(This article was first published in The Anguillian on 19th February 1999)
I wish to say a big thank you to all those persons who sent me get well cards during my recent illness. I am now fully recovered from the stench that sickened me, and many others, over the past few weeks when this island’s political sewage system burst at several places and spewed filth all across the island. People everywhere complained about how the stench was killing them and how the politicians needed to do something about it. Many of the politicians seemed quite happy – at ease – as they waded through the filth and deliberately ignored the people’s complaints. It was only when they found themselves nose deep in it – when the stench almost strangled them – that they realised the situation was indeed serious and therefore decided to repair rapidly the broken sewage lines before elections. Our politicians had at last become conscious that the mounds of filth were likely to cause an epidemic – that their political health was being endangered – and that the electorate was sickened by it all.
I have to accept some of the blame for the situation. Instead of pleading with them to stay out of the mud, I should have pleaded with them to stay out of the cesspool. But never did I imagine that the standard of political debate in Anguilla would have reached such levels. However, I am indeed heartened by the most recent pledges of a clean campaign. In fact on Saturday night, Chief Minister Hubert Hughes led the way with a renewed pledge when he said “let it [the campaign] be good humoured. Let us not be acrimonious in this election.” The mood he was in caused me to believe that he was serious and I pray to God he was. He told the gathering that politicians were “the humblest of the humble” and hinted that they needed to take example from Jesus who “washed his disciples’ feet.” I also believe that Hubert is serious about a clean campaign because I recall him telling his listeners, in 1981, that he “was brought up in a Christian home.” We certainly have a lot to thank God for.
In light of the renewed pledges from the various candidates, it now appears that we will once again be allowed to breathe some political fresh air for the remainder of the election campaign. And we all could do well with plenty of it for the sake of our own health and that of our nation. We expect from henceforth an issue-oriented campaign where the government would, among other things, speak of its record and outline its programmes for the development of the island. Similarly, we expect those seeking to unseat the government to critique its record and put forward their own programmes for the advancement of the island. It is debates centred on such matters that enlighten people – that enable them to make intelligent choices – that make good politics.
A most undesirable custom in Anguilla’s politics has been the buying of votes on a small but irritating scale. Don Duncan (1994) admonished: “Forget about the load of sand. Forget about the pallet of blocks. Forget about the bottle of drink. We need better than that. We need work.” Already there are rumours about people being given microwave ovens, video players and fridges and of a woman who received money to pay for a hysterectomy. Our candidates must remind themselves that the practice is in breach of the island’s electoral laws and could result in their prosecution. The practice has long been recognised as an ugly sore on our electoral process and is despised by most people.
Ophelia Richardson (1989) cautioned that “persons who give bribes are also capable of receiving bribes. If they are so dishonest to bribe you to vote for them, you don’t know what they would accept to sell your country.” Clement Ruan, in his inaugural campaign speech at Deep Waters on Valentine’s Day, was of the same view: “The person that gives you money for a vote is also the person who will take bribes when he or she goes in office.” He added: “He that giveth will also taketh.” Evan Lake (1994) advised his listeners that “when they [the politicians] give you money, take the money, eat the money, drink the money but when election comes vote them out.” A few nights ago, at Blowing Point, Hubert Hughes explained the ills of money for votes this way: “To sell your vote is like a woman being a prostitute. If she gets pregnant she can blame nobody and ask nobody for support because she was paid.”
Over the years, a few politicians have become virtual paupers because of their constituents’ demands on them for money to retain their political support. Some people ask for money “to put on their ring beam” or to tile their floor and so on. Several politicians have claimed that their salary does not belong to them because they have to share it up among their constituents. To quote Kenneth Harrigan (1989): “Our salary is not ours. I work for a salary and every month my wife ask me: ‘Kenneth where is your salary?’ I say, ‘girl I spent it on the house – they plaster the house today.’ But don’t you think she knows that I was lying because the work on the house was stopped a year ago? Don’t you think she knows that I gave the money away?”
Victor Banks has been telling his listeners that this election campaign “was not about roads but about cross-roads.” There is no doubt that we are at a crucial juncture in our history. Furthermore, there is much uncertainty about who would lead us into the new millenium. This is compounded by the drama of political intrigue, back stabbing and prostitution that is being acted out behind the scenes. It is also compounded by a tendency which Dr Cuthwin Lake observed way back in 1989 when he said that there were “parties which say this today and that tomorrow; and that is the problem: political chameleons, political contortionists that keep on changing.”
In whatever way the drama unfolds, all candidates who seek political office should keep in mind the words of Ronald Webster (1988) when he declared that “persons who enter politics should realise that it is not just a job for money but a mission of mercy, and sacrifices had to be made.” Let Kenneth Harrigan (1994) tell you about it: “I don’t have peace of life. Sometimes in the morning when I am sleeping, hugging up my wife, the phone would ring. I had to get up and do the people’s work.” Hear how Nashville Webster explained his sacrifice: “Those of you who . . . listen and hear them talk about [me] losing wife and the rest of it; sure, I sacrificed her. But I sacrificed her for Anguilla. I sacrificed her for you.”
Election Day (4th March) is upon us and I therefore renew my call for peace and unity. We are all one people divided mainly by party politics. The things which divide us are far less than the things which unite us. In the words of Dr Lake (1989), “let us remember that we are one people: one by common circumstances, one by common blood and one by common experiences, and that when things look dark we must not turn on each other but turn to each other.” Sound advice.
During the 1984 elections, Nashville Webster spoke thus to the people of Island Harbour: “I went to Washington to represent Anguilla at the Prayer Breakfast and we got together and prayed for peace.” But we do not need to go to Washington to pray for peace and unity and for divine guidance in the upcoming election. We could do it right here and now in our homes or at our places of work. Let us pray: “Lead us heavenly father, lead us.”
