I take this opportunity to wish all Anguillians, residents and visitors divine blessings, prosperity and peace for 2016 and beyond, and urge us all to be faithful and fair in all our relationships and dealings.
I. As Anguillian nationals and residents, we proudly claim that we live on an island which is democratic and free. These are two vital pillars of our civil society which must be cherished and promoted by all, and we must do everything in our power to ensure that they are enhanced and not gradually eroded. Other pillars of civil society are order and justice. I think though that some persons may have reservations about the claim that Anguilla is a just, orderly and fair society. Some persons will complain and say that they see or experience some form of injustice, favouritism or unfairness much too often.
To illustrate the point, I refer the reader to a letter in The Anguillian newspaper for Friday, 18th December 2015 captioned “I call it as I see it”. In that letter the writer complains about the difference in the treatment some visitors to the island receive at the ports of entry. It is obvious that the writer is raising the issue of “fairness” and that for him/her this issue goes much deeper than the officer’s discretion. It may also be that the writer wants to remind us of how deep and pervasive prejudice and unfairness are, and that they have to be confronted head-on as racism and injustice were confronted in America and in other parts of the world. Many persons have observed to this writer that in today’s social climate in Anguilla it is often tempting and easy to practice unfairness and injustice, and that there are those who do so regularly. The fact is that the practice of unfairness and injustice, and the baser forms of corruption and bribery, do not bring prosperity and empowerment to a nation in the long term. Let us therefore promote those virtues and practices which help to empower each other and which will make Anguilla great.
II. As a matter of principle, I decided long ago not to reply to unsigned letters which attack or criticize me personally or anything I write. My view is that such letters are not worthy of a response and should not be so dignified. Every anonymous letter clearly says something about the writer, and should not be taken seriously by anyone. In fact, such a letter should not even be published.
In more recent times the number of unsigned letters appearing in the weekly Anguillian newspaper is cause for concern. It says much about us and the issues of free speech. An individual’s wish not to be identified as the writer of a letter may be due to fear or cowardice or uncertainty about what is being written or some other reason. Whatever the reason, hiding behind anonymity or a pseudonym is a sign of some form of weakness or fear, and may even border on dishonesty, frivolity, mischief and deception. If one is really confident that what is being written is factual, and if one has no desire to be indulging in gossip or mischief, but instead wishes to contribute meaningfully to the issue being discussed after careful and objective analysis, then such a writer must be mature enough, big enough, courageous enough and free enough to be publicly identified. Fearful people and cowards seldom, if ever, contribute to nation building, and we are all called to this task.
As a good and responsible newspaper, and more so, as the only one nationally produced at present, I sincerely urge the Editor of The Anguillian to revisit the practice of publishing so many anonymous letters. This writer pleads with you to consider amending and incorporating the following ideal as part of the policy of The Anguillian:
“Where a letter to the Editor or an article for the newspaper is critical about a business, organization or person who is identified by name, the writer’s name shall be appended.” It cannot be fair, right, just or helpful, and should not be allowed, for one individual to write negatively, disparagingly or falsely about another individual or entity by name and that writer remains anonymous. [One way to raise the level of responsibility on the part of writers and to enhance the credibility of the items, and the paper is to require the publication of the writer’s name, once an individual or entity is identified by name by the writer, I believe that personal responsibility and freedom of speech go together in a civil and democratic society.]
III. In this third section I wish to raise one issue for consideration, and which I trust will begin a meaningful dialogue about our future as we enter a new era of politics in Anguilla. The issue has to do with the nature and style of democracy and party politics which have evolved in Anguilla over the last forty years or so. While some of what I say will also apply to the wider Caribbean, our immediate concern is with Anguilla.
This writer asserts, without hesitation, that democracy is the best form of government we know, and party politics has several positive aspects to it. However, our practice of the Westminster Model, which we have been trying to follow over the years has turned out to be a greater hindrance to our development and progress than many of us would want to admit. This is obvious in small states like these in the Caribbean, and more so in mini-states like Anguilla.
Vital to the Westminster Model is the concept of competition/opposition which is meant to provide impetus for progressive thinking and developmental action.
Unfortunately, in the Anguilla context it has evolved as a tool for obstruction, negation, polarization, victimization, cronyism and the like, all of which impede sustainable progress and development. We now have a situation where the strength of one party is not used to complement the shortcomings of the other in order to move the wheel of progress forward. What we find, instead, is that the strength of one is used against the strength of the other, and the wheel of progress remains stationary or simply vacillates and, more often than not, the wheel moves backward down the path of underdevelopment.
