It has been approximately four years since I entered the political arena, and four years since I have been referred to as “a politician”. I must confess that it has taken a little time for me to get accustomed to this label and realize that when people speak about politicians, they are referring to me as well. You may ask: “Now why in the world would you choose to enter the political arena, when there are so many negatives about politics and politicians?” In fact, politicians worldwide rank high on the list as having the most unfavourable jokes written about them. One such joke highlights exactly the type of impression people have about politicians:
“A bus load of politicians were driving down a country road, when the bus ran off the road and crashed into a tree in an old farmer’s field. The old farmer, after seeing what happened, went over to investigate. A few days later, the local sheriff came out looking for the missing politicos, saw the crashed bus, and asked the farmer where all the politicians had gone.
The farmer said, “I buried ’em all… out back.”
The sheriff then asked, “Were they ALL dead?”
The old farmer replied, “Well, some of them said they weren’t, but you know how them politicians lie.”
So, in light of this, why did I enter the political arena? One simple answer: to assist in creating the Anguilla that was envisioned and fought for during the Anguilla Revolution. I wanted to contribute in some way, so when the opportunity presented itself, I answered the call. Nevertheless, before I decided to contest the 2010 elections, I sought to ascertain the primary role of a politician in order to fully understand what role I was expected to fulfill. I found one sentence that captured the essence of the role: “A political leader should be like a wick lamp which draws oil from beneath but gives light to everyone.” I was motivated by my understanding that a politician’s role was fundamentally to improve the lives of people in his or her community.
So, armed with the knowledge that the role of a politician is generally a positive one, I jumped head first into the political arena. Three years later, I can say that my experience has been an eye opener. In my view, the behaviour of many persons involved in our existing political arena in Anguilla primarily consists of derogatory name calling, dragging people’s reputations through the mud, mischaracterizing events in Anguilla to benefit the politician’s party and, when they cannot find anything against the other politician, making up outright lies. Some of these actions, however, have caused politicians, party supporters and, in some cases, the Government to be brought before the court to defend statements that they made or to defend their actions. Two such recent cases were: (i) the matter involving the former Minister of Health and Education, the Honourable Mr. Edison Baird, and a member of his then party, the Anguilla United Movement where Mr. Baird challenged defamatory statements made against him; and (ii) the events surrounding the search on my own offices in January 2010. The trumped up accusations wrongly leveled against me were ultimately dropped. Consequently, I filed a court action which is currently before the High Court.
These types of actions were, in my view, more prevalent during the 2010 election campaign than ever before in Anguilla’s history. They left a bitter taste in the mouths of Anguillians and, unfortunately, divided the country along political lines. It pitted brother against brother and lifetime friends became foes, all because of politics. It was unfortunate.
Even today, these types of games continue. For instance, a few weeks ago a document surfaced with all sorts of allegations against private citizens and former and existing politicians in relation to the recent takeover of our indigenous banks by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. I was aghast when, a few pages into the document, I saw my name. The document said in part:
“A search of Mr. Revell shows he is nothing more than a financial criminal that has been a long standing colleague of former Minister Banks and is represented in Anguilla by former Board director Cora Richardson-Hodge.”
This is an evil and shameless lie. The first thought that went through my head was “why in the world is my name in this document, connected to a man who I know nothing about?” I had never heard of this man until this document appeared and, in fact, up until now I still do not know if this man exists.
It took me quite a few minutes to realize and understand what was going on. It seems like the propaganda machine is at it again, spinning a story, and creating a lie, in the hope that if it is repeated often enough, people will believe it. The fact that the author of this document cannot attach his name to it shows that he cannot stand behind his document and declare any of its contents to be true. In fact, I challenge the author of this document to come forward and identify himself and defend his statements. And so, it appears that the lying and the negative storytelling, for political gain, continue their pervasive and destructive path in Anguilla. It appears that we can expect to see more of this as we move towards the 2015 general elections. Unfortunately, this supports the farmer’s tale.
So where do we go from here? Many persons in Anguilla have been expressing the view that the type of negative campaigning that currently exists will end as more young Anguillians enter the political arena and change the nature of the politics. I certainly hope that this is the case. The difficulty is that it appears that many young persons, male and female, are hesitant to enter the political arena in the existing political climate. How do we change this?
Well, the political climate can only change if young persons begin to involve themselves in Anguilla’s future. The road has always been challenging but, considering the heights that our ancestors had to climb in order to lay Anguilla’s foundation and prepare the path to greater successes, it is certainly achievable. And as the nature of politics changes in Anguilla, politicians will stand and be judged on their accomplishments, their ability and their skill – and not on which person can smear the other person’s name the most. I urge all of our people to apply wisdom and embrace a different kind of culture where we uplift each other and not tear each other down.
Henry Longfellow once said, “Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.”
As for me, yes, God willing I will run again in the 2015 Anguilla general elections.
