Commentary On Unifying The Country - 3 March 2010

Despite an unusually long campaign extended by the litigation over (thankfully) aborted constituency boundary changes and despite the extreme tension over that issue and despite the usual exaggerations and hostile tone of the campaign on all sides, the 2010 elections passed peacefully. For this maturity our people deserve real credit. There are lingering disputes which will no doubt make their way through the Courts and likewise hopefully be resolved peacefully.

We must not forget the most critical lesson of the last few months that is the role and power and importance of the court in the resolution of electoral and other legal disputes. Thank God for the independence and strength of our judiciary if not we may have been picking up the pieces of our beloved country. Let us do everything possible to maintain that independence and to foster respect from all for our court system. The court is the interpreter of our constitution and laws, the guardian and enforcer of our fundamental rights, the buffer between state and citizen and peacemaker between  citizens.

As we focus forward it is pleasing to hear the Prime Minister pledge himself to unifying the country. He has taken one tangible step by appointing as Attorney General an elected representative of a Nevis party. As the Prime Minister no doubt ponders his next moves in this regard I would like to suggest that the country engage all of the country’s leaders in a debate on the subject. In this commentary I proffer my views. The Prime Minister should in my humble opinion begin by addressing the abnormally divisive  politics which is practiced in St. Kitts. This will require a herculean effort but is doable if the fundamentally divisive issues are frontally and genuinely addressed. If the leaders lead the way I am sure that our people will follow.

The first of the divisive issues is our Constitution and particularly the peculiar federal system that was established at independence to suit the parties in power at the time. The last report on this by the Constitution Task Force headed by Sir Fred Phillips is now 10 years old. It needs to be dusted off and addressed anew. This issue lies at the heart of the second issue which should be addressed and that is our electoral system. That system was devised in 1984. It brought continuous voter registration which was a good thing but it also brought the overseas vote without carefully incorporating that phenomenon into the constituency system. A free for all was the result which was not fully corrected in 2006 and haunts us to this day. It will continue to haunt us unless and until we take the logical step of doing away with constituencies and moving to proportional representation. The alternative of removing the overseas vote is hardly practical at this stage, the horse having long bolted. 

Proportional representation would also make redundant the Electoral Boundaries Commission which was misconceived in having a preponderance of elected representatives. It is irrefutably a recipe for  gerrymandering.

Another badly needed reform is the introduction of legislation to require compulsory disclosure by political parties of the names of persons and entities which fund their political campaigns and the amounts so provided. One of the fundamental principles of our democracy is that money should not buy political power. That is why we have one man one vote. We have reached the stage here and throughout the Caribbean that massive amounts of money are being spent on election campaigns. This is not healthy because such funding often comes with strings attached or with a cost. The politicians do not pay that cost, often the country does. Hence its citizens should have the right to know who is providing the money. This is not a new concept and is practiced in many democracies. It may be an  unconstitutional fetter on the right of free speech to limit the amounts of contributions but I am certain that there is no constitutional impediment to a requirement for disclosure.

There are other ways of reducing political tensions or the political tribalism which everyone acknowledges as bedeviling us. For example greater transparency in the employment of public servants, in the award of government contracts and in the distribution of government housing and other goods and services. I trust that the Prime Minister will in the public sector reform which he has assumed as Minister of Human Resource Development be contemplating such measures which again are common in other democracies.

It would also certainly help to ease political tensions if the politicians were to start talking to and with each other instead of at each other. This happens close by in neighbouring Antigua and in Barbados. Why not here? 

Finally we must guard against the development of a culture of worship of our politicians. Worship should be reserved for God. We can admire and wholeheartedly support men but democracy suffers when that becomes worship. It is in the nature of politics, and the political spin is intended to create the image, that a politician is infallible. Mistakes are never admitted but they are made, by all men and women. The people should never lose the ability to recognize these mistakes on all sides and to vocalize them.  Likewise, demonisation of opponents is too prevalent and dangerous. Speech is free but it should not be irresponsible. The media should lead by encouraging responsible comment and criticism not vulgar abuse and demonisation. There is often a fine line but a mature society learns to recognize the difference. We have a long way to go on this. 

I hope I have given some food for thought. We need a new and fresh political culture if we wish to achieve our national potential which far exceeds our physical size and the number of our citizens. Many people outside admire our progress as a small nation and the quality of life which we have been able to achieve. But they find it difficult to understand how so many of our people hate each other so much over politics. Let us not wait for the next election or the next generation to change this. Let us remove all the remaining election signs and paraphanelia and commit to advancing and improving our democratic governance and practices.