#BTColumn – Barbadians mustn’t be disenfranchised

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by Glyne Murray

Barbados’ first Universal Adult Suffrage General Election of December 13, 1951, which I witnessed and experienced as a recent eight-year-old, was indisputably the most profound, mind-altering and mood-changing period of my early life.

So much so, that 70 years later I can still vividly recall Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader (Sir) Grantley Adams passionately and, for someone so young, clearly outlining how such an historic development would give true meaning and substance to Emancipation in 1838 by giving ordinary Barbadians the right to vote and the practical power to create better conditions in all areas of life.

Hence why I have always regarded that milestone of democracy as being exceedingly close to being sacred in our secular way of life.

That is why intellectually and emotionally I am still struggling to understand, far less accept, how the BLP could knowingly or unintentionally do anything that would deprive the public of the right to vote without first convincing the nation that everything imaginable had been done to avoid disenfranchising even one voter of the chance to vote which, according to the BLP itself, had been valiantly fought for by Adams and others in and out of the party.

And this state of strong angst which seems to be shared by many others in the society by the very strong prospect of thousands being denied the right to vote in the General Election of January 19, through having contracted COVID-19 and therefore through no fault of their own.

Especially when all that has been said and done so far by the Electoral and Boundaries Commission (EBC), the agency mandated by law to organise, conduct and manage all elections in Barbados, has not demonstrated that detailed, thorough and farsighted thought that would be necessary to lead to first class, nay world class, staging of free, fair and democratic elections.

What makes this unsatisfactory state of affairs embarrassingly ironic is that hitherto Barbados had been routinely held up as a model for the execution of democratic elections, to the extent that over the years this nation had been selected to provide expert election observers to such exercises all over the world.

Added to that, Barbadians are not accustomed to having to subject the EBC to such close and critical attention and comment over policy decisions. But then again the national environment within which this election is being held because of the protracted and pervasive nature of the pandemic has created the need for out of the ordinary thinking and decision-making.

But while it must be borne in mind that while the EBC is said to be an “independent” body operationally through professional public servants, it is overseen by a political body of commissioners, three of whom are provided by the government of the day and two by the opposition.

Despite this political mix, over the years the EBC has had a reputation and tradition of compromise and cooperation in the best interest of our democracy. So far there is nothing publicly known to make me think that the present commission has been doing otherwise.

Nevertheless, it would be useful to remember that the EBC is just another government department overseen by a minister and falling under the Prime Minister’s Office since incumbent Prime Ministers have always had the sole authority and power to decide on the timing of elections, both general and by- in nature.

And since authority and power naturally, fairly and logically would be accompanied by responsibility, as a former political “insider” at various levels over many years, I am well aware of Prime Ministers, as Ministers responsible for electoral matters, getting the EBC to get itself operationally ready.

From the less than impressive presentations made by the EBC so far on the matter of how to deal with otherwise eligible voters who are in quarantine and isolation come election day, I am far from convinced that this unique situation had been given the quality of forward planning it requires and deserves in light of the fact that such a scenario was a very real possibility and probability with the pandemic persisting and general elections getting nearer and nearer.

What is more, the EBC would not have had to reinvent the policy wheel but merely look to see how other jurisdictions in the region and elsewhere have managed that situation, of course suitably adapted to the uniqueness of our political culture.

The EBC and the Prime Minister’s Office still have lots of time to prevent people from being needlessly disenfranchised just more than a month marking the 70th anniversary of the catalyst that made our growth and development possible including republic status.

A single case of avoidable disenfranchisement will be one too many and an insult to a proud and hard-fought-for part of our intangible heritage that far surpasses tangible freedom parks and walls of names.

Glyne Murray is a former Cabinet Minister, diplomat and journalist.