#CaribbeanReview – Faced with changes and challenges

Today we conclude this article on 2021 Caribbean in Review. The first part was published in our December 30 edition on Pages 12 & 13 while the second part appeared on Pages 14 & 15 of this edition.

By Peter Richards

By year end, Barbadians were being informed that they would be electing a new government in the first month of the new year, after Prime Minister Mottley surprised the nation by announcing a snap election for January 19, citing among the reasons a divided population and the need to be united to face the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the main opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP), which was swept out of office in 2018 by a 30-nil margin, said: “Truly we are in the silly season – but our people are not silly.”

“In the midst of a pandemic and Omicron threatening, whilst still under a state of emergency, there is no compelling argument for an election to be called 17 months out, except to be self-serving. This is not what we expect of sound leadership,” said DLP president, Verla De Peiza.

In 2021, the Caribbean also witnessed the change of governments in the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, St. Lucia and the Bahamas, while the election petition saga continued in Guyana with respect to the March 2 regional and general election, the previous year.

In late December, the Court of Appeal by a 2-1 margin, ruled in favour of the Court having the jurisdiction, or power, to hear an appeal filed against a January decision of acting Chief Justice, Roxane George, to throw out the election petition. As on previous occasions, the matter now seems headed for the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Guyana’s highest court, in the new year.

In February, the main opposition Progressive National Party (PNP) in the Turks and Caicos Islands, secured a landslide victory when voters in the British Overseas Territory elected the party headed by businessman Charles Washington Misick to a landslide 14 to 1 victory over the incumbent People’s Democratic Movement (PDM). The PNP won nine of the ten electoral district seats and all five of the At Large seats.

Misick, 70, is a former chief minister and the brother of former premier Michael Misick. The PDM, in a major defeat, saw their leader, Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, who was elected the country’s first female premier in 2016, also losing her seat. The only successful PDM candidate was former health minister, Edwin Astwood, who won the Grand Turk South.

In April, attorney Wayne Panton was elected unopposed as Premier of the Cayman Islands, after premier Alden McLaughlin had asked Governor Martyn Roper to dissolve Parliament on February 14 in a move political observers said was to avoid a no-confidence motion against Speaker McKeeva Bush, who had received a two-month suspended jail sentence in December 2020 for assaulting a woman in February that year.

Bush was re-elected to the post of Speaker on Wednesday and told the legislators “the campaign is over, we have a tremendous responsibility before us to serve our people.”

He praised the election of Panton as head of the government, describing him as a “capable lawyer and businessman” and vowed to help him “control us for the betterment of our people.” For his part, Panton regarded the premiership as “a precious gift, so we should be forever thankful to the former premier.”

The St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) ended the five-year reign of Allen Chastanet’s United Workers Party (UWP) by winning eleven of the 17 seats that were at stake in the Parliament in the July 26 general election.

Prime Minister Phillip J. Pierre would later unveil a 13-member Cabinet that included Stephenson King, a former senior member of the last government, who contested the election as an independent candidate.

In addition, Pierre also announced that another independent candidate, Richard Frederick, who was booted out of the UWP would be part of his administration and urged St. Lucians to “journey with us on this exciting journey to improve the quality of life of the people of St. Lucia.

“It is a task that together we can achieve. Our government will listen to the people and we will always put them first. It is our pledge. I call on all men and women of goodwill to join us (and) put our country first. Our country does not belong to any individual or political party. It is ours to cherish to grow for generations (not) yet born,” Pierre said.

In November, Pierre was informing St. Lucians that the island’s debt at the end of July had amounted to EC$3.93 billion and that for the next three months it will have no access to institutional lending.

“We have found a situation where government expenses have to be financed from revenue, rollover financing, and bond financing, and treasury bills. For the last three months and before the next budget cycle begins, we have no access to institutional lending as was available to the last government,” said Pierre, who is also Finance Minister.

In the Bahamas, voters booted out Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis after one term in office and elected the opposition Free National Movement (FNM), headed by attorney Philip Davis into office in September.

Davis led the PLP to a convincing victory, winning 32 of the 39 seats reversing the 35-4 drubbing the party had suffered at the hands of the FNM in 2017. Minnis had defended his decision to call an early general election, saying he needed a new mandate to deal with the difficult times that will engulf the Bahamas in the future. “I would say to you we have some headwinds that are coming. In order to manage those headwinds that we see coming, it was essential to have a new mandate because very, very difficult decisions have to be made,” he said.

Davis, who sold himself during the campaign as a formidable leader in stark contrast to an “out of his depth” Minnis, now faces some formidable challenges in office due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its continuing health and economic impact. The country is still rebuilding from the batering it took in 2019 by Hurricane Dorian, one of the strongest Caribbean hurricanes on record, which killed at least 74 people and left many others missing.

In addition, the Ministry of Finance said that the national debt stood at US$10.356 billion at the end of June 2021, forecasting a US$951 million fiscal deficit for 2021-2022.

In Trinidad and Tobago, where the main opposition United National Congress (UNC) failed in its historic attempt to remove President Paula Mae Weekes from office, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar described as “war on our democracy” the guidelines outlined by the Speaker regarding the motion she filed to impeach the head of state.

