Contributing Author Dickson Igwe
The mighty Virgin Islands voter!
BVI Beacon Contributor Roger Harris wrote in the November 17, 2011 Edition of the Newspaper, that owing to a number of idiosyncrasies with the November 7, General Election, such as ‘incentives’ offered to voters in some areas, add residents from the USA who are dual citizens coming over to vote ‘’in a district not too far from West End,’’ that ‘’ if these rumours are true, it shows that we have a very unsophisticated and gullible electorate.’’
I wish to disagree with that assertion sir. If anything, and according to the ‘seasoned election observers’ who came in to the Territory to observe the process: the system worked perfectly and could not have been bettered. So please: let’s be reasonable! Virgin Islanders have every reason to be very proud of their electoral apparatus!
Now, Writing on politics in the aftermath of a sizzling and dramatic General Election can be a juicy but also very dicey affair, especially in a small community such as these close knit Virgin Islands. It also appears enemies are easily made during an election period. But wasn’t it a Great Virgin Islands Statesman who once said that having one enemy is having one too many. I totally agree with that Sage Man! The time for communal reunion is now, tomorrow may be too late. Honorable Andrew Fahie used wise words indeed, when he declared at Frenchman’s Cay that after the Elections, there will be a lot of healing to do: one appreciates that thoughtful assertion this mid November. And if required, let’s get on with it!
And yours truly is certainly glad that the November 7, 2011, Virgin Islands General Election is over for good. And he continues to stress his absolute political neutrality and objective fealty to his readers; even though he knows many may not believe him when he says that he has no particular political orientation or party affiliation, be it Virgin Islands Party, National Democratic Party, or Peoples Patriotic Alliance. He always votes his conscience, and according to the dictates thereof. He has good friends in all the political parties, and he very much wants to keep it this way. He also very much sees the party system as here to stay. OK, enough said!
Signs of the times...?
I have to return to BVI Beacon Contributor, the intrepid Mr. Roger Harris, who has had much to say about the November 7, 2011 General Elections. And he wrote this in the November 10, 2011, edition of the Newspaper, ‘’ I guess the public has made their feelings known about the last four years. Let us hope for a new beginning, and plans to get us out of the present mess.’’ It is interesting Mr. Harris considers the Virgin Islands as presently being in a mess. Are things that bad sir? Anyway lets proceed: Mr. Harris also stated that the Bi-Water Contract, a very large commitment this country has taken on, courtesy of the former Virgin islands Party Government, ‘’ should definitely have been an open tender.’’ Roger Harris’ rendition in pen showed exactly why the VIP is today languishing in opposition in this observer’s opinion.
Another thing is this: Mr. Roger Harris appears to be in complete agreement with Mr. William Walker, another Beacon Contributor who wrote in the Thursday November 17, 2011, Edition that ‘’ the task that faces the new government is daunting’’ and ‘’ the outgoing government in all probability has left the territory in an utter mess of almost unbelievable proportions. The economy probably is a complete shambles.’’ Mr. Walker ends with his belief that ‘’ the Virgin Islands seems to be headed for disaster.’’ Mr. Walker’s article: ‘’ VI’s financial situation analyzed’’ was a shock to read, even painful. He paints a picture of a British Virgin Islands that is on the financial brink. What a thing! And I do hope he is wrong in his eloquent assessment.
Yes, four years in office in these Virgin Islands can be a very short time indeed! And Bi-Water became a metaphor for a Virgin Islands Party leadership style that failed to take the opinion of the country’s masses into account: a policy steamrollered over the wishes of a majority of Virgin Islanders.
This was a contract that could easily have been broken into pieces, given to the country’s many contractors, and put under the supervision of an expert consultant. A sharing of the pie that the Virgin Islands Party is always putting high on its supposed agenda: a keeping of the money in local pockets, so to say, but alas this was not to be the case! A select few only, were privy to the true intentions and benefits of the Bi-Water deal.
