Political operatives who speak out of turn

31.MAY.11

Editor: In politics, it is often said perception is everything and perception is reality. If a politician is perceived to be honest or dishonest, or if the crime rate is perceived to be going up or down, or a government is corrupt, that is everything, whether or not it is true. In politics, that is reality.{{more}}

In St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), individuals in the leadership of the government and opposition parties seem to think they have no responsibility to government or opposition, once they preface their remarks with words such as: “What I am going to say is my personal opinion”.

How wrong they are!! The fact that they are ministers of government, elected opposition members or persons holding offices in the political parties or known government or opposition operatives, their every public statement is perceived to be government or party policy. In politics, perception is reality.

Political operatives in SVG today have a frightening propensity for speaking out of turn. Chief among the culprits are those who host radio talk shows. Their foolish commentaries and other utterances could be detrimental to their leaders and indeed the

country.

In the ULP we say a win is a win. By one seat, or several seats. I am sure the same held good for the NDP after the 1998 elections. The only difference is the ULP won a much larger share of the popular votes back in 1998 and again in 2010. However, with a single seat majority, it is safe to say that the leader of the governing party is never comfortable.

Even with a situation where several elected representatives are declared “practising” Christians, don’t expect any of them to put principle before power or country. Still, the Prime Minister and/or Leader of the Opposition can ill afford the luxury of public dissent from within their respective parties. That weakens the leaders, to the point where they are unable to maintain discipline within their ranks. I am afraid that weakness is already showing in both parties.

Here are a few examples:

1. The Prime Minister recently created a new Ministry of National Reconciliation. He seems serious about making that ministry succeed. However, some ULP operatives (and callers) on the party-owned radio station seem often to be contradicting the Prime Minister.

During the April Meeting of Parliament, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves made a statement concerning talks with representatives of Armajaro to explore the possibility and viability of cocoa production in SVG. The following morning, on the ULP morning programme, one of the co-hosts was heard berating Sir James Mitchell, who is central to the cocoa talks. But the uncontrollable upstart even went further. He stated that cocoa was not a good idea.

Would a leader with more than a one-seat majority have tolerated this rude challenge to his decision to hold talks on cocoa production?

The day following the stupidity and rudeness of the radio show co-host, a Cabinet Minister posted basically the very same rude comments about Sir James Mitchell on FaceBook. Would Prime Minister Gonsalves have looked the other way, if he had a comfortable majority government?

2. The government of Prime Minister Gonsalves set up a Department of Diaspora Affairs, headed up by an Ambassador.

The importance of Caribbean peoples in the Diaspora extends to lobbying and influence on policy development of governments, to benefit these Caribbean citizens living abroad in the areas of education, employment, housing, health care, etc. The ability of Caribbeanites in the Diaspora to participate equally in the various societies, directly affects the quantum of remittances and other contributions to the islands. Straight up: most, if not all, Caribbean governments rely on contributions from their citizens in the Diaspora. Why then would radio hosts and others, always make a distinction between citizens at home and those in the Diaspora? And why do the political leaders tolerate this nonsense? Is it because of the positions they both presently find themselves in?

If Prime Minister Gonsalves continues to allow his operatives to speak out of turn on important national issues, he should explain to the Vincentian taxpayers, at home and abroad, the reason his government expends tens of thousands of dollars (annually) on the Ministry of Reconciliation and the Unit for Diaspora Affairs.

The operations of both departments are absolutely necessary. Both political parties need to make formal national and Diaspora statements on these issues. On these important national issues, Vincentians at home and in the Diaspora deserve much more than political rhetoric.

Wade Kojo Williams, Sr.

Wade Kojo Williams, Sr. is a citizen of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Canada. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.