Well, the long awaited election came and went without incident. It also produced results that anyone in his or her right mind could never have predicted. Victor was given up for dead, the AUM was relentless in its attacks, and everyone thought there was no way that he could recover from the shellacking that he took. Pam was constantly being beaten up by both parties. What was she going to do? Who was she going to work with? No one wants her. Isn’t amazing then how things turned out? The AUM was so worried about what she would do, that it forgot to say what it would do. We knew what they were against. We simply didn’t know what it was for and, by the way, Pam did wind up by herself, and now not only does she represent District One, but all of Anguilla. How is that for a turn of events? Funny how things work themselves out. Oh, what happened to those guys who consistently bashed her? But I digressed. That being said, we now face a myriad of challenges and, as Marcel Fahie said, in a piece he wrote for the Walter Hodge Memorial Lecture, quite a while back, May of ’99 to be exact, that we should learn from other people’s mistakes. A similar argument was made by the then Lieutenant Governor of the U.S.Virgin Islands, the late Derek Hodge, who back in 1986 gave the keynote speech on Anguilla Day in which he admonished us not to be in any great hurry with our great land. He further admonished us to look to his own homeland, the Virgin Islands, and not let what happened to them, happen to us. Did we listen? Obviously not. We couldn’t wait to get out of the starting gates, with nary a clue of where we were going, only that we were going somewhere. Anywhere would be better than where we were. The jobs were plentiful and the almighty dollar was king. As Colville Petty wrote: The cab drivers sang our praises, “Anguilla nice man.” They had jobs galore and wanted dollars, not change. Well, we’ve got change in spite of it all. We actually believed our own publicity.
The election has come and gone, and I’m sure it will leave a bitter taste in some mouths. The portfolios have been divvied up and everyone knows what his or her assignment will be. That’s all well and good, but before we proceed on this new journey, let us remember from whence we came, and how we got here in the first place. We came back from the brink of disaster and despite what we may have thought of the outgoing administration, they do deserve our thanks for putting in place those measures which allowed us to move forward. Did we agree with all of the measures? Probably not. Were mistakes made? You bet. Were there mistakes of omission or commission? If one had to make an honest assessment of the situation, one would have to say both.
If we’re to attain the sheen that we once had when the jobs and dollars were flowing freely, then we have to recognize that the political landscape has changed drastically. The tide that is progress is not floating all boats, and one has to ask why that is? Is it because most of the boats that are beached have leaky bottoms, or is it something else? Everything is now globalized and everyone is now competing for the same jobs – and if we’re to survive we had better start to use 21st century skills, because everyone else is. We cannot continue to run the same shopworn ideas out there and hope to get different results. That’s Einstein’s definition of insanity.
During the election campaign, the constant argument was , and the folks were adamant, that when the AUF was in power, they made money and things were fine. So, based on past performance, Victor and company were overwhelmingly reelected. So now the question becomes, what will be different this time? In a letter to the Editor in last week’s Anguillian, Mr. Bernard Wattley, who did what the majority of us wished we had the cojones to do, admonished the newly elected government to “Do things differently this time. Transparency and accountability he said needed to be practiced on a consistent basis. He also talked about the “plethora of Special Assistants” and “bandwaggoners” the hangers on, the persons who are only in it for what they can get for themselves, irrespective of the implications for the welfare of the country.” Mr. Wattley further challenged the new government to have a new and higher level of respect for, and adherence to the laws, policies, regulations and conventions going forward. And lastly, he asked us the Anguillian people “to be patient and reasonable.” We didn’t get in this mess over night and we probably won’t get out of it over night. He closed by saying eternal vigilance is our watchword.
American Laureate F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that there are no second acts in life. Well, Honorable Victor Banks, you have defied the odds to prove that yes there are seconds acts in life. What you choose to do with your second act is entirely up to you. You have taken center stage and most eloquently begun Act II. You have begun in a most humble manner and we can’t wait to see the body of the Victor Banks Story. In the theatre the second Act is where the protagonist faces his most daunting challenges. How the protagonist handles the hurdles that will come his way determines whether or not we will root for, or hate him. Just know this, Mr. Banks, your audience will be watching you with great anticipation. Remember, drama is all about conflict. How you handle it is another thing.
As I’ve said many times before, we can’t just press the reset button when an administration changes. That’s counterproductive and somewhat arrogant. So going forward there needs to be a clear cut plan of what needs to happen. Last week on the Mayor Show, on KOOL FM, Conrad Rogers challenged us, as constituents, to hold our government accountable. He challenged the representatives to use the same methods with which they solicited our votes, to communicate progress or challenges. On a later program local barrister, Ms Paulette Harrigan, gave a civics lesson that spelled out the role of the opposition and citizens in general. She admonished us to: “ not be fearful of the people we employ (our government) – to not let them take advantage of us, and to not be afraid to speak our mind.” She went on to say that Anguilla is the only place on this earth where we have freedom of expression, where we can build our own house wherever we want, and she exhorted us to defend our rights and not allow anyone to intimidate us.
But where Ms. Harrigan was most passionate was in her presentation of how to deal with the inaction of those in power. She methodically laid out the process by which, if you’re not happy with something in your district, here’s how you address it. It was something that we’d not heard before from anyone with regard to dealing with one’s government. She told the Diaspora to think about who you elect and to hold them accountable and let them know “we’re watching you.”