In a struggling and anemic economy, this option of sharing the contractual benefits and workload may have created jobs for many an unemployed Joe in the Virgin Islands, kept profits in the country, and to the political benefit of the incumbent. But alas, the cries of thousands of would be voters were ignored by the mighty and powerful. Seasoned Politicians who may have forgotten one caveat: an election would one day take place, and the real employer remained Jack the voter, and Jill taxpayer.
And if, as Mr. walker states, the ‘Green House Project’ is in danger of becoming a white elephant, that ‘’ the project lacks the funds necessary for completion’’ and that ‘’ there is some considerable doubt that Virgin Island farmers have the technical expertise to operate them, let alone to produce food at a price that would be acceptable to the supermarkets’’ then all Virgin islanders should be angry indeed, that this was another project not clearly thought out, and hopefully, not more millions down the sewer! Is Mr. William walker saying that the former Government failed to carry out a feasibility study? And if it did: where is the result of that study? Did the study cover the financial aspects of the project? Is the project financially feasible? These are all questions that must be answered to the satisfaction of the public.
With regard to Bi-Water, one can safely assert that had leading figures of the VIP opposed the deal, instead of staying quiet and mute, some would still be in the House today that are not. Another great concern for any member of the VIP should be that Bi-Water was not buried as an issue in the November 7, 2011, General Election, and remain a ‘dormant volcano’ just waiting to erupt in another four years. A smart political strategist could easily create a Bi-Water drumbeat in 2015 to give the Party real problems in a future General Election, and reopen old wounds with the voter. Bi-Water is an issue that could play out for years.
Nonetheless, a crucial task of the new NDP will be to bring the country together, and then win the confidence and trust of the voter: Joe Public, Taunty Maude, Miss Umi Girl, Uncle Milton, Pan Handle, Calypsonian, the man on the street: common folk who are usually weary of politicians. NDP leaders are admonished to put on a cloak of humility over the next four years and physician like, using a political stethoscope, listen to the heartbeat of the people. If the NDP truly becomes the conscience of the land, and sensitive to the concerns and even anxieties of the voter, it will be very hard to beat in four years time.
The VIP on the other hand should call a series of General Congresses over the next two years and thrash out the party’s future. Every member of that powerful political organization must be involved, and there are many rising stars in the party, including many candidates in the November 2011 general Election who sadly got caught in the strong and overwhelming tide against the VIP.
They must not be discouraged. In four years time, a new generation of leaders will be ready to take the baton from the present leadership. Members of the VIP must take the bull by the horns and turn the ‘Beast’ around. The time is now for the VIP to build for 2015: success is spelled preparation!
This is also a golden opportunity for the NDP to redress the concerns a lot of Virgin Islanders have about the direction of the BVI, especially with regard to law and order, and the poorly prioritized nature of national development, and the disheveled state of the national economic and social infrastructure.
On another level, and whether this is justified or not, there has been the view by ‘the small man,’ the ‘man on the street corner,’ that the NDP has a tendency to be ‘elitist’ and ‘detached:’ that it is the party of the ‘upper class’ and ‘cognoscenti.’ Of course this is not true, but in politics perception is everything.
The Virgin Islands Party on the other hand is today considered by many to be ‘thick skinned, ‘unwieldy,’ and unaccountable, even autocratic. And the NDP must know today that not listening to the public, and ruling by ‘fiat’ is poor politics in a modern democracy. Instead, the new party in power must rule with magnanimity and compassion: becoming the very model of compassionate leadership which one of its younger candidates, and upcoming stars, clearly made his political modus Vivendi, even though he lost his bid for power against a very powerful and overwhelmingly formidable opponent, but still losing by only a hair’s breadth.
On the other hand, let us pray that this election defeat will enable the Virgin Islands Party repair its myriad idiosyncrasies, making the Party better able and better prepared to fight for power in 2015. Effective democracy must include effective and constructive opposition to the ruling power, and that is the new task of the VIP starting immediately.
To be continued!
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