Here are a few questions to ponder and discuss:
1. What real progress has been made in Anguilla towards nation building in the last twent-five years?
2. How is Anguilla today any closer to achieving self-determination than we were twenty-five years ago?
3. How are Anguillians and Anguilla today better off or worse off than twenty-five years ago?
4. What factors have contributed to the state of affairs in Anguilla today?
5. What do we need to do differently in order to ensure that building the New and viable Anguilla does begin in earnest in the very near future?
At least two things should become clear after reflecting on the above questions. One is that we cannot continue with business as usual if Anguilla is to move into a sustainable development mode. Our present spending levels are unsustainable and need to be realistically adjusted. The second is that we cannot tax our way to sustainability or expect economic progress. There comes a time when more is too much and then there is crisis. Our leadership must be bold, innovative, prudent and sensitive in finding new ways to diversity and grow the economy. The present administration must lead the charge by utilizing the best minds and the most competent and skilful persons in Anguilla to help chart the road to sustainable progress. Our country is bigger than any one group, party or individual, and it deserves the best effort of all. Our leaders must therefore find a way to harness the best efforts of citizens. There is only one Anguilla, and our commitment must be to its development, understood as the greatest good and level of well-being for ALL – not some.
What should also become clear is this: The Westminster Model of democracy alone cannot be blamed totally for the ongoing state of the underdevelopment of Anguilla. The BVI, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and other Overseas Territories also adhere to that model, but their state of development is much more advanced than Anguilla’s despite the thrust which the 1967 revolution gave to Anguilla. So why has Anguilla fallen so far behind? In answering this question, I wish to be realistic without being too simplistic.
Responsibly for our stagnation and lack of real progress has to be placed to a large extent at the feet of our political leaders and the type of party politics they have developed and practiced over the years. On one hand our political leaders have mostly been benign, but inept, manipulative, self-serving and unprepared for national leadership. Position, power and personal privilege seem to have driven them rather than a clear national vision for purposeful development and people empowerment. Party politics therefore became too personalized, divisive, negative, blaming and scheming. With this type of leadership and party politics, development is severely hindered.
Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about politics in Anguilla today is that for most Anguillians the party comes before the country. As a result, decisions are often made in the best interest of the party instead of in the best interest of the country. This makes the country the servant of the party and that is wrong. What our leaders have done over the years was to develop a strong “spirit of partyism” at the expense of the “spirit of nationalism”. The danger of this is that today almost every issue is seen, discussed and decided in terms of the partisan spirit, or one party versus another, even when the issue is a genuine national issue.
Generally, then, the decision that is likely to benefit the party most is the one to be taken, even if in the long term it is not in the best national interest. This is why after fifteen years – and three attempts – we have not yet been able to have constitution and electoral reform. Every other overseas territory has completed the process long ago and is enjoying benefits of those reforms. Our political leaders are responsible but we the people are the losers.
As I conclude, let me state clearly my firm belief that, as a matter of principle, the government of the day deserves the support of all the people, whether they had voted for the members of that Government or not. In a democratic or civil society there is always only one government at a time. This fact must be recognized and respected and should never be undermined. Can you imagine the problems people would have if they had more than one government at any one time?
At the same time, the government the day MUST ALWAYS REMEMBER that it is the government of all the people including those who did not vote for them. This is a vital principle. Every citizen must therefore be treated equally and fairly, and every decision must be made on the basis of agreed and established principles, policies and laws – and must be driven by the desire to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number and the highest well-being of all. The government of the day must recognize, avoid and defeat every temptation to be partial, unfair, deceptive or crooked in its dealings, even when being honest fair and just may be uncomfortable or inconvenient. Some persons may prefer the following statement: “The government of the day must always act with openness, transparency, prudence and integrity and in the best national interest.” It is this kind of behaviour which gives the government its moral authority and legitimacy and the right to expect and call for the people’s loyalty. When this does not happen, the stage is set for things like civil disobedience, violence, rebellion and the like. Unfortunately, this has been the case many times down through history and with ugly consequences. Usually, this unfortunate behaviour develops when government members stop seeing themselves as the servants of the people and accountable to the people, but instead consider themselves the masters of the country and so become manipulators of the masses.
Please understand that no accusations or threat is made, just a discussion of ideas to help with better understanding and better leadership. In addition, I am making a strong appeal to the present administration to put an end to the old from of broken and bitter politics which has taken Anguilla down the path of brokenness and underdevelopment. Sustainable progress will be achieved only by choosing that better form and style of politics which is inspired by a clear vision of the new Anguilla and motivated by a new spirit of national pride, selflessness and committed service. This new form of better politics must be:
A politics of collaboration, not confrontation
A politics of affirmation, not accusation
A politics of inclusion, not exclusion
A politics of betterment, not bitterness
A politics of empowerment, not demotivation
A politics of accountability, not manipulation
A politics of transparency, not secrecy
A politics of integrity, not ineptitude.
One of our greatest challenges today then is to fix our politics. God Bless!
