By Proclamation, His Excellency the Governor dissolved the Anguilla House of Assembly with effect from 9th May 2020. This essentially leaves all seats in the House vacant and paves the way for the next general election. This election signals the end of an era in which there were seven elected members in the Anguilla House of Assembly, and two nominated members having equal power to the persons elected by the people. It signals the beginning of a new chapter in our political history in which there will be eleven elected members of the House of Assembly: seven elected by voters in their respective constituencies, and four elected by all registered voters across Anguilla. Under this new arrangement, there will be no nominated members. These changes were made possible by the recent constitutional reforms and give Anguillians a greater say in the composition of the legislative arm of Government. In my view, this is a step forward for democratic governance.
With the dissolution of the House, the boxing gloves are now off, the gauntlet has been thrown down, and hunting season has begun. All parties and independent candidates are now in full campaign mode as they vie for the votes to occupy the eleven elected seats in the House. While there is no date announced yet for election, I believe most people would agree it should be sooner rather than later as with each election cycle the vitriol, defamatory statements, character assassination, and the like, seem to get worse. Whether with or without party approval, supporters go to extreme lengths to undermine candidates and supporters of rival parties. The result is often bitterness, broken families and friendships, long after elections are over. There is something about politics that tends to bring out the worst in people.
One of the matters that is sure to gather much political attention is the legislation which was passed in the House on the eve of its dissolution which enabled the Government to reduce civil servants’ salaries with effect from July to December 2020 if necessary. Unfortunately, civil servants may have to take another hit in the interest of the country. We should recall that civil servants have had 3 salary cuts in the last 10 years. In essence, unless they were promoted to a new position, civil servants have been taking home less and less over the 10 year period. However, they carry a huge burden of responsibility in the delivery of public services. The things that people tend to take for granted, don’t happen by magic — they are made possible by civil servants working for the betterment of Anguilla as a whole. Yet, even the highest paid civil servants earn less than middle managers in some private sector entities even though their level of responsibility is incomparable. While civil servants do enjoy a high degree of stability, the trade-off is that they are easy targets for Governments, both past and present, to manage expenditure by reducing salaries.
Many would consider Premier Banks and his administration as being brave for proposing a reduction in civil servants’ salaries on the eve of an election. Premier Banks, in the House, thanked civil servants for giving up a portion of their earnings for the benefit of others. My understanding of this is that the reduction is one of the ways in which Government is making funds available to support unemployed persons. That, however, brings little comfort to civil servants. The 15% reduction in Ministers’ salaries also does not seem to appease civil servants. In fact, the various civil service unions expressed same in a letter to the Honourable Deputy Governor in response to the proposed cuts. The letter seems to have been too late, perhaps unavoidably so (as there does not appear to have been widespread consultation on the proposed reduction), as it did little to deter Government from moving ahead with the legislation. It remains to be seen whether civil servants will register their discontentment at the polls, or whether they will consider the proposed reduction an unwelcome but necessary measure.
In my view, there are no easy answers in responding to this Covid-19 situation. The reality is that with the tourism sector shut down, and thousands of people out of work, Government is bound to be cash-strapped as it cannot collect the anticipated levels of revenue. It will therefore be caught between continuing to deliver services, meeting its monthly obligations, rendering assistance to the unemployed and families in need, properly equipping the health services and protecting the borders. This is a tall order when the economy is in a downward spiral with no end in sight. My only hope is that we come out of this healthy, able to salvage the economy and with a solid plan for diversification. If we have learnt nothing else from the crises we have endured over the past three years, we should have learnt that we cannot build a stable economy on tourism alone.
In times like these, good leadership matters even more. At the forefront of everyone’s mind, as the politicking ramps up, should be: Who do I trust to guide Anguilla through this unchartered territory? Who do I trust to help us build a new and resilient Anguillian economy? Who do I trust to leverage technology and innovation to build dynamic education and health systems? Who do I trust to keep our country safe and protect the wellbeing of our people? Each of us have to answer these questions for ourselves when we stand in those booths to cast our five votes. In the meantime, amidst all the campaign rhetoric, take time to consider what each candidate has to offer and whether you can trust him or her to do what you believe is the right thing for Anguilla.
