News from the Turks and Caicos Islands for
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Letter: It is a matter of legitimacy; isn't it?
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| Published on Saturday, November 7, 2009 |
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Dear Sir:
I am rather flattered that there is going on around in the web-media and in the local media that I am part of a group of persons who wrote relentlessly to the Foreign Affairs Committee to have the Commission of Enquiry started and to remove what they call a “legitimately” elected government.
One cannot retry the 2003 election cases, second guess the 2003 by-elections, accurately deal with the 2007 general elections at this time, except to say that something fundamentally went wrong.
Suffice it to say that the late governor James Poston privately agitated for a Commission of Enquiry and sought political cover had he proceeded on his own initiative in 2004. The Foreign Affairs Committee did visit last summer and they found a palpable climate of fear in the TCI. A commission was installed, bank accounts, secrets, deals were all revealed and the process began in July 2008. After a few weeks of public hearings, admissions made by ministers, the matter of legitimacy arose again and Ministers admitted to far more than anyone in the official opposition could ever imagine. It may be safely concluded that if the government had any legitimacy that this concept was lost a long time ago and the British Government had a duty to the people of the TCI to remove the former government.
May I say also that I have done my part and I have indeed directed my letters to the Governor’s Office, the foreign affairs Committee, the tcijournal, the Tcweeklynews news, but never to the Punch in the Bahamas? I have no communication with that publication, but I am sorry for the oversight in restricting my freedom of speech in that regard.
I want to deal with a few points on the matter of legitimacy but I must thank Mr Shaun Malcolm, Oswald Skippings, Mr Finbar Grant, Mr Arthur Robinson, Clarence Selver, who joined the PDM Leader the Hon Floyd Seymour in London to formally request the commission. Thanks must also go to all those mentioned as being part of the removal of the no-longer legitimate Government: the TCweekly News, the tcijournal, Carl Simmons, Shaun Malcolm, Richard Berke, Carl Cimmons, Drexwell Seymour, Albray Butterfield, Oswald Skippings, Carlos Simons, Blythe Duncanson, Wendall Swann, Anthony Hall,
Many thanks. Job well done! This was carrying out the legitimate role of public stakeholders in a democracy especially when all systems of Government failed to work and the House Committees could not be appointed to investigate the Government on the people’s behalf. People concluded a long-time ago that some of the Ministers were working for themselves and not for the people.
Finally certain Ministers did admit to corruption and could not explain loans, land deals and other questionable activity. What we did was law enforcement. Ironically the people of the TCI can now be empowered under this interim Government.
Further matters to consider:
The former Government had already indicated that students would be asked to pay half of their university fees while ministers continued to waste and do the things that they admitted to at the Public Hearings of the Commission.
Ministers took bribes disguised as loans which influenced public policy in a negative way and to the detriment of the people of the TCI.
Public lands were given to ministers at one-tenth the market value so that the Treasury was depleted reducing funds available to the people of the TCI.
Lands sold from the Crown, in cases, though not all, were used to have fun and not build , thus the end result in some cases, was not “empowerment.”
The health care matter was not brought to the people prior to the general election of 2007 except billboards, photo, the public is being asked to pay and no one yet knows the real cost. The true cost, the agreement, the contract, the debenture must be revealed to the public.
There was enacted and practiced a labour and immigration policy that discriminated against the people who lived in the TCI. Belongers are still being marginalized. By the way the interim Government is clamping down on work permits.
The points mentioned above all strike at the matter of legitimacy and the interim government is a turning point. There remains the need to continue with turning the country around and enacting legislation that would fine Ministers in the millions and not low figures passed by the former Government in the ant-corruption law. Election reform is critical and there are a number of reforms which are required that the former Government refused to enact on the people’s behalf. The public is debating the taxes by the Interim government and the fact is Turks & Caicos Islanders can now debate these issues and not worry about recrimination from an offended minister. There is raging debate over the health care scheme and people are free to disagree and demand its review to find the true cost.
These are hurdles the interim Government must face today. While there may be disagreement on policy issues, there should be, I support the interim government and I must thank the letter writer for the flattery but the credit of having the former Government removed , as I said earlier must go to others as well. The removal of the former government was an entirely legitimate and much needed exercise and was provided for in the Constitution. It brought stability to the islands and the people must unite to confront the issues that were left behind.
Robert d'Arceuil | | | | Reads : 502 |
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