April 7, 1972 – The tied election and all that

I didn’t get to listen to the ULP’s celebration rally last Sunday night, of course a build-up to its “six-in-a-row” election campaign, so I am not aware whether any of the speakers recalled the April 7 date in the history of our general elections.

But it is a significant date.  On April 7, 1972, the electorate of this country went to the polls, coincidentally for the seventh time since the introduction of Adult Suffrage in 1951. The election was called as the term of the Labour Party which defeated Ebeneezer Joshua’s People’s Political Party (PPP) at the polls in 1967, had come to an end. In addition, just before then Premier, Robert Milton Cato called the election, one of the “bright stars” in his line-up, James Fitz Allan Mitchell, who was representing the Grenadines in Parliament, delivered a blow to the party’s re-election hopes by resigning from the party and his ministerial post. He chose to contest as an independent candidate.

His action added spice to the usual bitter contest between the Labour Party and PPP, bitter rivals for a decade and a half. Additionally, several political developments, not just in SVG but overall, in the Caribbean region, had begun to affect and influence the political climate in the region. Significantly, the Caribbean and particularly, its young people had begun to feel the influence of the rising tide of black consciousness as the Black Power tide swept in from North America and Jamaica and Trinidad regionally.

Cato’s Labour Party like the rest of their colleagues in office in the other islands, were uncomfortable with this challenge, mainly from the youth and intellectuals in the region. It began to display repressive tendencies with the police particularly hostile to the youth “on the block”.

Less than two months before the April 7 poll, those repressive tendencies were let loose against Black Power advocates protesting the visit of the sister of the Queen of England.

The Labour Party government was also hostile to young university graduates who were in the forefront of the black consciousness movement. Some were denied jobs in the public service, while others were harassed by police searches and other forms of intimidation. These members of the Educational Forum of the People, better known as the “Forum Boys”, were also thought to be sympathetic to Joshua’s PPP.

When the votes were counted on April 7, the Labour Party got the most votes, 16,108 (50.4%), the PPP garnered 14,507 votes (45.4%) and the independent Mitchell retained his Grenadines seat. But total votes are one thing, seat distribution under the first-past-the-post system is another. So, we had the situation immortalized in the calypso “First Time”, by the lines, “Two parties run, but none ah dem win”. Yes, the election ended in a historic tie between the major parties who each got six seats, with Mitchell holding the balance.

Drama for so, followed. While Vincentians wondered how we would get a government out of the impasse, it was reported that Mitchell “had gone fishing” fuelling wild speculation. In the end, behind-the-scenes talks resulted in the announcement that we were to get an “Alliance government” between the PPP and Mitchell.

The political machinations also produced an improbable result, for it was not Joshua with his six seats who was to head the “Alliance” as Premier, but Mitchell with his lone seat. This was “new maths” in politics, one being more than six.

It ushered in an often-turbulent chapter in Vincentian political history. The bearded Mitchell, a la Castro and Che Guevara, gave the appearance of a revolutionary, though his politics were anything but…He took several measures which were in essence progressive though, not necessarily timely, explained properly, or efficiently administrated. Among these were the appeal to “go local” by going “back to the land”. This was backed by the banning of certain food imports.

Without an educational programme to explain these measures, and the sudden banning of some imports causing shortages, hoarding and price gouging, Mitchell was courting political problems. This was especially so because the Labour party was backed heavily by the merchant sector. They “went to town”, to use a local saying on him. In addition, serious strains emerged within the Alliance, not just between Joshua and Mitchell, but also with several members of Joshua’s party seeming to lean towards Mitchell.

There were other negative factors as well. The PPP had promised in its election manifesto, that “the police will cease to be viewed as the enemy of the people…and the constant brandishing of arms and excessive military show of force will be avoided”. But never has SVG witnessed such a display of force and repression as followed the fatal shooting of Attorney General Cecil Rawle in 1973.

It must be remembered too that it was this “Alliance Government”, which earned itself the nickname, “the Junta”, and even “Jesse James and the Gang”, featuring such colourful names like “Saga Quart”, “Bull Rounce”, “Traitor” and the like. They put an end to democracy at the local government level when they scrapped local government elections. Every government since then has promised its restoration; none has delivered.

So, April 7, 1972, was indeed a momentous day in our politics, worth remembering.

• Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.