Persad Bissessar, in an October 20 letter to the Speaker, Bridgid Annisette-George, said that she wanted to raise at least three issues “that are of critical importance” for the Speaker to consider ahead of the motion being laid before the Electoral College.

“The Opposition Members of Parliament and I must express our shock and disbelief in reading the Guidelines, in that you have directed that there shall be no debate on the Section 36 motion. This is tantamount to war on our democracy,” she said as she sought to make history in the oil rich twin-island Republic.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley had called on Persad Bissessar to withdraw the motion against President Weekes, who broke her silence on “this whole unhappy and regrettable course of events” regarding the appointment of a new Police Commissioner.

The Electoral College would later vote against the motion to remove the head of state. Some regional politicians were also hinting at riding into the sunset, while others were celebrating successes having won the leadership of their parties. Grenada’s Prime Minister,, Dr Keith Mitchell, has predicted that the next general election, scheduled there no later than June 2023, will be one of the most fascinating ones in the history of Grenada.

In addition, Mitchell, 75, who has led the ruling New National Party (NNP) to consecutive whitewash victories in the last two general elections for control of the 15-member parliament, has also indicated that the upcoming poll will most likely be his last.

“Thirty-seven years in this ball game has taught me a lot about politics, some people have to learn some serious politics, they will learn,” he said, alluding to the election of lawyer Dickon Mitchell as leader of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).

In St. Kitts-Nevis, Dr Denzil Douglas did not seek re-election as head of the main opposition St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) that is now headed by Dr Terrance Drew. Dr Douglas, 67, who led the party for the past 32 years, is a medical practitioner, who served as prime minister from 1995 to 2015. In Barbados, Opposition Leader, Bishop Joseph Atherley, welcomed a High Court ruling dismissing a constitutional challenge to his appointment, saying: “I respect anybody’s right to bring a challenge even though I see it as a nuisance action.

“I would never have approached the Governor-General about appointment to that position, even though I thought it was needful if I thought that the action could not have been properly pursued and instituted under the Constitution of Barbados,” Atherley said.

In Dominica, Opposition Leader Lennox Linton, was re-elected leader of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP). Linton, who has been in the position since 2013, when he replaced former prime minister, Edison James, was re-elected unopposed at the party’s annual delegates conference which was held in four different locations on the island due to the restrictions posed by COVID-19.

In 2021, the opposition in Dominica would have been buoyed by the ruling of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) that dismissed an appeal filed by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and other Dominica Labour Party (DLP) candidates who were successful in the 2014 general elections, reinstating complaints filed against them for the charge of treating.

Treating refers to directly or indirectly providing food, drink or entertainment to a person, during or after an election, with the aim of corruptly influencing that person’s vote. The law in Dominica is that a person convicted of treating is disqualified from sitting in the House of Assembly and cannot run for elections for seven years. The ruling holds implications for Caribbean politics.

Three members of the UWP, who had been defeated in the December 8, 2014 polls, alleged that Skerrit and the other elected DLP members committed the offence, contrary to section 56 of the House of Assembly (Elections) Act, by hosting two free public concerts in Roseau before the elections.

Less than three months after Shyne Barrow was sworn in as Opposition Leader in Belize, replacing former education minister, Patrick Faber, the former government has returned to the position.

In a statement, Barrow thanked the United Democratic Party (UDP), opposition Parliamentary Caucus, as well as its shadow cabinet, for the support that was given during his brief time in office.

There was no such drama regarding the election of Belizean diplomat, Dr Carla Barnett, who in August was installed as the eighth Secretary General of CARICOM, the first woman ever elected to that post. She immediately indicated that she had no misapprehensions about the severity of the challenges that the 15-member grouping faces economically, socially, environmentally, and financially.

“As I assume this office today, I approach my task with a willingness to listen and to share; with goodwill towards all and malice towards none. I am here to serve, to advance the interests of the governments and peoples of the Caribbean Community and I will do so to the best of my ability.”

One month later, Dr Barnett was part of the first ever Africa-CARICOM summit held virtually and ending with an acknowledgement of the need for closer socio-economic relations as well as establishing the infrastructure that would allow for the greater movement of people from the two regions towards each other.

Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, who co-chaired the summit that was addressed by a number of African and CARICOM leaders, described the near four-hour deliberations as a “very successful summit”. It was held under the theme “Unity Across Continents and Oceans: Opportunities for Deepening Integration”.

“This summit has laid a firm foundation on which to build strong political, cultural and social economic cooperation for all people of African descent. This summit has provided a platform to envision a future anchored on shared prosperity for our two regions and in this context, we have had a productive discussion on the key pillars of this shared vision,” Kenyatta told the
closing ceremony.

In 2021, the Caribbean again sought to make its voice heard on the issue of climate change. Prime Minister Mia Mottley used the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, which her country hosted as well as the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26) in Glasgow, to scold the international community for imposing a number of problems ranging from climate change to debt repayment on small island developing states (SIDS) as she reiterated her call for a more just and equitable global society in the future.

