It seems that the public meetings are ramping up and election fever is in the air. An important question must be: Can we continue with this level of hype until February or March next year? And, of course, the question arises whether or not the Government will call a snap election. I predicted, since very, early this year that there is a good chance that elections will be called in October or November – and many persons are beginning to consider that to be a real probability/possibility. There is a clear logic to this prediction, namely, that the Government may not be willing to entertain a budgetary exercise in December followed by elections in January or February. And since its members were very critical of the past Government for delaying the process until after elections in 2010 — it would seem very hypocritical if they were to use a similar strategy.
However, let me go on record and state that it is in the best interest of the country if politics is taken out of the budgetary process. In the circumstances, I personally believe that having a budget exercise in the midst of an election campaign does not create the best environment for objectively discussing the important issues affecting our island. I would therefore urge the Government to have elections before the budgetary exercise. It must not matter whether those elections are in October/November or January/February. Given the challenging financial and economic situation we are now facing, the Opposition would have a clear advantage to criticize the Government, albeit even irresponsibly.
Since the budget process is so close to the time when elections are constitutionally due — why should a probable “New Government” have to accept a budget agreed on the eve of a General Election? It (the “New Government”) should have the privilege of presenting its own budget free of political considerations after an election. It will also give the present Government an opportunity to be in a contest where all parties will have a fair chance to present their ideas for dealing with the issues affecting the island, and allow voters/taxpayers to compare and contrast their presentations. The successful party or group of elected members will then have a clear mandate to implement its solutions to the challenges of the island.
This AUM Government also faces another very serious dilemma. It has spent over four years making excuses as to why it is unable to turn the economy around and now, with just over six months left, it cannot reasonably make the case that it needs five more years to do so. Furthermore, it began as a Government with a majority of five out of seven seats, within months of its accession to office, and now four years later it can only fill three of the four ministerial positions allowed in the Constitution. In other words, it does not even have a fully constituted Executive Council to manage the various ministerial portfolios of Government. This situation and an apparent serious illness to one of its members also prevent it from commanding a majority of the Elected Members in the House of Assembly. This means that meetings of the House can only take place with the support of the Members of the Opposition. In fact, if the Members of the Opposition disapprove of any item of the agenda they can prevent the House from debating the matter. To put it bluntly, for all intents and purposes, we have a “lame duck” Government.
Can we as a people be reasonably expected to endure a “lame duck” Government simply to fulfill the constitutional tenure of the present elected members in this period of serious challenge? Can we as a people be reasonably expected to proceed with a Government that cannot command a majority of elected members in the House when critical decisions need to be made for our island? Should we as a people continue to be satisfied with an Executive Council that is not fully constituted? Members of the Opposition, in particular, must be concerned especially when the Government is using “parliamentary privilege” in the House of Assembly to make false and slanderous statements for its political advantage.
All of the foregoing, and the fact that the Government is still playing politics with technical issues, must require the Opposition to become more involved in the timing of the next general election. A number of serious issues over the last few months come to mind, and I must list a few: 1) the lack of clear leadership and direction in Tourism; 2) the rush to implement a “waste to energy” project without due consideration of the issues involved; 3) the impasse with the Health Authority; 4) the fiasco with the Water Plant at Crocus Bay; 5) the decision to place the Adrian T. Hazel Primary School Project on the back burner; 6) the continuing lack of information on the ECCB hostile takeover of the indigenous banking sector: and 7) the continuing attempts by the Chief Minister to frustrate developers in their efforts to manage their projects in these challenging times.
These issues point to the fact that the Government continues to stumble from crisis to crisis in its efforts to manage the affairs of this island. And now, during the last months of its term in office, it continues to make matters worse in what seems to be a mad rush to make something happen. It is struggling to implement a phase of The Valley Road Development Project that lacks proper design and engineering; it is rushing to put in place a vendor’s market without adequate long term planning; and it is hustling to find a solution for Cap Juluca without paying due regard to the rights of the principals involved. Is it fair for the people of Anguilla to be saddled with the negative impacts of poor planning simply to make the Government look good in the short term?
In these circumstances, it is time for the Opposition to demand that the Chief Minister calls fresh elections so as to put in place a fully constituted Government that has a proper mandate to deal with the challenges facing Anguilla at this time. Things are not trending towards improvement in the near future. In fact, as things progress, the Government is becoming more and more incapable of providing proper Governance. The situation is clear:
A. The Government is simply using the House of Assembly as a platform to campaign at this time.
B. The situation in District 7, West End, is untenable. The elected member for that constituency has not been able to fulfill his obligations both in the Executive Council and the House of Assembly for more than six months.
C. The Opposition can prevent the House from conducting its affairs at any time on the basis of lack of a quorum.
D. The Government has already wasted more than four years of its tenure acting like it is still in Opposition. It now does not have enough time left to become an effective Government. It needs to seek a fresh mandate with a full complement of elected members.
It is therefore time for the Opposition to call for fresh elections. An extended period of political campaigning, without effective governance, will be detrimental to the people of Anguilla. The challenges of this period require that we have a Government fully empowered to deal with the issues without any distractions from an extensive campaign cycle. To carry on in this vein, conceivably from now until next year March or April, will not be in the best interest of the people of Anguilla. The present Government can be no longer effective without a majority in the House. It is time to call it a day and give the people of Anguilla the chance to elect a properly constituted Government.