So now that we know that, we can’t just elect people and walk away from the process and expect them to do the heavy lifting. What are we going to do? We’ve seen that, in the past, if you don’t hold people accountable, they will trample your rights. We are still in a tenuous situation and what happens next will determine whether or not we sail this ship into a safe harbor.
Whatever the incoming administration chooses to do, it cannot be business as usual. There is an old saying that says “familiarity breeds contempt”. We have a chance to start anew and hopefully this government will choose to do just that. Mr. Banks, once again, you control the purse strings of our country. Take the earlier advice of Mr. Wattley: be prudent and even frugal. There’s a long list of things that need to be done. Things like constitutional and electoral reform. If ever there was a time for reform it is now. We live in a democracy and we’re a government of the people, by the people and for the people, according to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address over a hundred and fifty years ago.
Democracy was defined by E.B. White during the Second World War as: “The line that forms on the right. It is the ‘don’t’ in don’t shove. It is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time. It is a feeling of privacy in the voting booths. It is a letter to the editor. It is an idea that hasn’t been disproved yet. Political scientist Anatol Rapoport claims that the personal definition is no less valuable than the formal. He goes on to say it is the best by indicating one’s feelings, experiences and ideas, all of which brings us back to, what is done? What is thought and felt. Rapoport’s view of democracy is essentially a request to share the experiences associated with the words you are using. So in the words of the CM, who opened with a public declaration of forgiveness, let us all show what a true democracy looks like.
It is now incumbent upon us, as we move forward, to hold our government accountable. We’re the ones who hired them and, by goodness, if they don’t perform up to expectations, we can fire them. We as a people cannot be complacent and just leave everything to those whom we’ve elected. We have done that in the past, but this is now the Anguillian Spring and a new day has dawned. We have many issues that need our immediate attention. Our young people who feel left out of the process to say the least. What will happen to them if we don’t look out for them?
In an article written in the Caribbean 360 online newspaper, Mr. Ronald Sanders cites the lack of jobs for young people causing them to be increasingly dissatisfied and disenchanted. He goes on to say that their discontent manifests itself in gangs, crime and violence. He continues: “Those who have matriculated from higher education basically have nothing to look forward to. He says in other cases where young people have graduated from higher education and cannot find jobs, “they’ve either migrated, depriving their countries of qualified persons, or they accept any job they can get, but brood over their circumstances.” He cautions that: The situation of youth unemployment and underemployment is a boiling cauldron in the Caribbean.”
We have seen the results when young people have nothing to look forward to. When there are no jobs to be had and the only way out is crime. More often than not crime wins out. Mr. Sanders says the solution to the problem rests in the creation of jobs that are sustainable, jobs that rests with investment, particularly foreign investment: “new businesses have to be formed and economies diversified from traditional areas of production that have depended on preferential markets and subsidies.”
The days of being the gold standard are long gone and if we’re ever to attain the level to which we once were, then our newly elected government will have to go above and beyond the pale. During the hotly contested election campaign, we constantly heard that when the AUF was in power, things were fine. Well past performance will only get you in the door. Once inside, you have to perform, or it’s more of the same – and this cycle of fear that’s been instilled in our people from speaking out has to stop. Reprisals for one’s opinion is a nonstarter. We’re a democracy, for goodness sake, and we’re entitled to criticize you when you’re stinking up the place. We’re not a banana republic. After all, we have the right to criticize anyone – that’s what freedom of speech is all about. We should not allow ourselves to be intimidated by anyone.
We expect the AUF to exemplify the standards of good governance with integrity, accountability and transparency. We also hope to see the necessary checks and balances and an ombudsman and all that that office entails. We are currently operating with a constitution that was written back in the ice age for 6500 people. We have since almost tripled that number. Needless to say our districts are disproportionately represented. Mr. Paine, writing in “Common Sense” of the colonial times, said that “in the first parliament every man by natural right had a seat. But as the colony increased, it became necessary to augment the number of representatives and that the interest of every part of the colony may be attended to, it will be found best to divide the whole into convenient partseach part sending its proper number: and that the elected number never form themselves an interest separate from the electors.” In other words, no political parties. I say this to say that we must look at redistricting the island so that everyone gets the proper representation that they so justly deserve.
So while we contemplate what each representative will aspire to, we did not arrive in the ditch over night, and one can reasonably expect that it will take some time to get the car out of that ditch.
As we start The Anguillian Spring, let us utilize it’s true meaning. Let us remember the fable of the grasshopper and the ant. Let us be more like the ant and less like the grasshopper. We once again have a chance to achieve greatness. Let us utilize that Anguillian ingenuity which got us to this place. Let us make the long departed giants, upon whose shoulders we now stand, feel proud of our accomplishments. Let us again rekindle the spirit of ’67, and remind those whom we recently overwhelmingly elected, of the sacrifices that were made to get us to this point. And as we get ready to celebrate and honor a new batch of heroes, let us not forget the really true heroes in Atlin Harrigan, Walter Hodge, Russell Webster, David Webster, John Webster, Bevan Hodge, Elliot Webster, Peter Adams, Collins Hodge, Jeremiah Gumbs, Clayton Lloyd, Shaft, Claudius and Teacher Arthwin and a host of others. These are the real heroes of Anguilla and we’ll see to it that they will never be forgotten. Let us once again build an Anguilla that’s all inclusive. Let us in the words of the Honorable Palmavon Webster, build a new Anguilla now. So may God continue to bless and keep us all, and may God bless Anguilla.
