Posted by It’s all over – for now. Elizabeth Windsor remains queen of St Vincent and the Grenadines, The Privy Council in England is still our final appellate court, we shall retain our hybridized version of the first past the post electoral system et cetera et cetera…and tragedy of tragedies, we are still saddled with the Constitution handed to us by our colonial masters in 1979! Well, the people of Hairouna have spoken in clear tones and it’s a resounding rejection of the “magnificent project of constitution remaking, fashioned by our people.”
The ‘YES” managed a mere 43.12% of the votes polled in the referendum to 55.64 % in favour of the ‘NO’ or 22, 493 to 29,019.
As I had intimated in my previous note, it’s not just the Constitution Bill 2009 that was at stake here. In fact, I could have told them, having taken the temperature on the ground, that this vote was going to be a verdict on the governance of Prime Minister Gonsalves; but gazing as they were through those heavily tinted ‘YES’ lenses they would not have seen the writing all over the walls of porches and living rooms and wherever people met in small groups to talk–across the nation (not on the posters and fancy billboards!)
Now the fact that even had the Brits left the requirement at 50% the Bill would still have been defeated today speaks volumes. I can’t say I know for sure all that the people are signalling to the political leaders, but one thing I do know for certain is that this was a ‘national election’ and they had better study well the lessons from this experience.
Maybe after this we will have less arrogance in our politics, especially when we stare at the stark reality and realize that had this been THE GENERAL ELECTION, the government side would have salvaged only a pitiful two seats in the House of Assembly. Imagine that! After spending such vast sums to run what was in reality an election campaign. As my mother would say, “Let no ghost fool you.”The the ULP always knew this was more than a Referendum and they played it that way…and so too did the NDP. But somebody forgot about the key players in this game — the voters. They were clamouring for change of a different kind and all the money in the treasury, from Caracas, Taipei, Tripoli and who knows where else was not enough to sway them. …
And while the NDP will see it as a big victory, let them not take full credit for it. After all, many of the relevant issues raised by the party officials and spokespersons were not necessarily those that resonated with the ‘NO’ voters. In this regard, I must BIG UP and say NUFF RESPECT to Mrs Anesia Baptiste, the much maligned in some quarters and equally warmly embraced in others. She it was who first opened my eyes to much of what later became the critical issues of the day as far as the reconditioned constitutional was concerned. She must feel vindicated after all the insults she endured and all the efforts she expended in ensuring that even what many called the voice of the minority was heard..
I hope and pray that my Prime Minister will still be talking healing and reconciliation even after this sound spanking. Obviously the
Paulette A Williams
Busy Signal encore is off and we will not be having a public holiday on Monday, and I hope nobody is thinking of calling back for the pre-vote goodies! And those ‘men of the cloth’ who seemed to have sacrificed their principles on the altar of political expediency, how will they now face their flocks?
Undoubtedly, there is going to have to be a lot of soul searching all around and I trust that whatever comes out of that process will be to the benefit of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The people are saying, “Stop playing us we are sick of it. Stop treating us like infantile airheads – alternately dishing out disdain and dainties in the hope that in our perceived state of partisan intoxication we will not be able to tell the difference. Stop educating us while telling us not to think. Stop making us poor so you can love us more. Stop intimidating us and walking over us then silencing us if we speak out ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! As we move forward as a people with bright hopes and great expectations, may we demand decency, respect and the highest levels of probity from our elected officials and from ourselves. Today has brought us to a good place to start over.
