Luke Browne is my Politician of the Year

Editor: According to the pundits and in my own opinion, 2016 will go down as a very good year for the Luke Browne political brand. I have arrived at this conclusion after following closely the activities of this young man (and political developments in general) for the past 12 months or so, including the role he played in engineering the recent success of the Roseau Recreational Park in the VINLEC Nine Mornings Christmas Lighting Up Competition.

The year started out with Luke receiving a new ministerial assignment. He hit the ground running and quickly banished into extinction any idea that he was too young or in any other way unfit for the job. He marshalled a competent administrative team like a seasoned leader of men from day one. I remember a speech that Luke delivered on the occasion of a reception at the Prime Minister’s Residence, in honour of the visit of the Director General of PAHO to St Vincent and the Grenadines, and it sure was pure class. I have never heard a better cocktail speech.

Luke also represented St Vincent and the Grenadines competently on the world stage, including at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. It was a proud moment for me as a Vincentian to see a fellow countryman more than hold his own in the international arena alongside the representatives of powerful nations. Minister Browne has made several major health care speeches, including his very recent speech on December 6, I think it was, at the opening of the renovated Mental Health Rehabilitation Centre, during the course of which he shared a very touching personal story about one of his sisters.

Despite his obvious facility with words, Luke Browne is not just a man of soaring rhetoric. There was a clipping on Facebook with him, as is his usual style, down in the trenches and drenched with sweat with a team of workers preparing the grounds of the Mental Health Centre for the opening. Mr Browne clearly has a combination of brains and brawn.

Another highlight of the year was Luke’s appointment to the chairmanship of three extremely important regional health institutions in the Caribbean: CARICOM’s Council on Human and Social Development, the Caribbean Public Health Agency and the Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS.

Luke’s work in the Ministry did not mean the neglect and abandonment of his constituency. He continued a model education programme in primary and secondary schools; has spearheaded numerous self-help projects, including a substantial road repair project in Dorsetshire Hill, valued at tens of thousands of dollars; persisted with the Luke’s Kids Club summer programme; played a leading role in disaster relief efforts; and was engaged in other worthwhile undertakings. I also notice a resurgence in his public commentary via newspaper articles and social media posts.

Perhaps the greatest testament to Luke’s work in the constituency this year, is the transformation he has brought about with the Roseau Recreational Park – he converted it from a dump site into a recreational park that just won the Nine Mornings award for the Best Lit Garden and the Best Nativity Scene, in its first year of entering the competition. This is a compliment to Minster Browne’s vision and foresight.

The year 2016 ended with Luke Browne well poised to take the East Kingstown seat, which has been retained by the NDP  since 1984, before Minister Browne was even born. The story of how he whittled down the Leader of the Opposition from the margin of victory of 467 votes in 2010 to a mere 149 in 2015 will never grow old. By this feat Luke has amply demonstrated his political acumen, organizing ability and capacity to play in the big league.

Now that Arnhim Eustace, a man from my generation, has taken major steps towards a complete withdrawal from the political scene, it is hard to imagine that any newcomer would be able to withstand the force of the final assault that this young, efficient and energetic political titan called Luke will make on a seat that once seemed to be an impregnable stronghold of the New Democratic Party. I believe that there would be a by-election in 2017 and that will be Luke’s moment to shine. In consideration of all these things, I vote Robert Luke Browne as my politician of the year.

OT