The supremacy of the Rule of Law

Neither the decision in the petitions trial nor the furious response from those who hoped for a different outcome has come as a surprise.

We could have predicted the judgement based on the law; and the response, given the rough and tumble of politics in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) over the last two decades. The partisan wars on the airways and social media have not let up, not even for one day, over that time.

What has surprised us though is the vitriolic assault on the character of the judge and his legal reasoning in the case. And this is something we should never tolerate. A public assault on the legitimacy and integrity of the Court is dangerous and outside of the boundaries of our tradition of protest.

We will rue the day if the Court loses its position as the impartial arbiter of disputes and as the only institution we invest with the power to issue a final judgment that commands both the great and the small, the rich and the poor, and the government and its citizens to bow to the force of law.

The Rule of Law is the single greatest protection against rule by caprice, our greatest defence against the arbitrary exercise of power, our ultimate guarantee against the seduction of the tyranny which prevails in every society where the Rule of Law does not exist.

A careful reading of the decision will reveal that the judge addressed all of the issues raised by the petitioners, explaining his understanding of the issues and citing cases to support his decisions. The judgement was clear and well reasoned.

The Supervisor of Elections must also feel vindicated that the Court has found that she carried out her duties in the general elections in accordance with her mandate under the Constitution. Ms Findlay has been subjected to unrelenting, vicious accusations and attacks on her character over the last three years, all of which proved to be baseless when they were examined by the court. A person of lesser strength would have crumbled, but she stood steadfast. She is owed an apology from those who sacrificed her at the altar of political expediency.

The New Democratic Party (NDP) must now decide how it will go forward. It can end its attempt to overturn the elections by way of the court and begin to bring even greater focus on the issues of governance fundamental to our lives in SVG: economic growth, employment, social security, healthcare, physical infrastructure, crime. After all, no government has a monopoly on the answers needed to solve these enduring problems of Caribbean life. At times, the NDP’s answers to these questions have been overshadowed by the cacophony surrounding the conflict over the election petitions.

Our Constitution guarantees the NDP the right to appeal the judgment of the Court. An Appellate Court could indeed come to a different determination on the election petitions and vacate the judgment of the lower court. But this is possible precisely because we live under the Rule of Law rather than the chaos of the crowd. In SVG, the Rule of Law is supreme and must remain so. It is therefore incumbent upon all of our political parties to reinforce this message, and particularly so when the decision of the Court is not in their favour.