequence, there is a sense of despair and disillusionment as people continue to lose their jobs, their homes, their transportation and their businesses. Does the Government have a plan? Does the Government have a team?
In the wake of the eventual breakdown of his fractured Government, the Chief Minister took to the airwaves finally succumbing to the threats of his most ardent supporters that Minister Baird should be fired. But where does that leave us as a country in these challenging times? Can the Chief Minister, who is renowned for not paying attention to detail, along with two inexperienced Ministers, run the affairs of Anguilla effectively? Where is the preparation? Where is the team? There are a number of people who continue to be skeptical!
But already the Chief Minister and his son, the Parliamentary Secretary Haydn, have gone on a propaganda campaign to make us believe that a three-man Executive Council is a normal situation. In fact, Haydn’s strategy appears to be to belittle past Ministers of Government – on the Talk Shows – in the hope of undermining the importance of relevant training and experience to being effective as a Minister. In fact, I am told that he was at pains to demonstrate how ill-equipped I was to be a Minister of Finance, and how much better prepared one of the present Ministers would be for the same position – and would do a better job. To illustrate his point he made a very false assertion that leads me to believe that the campaign of lies is once more being launched. And Haydn is hopeful that he can fool the people yet another time.
But as my good friend used to say, “you can run but you can’t hide”. Only a wishful thinker would believe that it is fine for the Chief Minister to carry the burden of more that fifty percent of the Ministries; and that the Government can amble merrily along to the end of its term – and deal effectively with the challenges facing us. It is quite true that this is not a minority Government, like in 1999, but with Ministers in place who, after three and a half years, have just found out that the Governor does not have a vote in EXCO — the comedy of errors is likely to continue. In fact, the Chief Minister’s decision to take the majority of the Ministries is a clear indication of the low regard he has for the ability of his ministerial colleagues, including the elected Member for West End, who is also eligible for appointment as a Minister – the National Council of Women’s strong views, as expressed, notwithstanding.
Perhaps you may have realized by now that with the philosophy of governance which the Chief Minister, his advisors, colleagues and supporters seem to espouse there may be no need for a functioning EXCO. It is obvious that they strongly believe in a governance system that is run from the talk shows and the “broad pa”. This came home to me very clearly last week when, in response to a caller’s suggestion that perhaps the march against the AG could have been handled in a less insurrectional manner, a co-host responded that while that was true it was decided to take the option to involve the people in a protest march. The facts will prove that this Government is the first elected Government to conduct protest marches on its own administration. Protest marches are usually a facility for the Opposition. Ironically, it is this Government that has adopted it as a governance process.
Hopefully, the New Young Progressive Debaters and the National Culinary Team will continue to make us proud. Like them, we hope that future political leaders in Anguilla will adhere to the principles of “team” and “proper preparation”. And then we can proudly say to those aspiring politicians who continue to shelter behind a shroud of lies and half-truths to tarnish their opponents: “You can run but you can’t hide!”
