Mr. Editor February 21 2015
Jerome Roberts recently distributed a campaign statement addressed to the “Residences of District 2”. Since residences cannot read or vote, presumably he meant to say “residents”. Jerome made other grammatical and word usage errors in his statement, but more important was what he said or did not say.
Jerome listed various goals which needed to be addressed after the election, for example, while ignoring the fact that his party, the AUM, did not attain any of these goals, or any significant goals for that matter, during the five years it has been in power. Of course, it made numerous promises five years ago too, just as Jerome is doing now.
Anyway, Jerome, who seems to be close to Chief Minister Hubert Hughes, did reveal Hubert’s well-guarded “secret” as to when the election will occur, by saying in his statement that it will be in April. Most observers already figured that it would be as late as possible since Hubert and his associates, including Jerome, would continue to receive their salaries and other benefits up until the election. Why don’t we have a fixed date for elections?
Jerome asks for support “in order for me and the rest of team can lead Anguilla in the right direction”. The “rest of the team”, of course, is the AUM, but it is noteworthy that Jerome does not mention the AUM by name anywhere in his statement. Is he now afraid to be seen in association with his party? Five years ago, he ran as a candidate for a small party, and in his recent statement he says “you went to the polls five years ago to choose a political path for your island”. Yes, and Jerome got himself elected.
But shortly after his election, he joined the AUM giving it a larger majority in the Assembly and ingratiating himself with Hubert who ultimately arranged for Jerome to be made a Minister. Was this the path people in his District chose? Naturally, he did not want to remind constituents in District 2 about the neat switch he had made to benefit himself. Yes, now is really the time for change in a new and different direction, but not what he seeks.
An East End Resident
