A glance back at the political machinations of last year in Anguilla is reminiscent of both what Shakespeare said in his “The Comedy of Errors”, and of Jonathan Swift’s portrayal of “houyhnhnms and yahoos” in “Gulliver’s Travels”. Actually, 2013 was not a very good year for this Government. It is hanging on because of provisions in the Constitution. We really do not have a “fully” constituted Government.
The Government’s record speaks for itself. We must therefore put reason before passion and, as we look at it, we must remember that every action has a consequence. For us the consequences have been the dilution of proper parliamentary procedure; deliberate degradation of parliamentarians; and a sad degeneration in the quality of debate in the House. You may say who cares about the quality of debate? Well if that is your position why not get out of House and go under a “Tammon” tree and make your point by “bussing some bad word on them.” So far that is the only thing that has not happened yet. And we can’t do that because we want “to raise the bar”.
Clearly we are on our way down the political ladder. It began for real with the CM’s Xmas message and now it carries on. But apart from his non-content Press Conferences, two major low points in the CM’s handling of things have been his response to the teachers dispute and his reading of the Budget Address.
In the instance of the teachers, what transpired should not have occurred. It was no way to run a pig farm never mind to deal with people who teach our kids. The President of the Teachers’ Union, acting on behalf of the membership, sought remuneration of funds owed to them and this blew up into a real hullabaloo. It even ended up casting aspersions on issues of place of birth and nationality. Still more disgusting was the CM’s exhibition of his ineptitude when he read a prepared speech. But when one looks at the Speaker’s rulings comparatively to the CM’s behaviour it may be reasonably concluded that in this Government ineptitude is par for the course.
Their approach to politics is much the same. They are much of a “muchness”! Case in point – the Member from East End trotted off to the school without thinking about what he was doing. He failed to realize that this place, regardless of who he thinks he is, is a parliamentary democracy and there are ways of doing things correctly.
Despite the misgivings of this cabal, the CM found it to be good timing to withdraw the portfolio of the member from Road North. This is the tragic joke in this comedy of errors because of who replaced him. This saw the end of an in-cohesive regime and the disappearance of a lukewarm relationship in administration that lacks solidarity. However, some still say it was incompatibility because they argue that the Member is a little far-sighted and tends to look at horizons — while on the other hand the CM does not look beyond his nose.
But the tragic hero here is the Member from West End. The contribution he made in the House on that day can in no way be considered as thoughts on budgetary matters. What he said must be looked at in the light of the prevailing circumstances. He expressed himself in terms of his own frailties and obliquely hinted at inside party politics, and for some “over the rainbow” reason he touched briefly on the now “limping” Independence issue. As he spoke on his handling of the situation he wept and appeared very contrite. Fellow Anguillians, that is why we can come in and reach out to him as a person because he accepted fault and realized that he had erred. He is human and we know that to err is human. That is as far as we can go. As a politician we must remember that errors have consequences — and, as they say, if you commit the crime you got to do the time. Furthermore, there is no repentance in the grave — and that could be tragic.
If the gist of the Member’s contribution could be considered melancholy — then clearly the Parliamentary Secretary’s was “out to lunch”. In fact, what he said was comical. He seems to have a phobia towards Education. That seemed very obvious when he attacked the Member from Road North because he was educated at McGill University, a prominent Canadian institution of learning. This explanation of his discomfort with that member is fodder for laughter — it displays stupidity and ignorance. The Parliamentary Secretary does not have to look far for evidence to disprove his nonsense. Just around the corner in every Commonwealth Caribbean island, parliament is replete with personnel that have attended tertiary institutions of higher learning. Granted learning has no monopoly on capability — but it does help.
But why this hang up? He is a ROAD scholar and can put his hands on a couple of CXC’s. And if that is enough for him then that’s OK. But some people want more — so why foolishly ridicule their prowess.
But what has he done for the people on whose behalf he thinks he speaks? Let him go to Long Bay/West End because that District, under the auspices of Mr. Glen Hodge, raised pertinent issues germane to his age group. Mr. Hodge was able to assemble a cross-section of Speakers, ranging from the performing arts to the religious, to address an issue that glaringly steers us in the face. So what are politicians for, if they can’t even attempt to address such issues in their society?
But as Mr. Hughes, the Younger, monotonously referred to the Speaker, his action showed his poor understanding of mature politics. As he went on he brandished a blank sheet declaring his campaign strategy of mudslinging; below the belt blows; and concocted history, which is all that he really knows. If he were given a chance, he would become a blight to the political development of Anguilla. We got to prevent it! Prevention is better than cure — and remember reason before passion.