“I say so, conscious that the political will that is now necessary for you to be successful has to be lined up and marshalled. We hope that this conference, along with the other activities that are due to happen later this year, COP 26 in Glasgow, as well as the WTO (World Trade Organization) ministerial, will give us an opportunity to be able to ensure that those issues that regrettably have been on the table for too long can literally be moved ahead,” Mottley said.

In April, a major natural disaster occurred with the eruption of the La Soufrière Volcano on St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It uprooted one-fifth of the population, made one-third of the country uninhabitable and destroyed a significant percentage of its agriculture. Ashfall affected neighbouring islands, prompting the shutdown of the airport in Barbados. Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada and St Lucia all agreed to take in evacuees from the areas made uninhabitable by the volcano.

On August 14, Haiti was rocked by a powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2, killing more than 2, 000 people and triggering catastrophic damage in the south west of the country, causing extensive damage to infrastructure. Politicians were literally on the receiving end of blows, with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Gonsalves having to be flown to Barbados for medical treatment as protests turned violent over the mandatory policy of front-line workers having to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic. Gonsalves said both common law and statute laws allow for a Member of Parliament to have the right of “unhindered access” to, and egress from, Parliament and its precincts.

“I, for one, will never allow the crazies and their fellow-travellers to hinder or impede my access to Parliament. I will walk again, as I did on August 5th, if needs be. And let the silly ones blame the victim in his exercise of his rights,” Gonsalves added.

Despite their political differences and public spats, Prime Minister Gonsalves would, towards the end of the year, say that there had been mutual respect between him and former prime minister, Sir James Mitchell, who died, aged 90.

“We clashed many a time in public, on the platforms, in Parliament, but both of us had great respect for each other,” Gonsalves said of Sir James, the country’s second prime minister. He died on November 23, and had been the last surviving parliamentarian of those who served when the island gained political independence from Britain on October 27, 1979.

In 2021, the region also bade farewell to Sir Lester Bird, the second Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, who served from 1994 to 2004, former deputy prime minister of Grenada, Elvin Nimrod as well as the former Barbados attorney general, Sir Maurice King. Grenada also lost its former Governor-General, Sir Carlyle Glean.

Dominica’s first prime minister, Patrick Roland John, who unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the Eugenia Charles government in 1980 with the assistance of foreign mercenaries, died in hospital. He had served as head of government from 1974 until his own removal from office in a popular uprising in 1980. Yasin Abu Bakr, the leader of the Islamist group, Jamaat al Muslimeen, that staged an unsuccessful coup against the then Trinidad and Tobago government in 1990, passed away in hospital after collapsing at his home on October 22.

The region also lost several media personalities, including Trinidadians Alwyn Chow, the former managing director of the Trinidad Guardian newspaper, sportscaster Anthony Harford; former Newsday assistant sports editor, George Baptiste; journalist Errol Pilgrim and the Gospel radio announcer, Jaime Thomas; the former director of Information in Guyana, Imran Khan; Namela Henry; Colin Smith as well as Jamaican Michael Sharpe, journalist and former Television Jamaica (TVJ) news anchor; St. Lucians Valerie Albert- Fevriere, the managing director of Helen Television Service (HTS) and Alex Bousquet, the Dominican journalist and publisher, Parry Bellot and sports announcer, Joseph Thomas. Radio personality, Randy ‘D’ Dopwell as well as Javelle Frank, announcers at the state-owned NBC Radio in St. Vincent and and the Grenadines. Van Johnson, the founder of The Punch tabloid in the Bahamas, died after suffering a heart attack.

The Bahamas Press Club paid tribute to “a noted Bahamian son, Sir Edward Charles Carter,” whose career ran the gamut from a radio announcer and television personality to the House of Parliament, and the Cabinet to newspaper publisher, and radio station owner.

In the area of arts and entertainment, the region bade farewell to Montserrat’s playwright, David Edgecombe; the St. Lucian cultural icon and sculptor, Arthur Léandre Fédave “Jakes” Jacobs; Trinidadian Rapso singer, Brother Resistance; and Jamaican Robert “Robbie” Shakespeare, the bass guitarist best known as half of the reggae and dub duo Sly and Robbie.

Jamaica also suffered the loss of Rudolph “Garth” Dennis, a founding member of the Black Uhuru and The Wailing Souls groups. Dominica said farewell to Normal “Stumpy” Dorival, a long-standing member of the Swinging Stars. Trinidad and Tobago lost steel pan pioneer, Anthony “Tony” Williams, at the age of 90, while Belize mourned the death of cultural icon and Creole culture advocate, Myrna Manzanares.

Other deaths recorded during the year were that of Pauline Knight, the wife of Jamaican attorney-at-law and former government minister KD Knight, the Dominican political activist and educator, Dr William “Para” Riviere, and the veteran Dominican and regional trade unionist, Kertist Augustus.

The immediate past president of the Jamaica Table Tennis Association (JTTA) Godfrey Lothian and former Jamaica, Cavalier and Santos football legend William “Roy” Welch also died in 2021.

(CMC)