CATEGORY:COMMENTARY --------------------- INSIDE GRENADA SUNDAY October 14,2007 by Lloyd Noel As we look at the political scenario around and among us in the region, it is not difficult to associate the happenings with those of the wildfires that haunt the people in the Californian district of the U.S.A. It seems as though once an incident takes place, or raise its ugly head in T&T - we can be assured that something similar, if not identical, will follow suit in the Spice Isles. And this is so, even when the situations that spark the political rumblings or upheavals are no way nearly similar - except that they involve politicians. From very early this year, as the heat surrounding General Elections in T&T began to get hotter - what looked like a natural change-over of Leadership in the opposition UNC, from Panday to Dookeran, suddenly started to falter and resulted in two parties. And now that the Election date (5th November) is just around the corner, we are hearing half-hearted calls for opposition unity from Panday - to ensure a Victory over the PNM of Patrick Manning, whose administration has failed miserably with the Crime escalation. But it is as though these guys who offer themselves to the people as the liberators of the oppressed and under-privileged - they are much more adept at proving their expertise of the political modern dance of “one step forward and two steps backwards”. So that by the time Election Day comes around, they are so far behind that it is more a case of them losing sight of the needed majority, rather than the other side winning at the Polls. And even the PNM side that looked settled up until very recently, they have started to hiccup by embarking on what the political leader and Prime Minister calls - “the wind of change to face the future with new blood”. I suppose the latter is seeing the much open disorganization and disunity among the main opposition forces, that he must feel he can flex his muscles and get away with it at the polls. And this is so, although the Polls are showing that the people of T&T deeply want a change from the chaotic and frightening Criminal activities that are daily escalating - rather than in anyway diminishing. And while all are watching the build-up to November 5th - 07, and waiting to see how the people will decide their nation’s fate for another five years or so - the Tribunal appointed to inquire into the allegations of Judicial impropriety against suspended C.J. Sharma, it has completed the hearing in T&T and the three Commissioners have gone off to their respective countries to work on the report to be handed to the T&T President in due course. The happenings in T&T always have some effect on what happens in our Tri-Island State, whether it is because it has been said that half of the population of T&T have Grenadian roots, or simply because we are so close and tend to interact more than other States in the region; it matters not, but it happens anyway. And as we are waiting to get on the Election campaign trail here in Grenada, we seem to be again following the T&T trend among our Opposition parties. The GULP has been undergoing some problems with changes among its executive, and in particular on the issue of the choice of Political Leader, and how that office was filled by the constituency party delegates. The conflict is clearly not helping the cause of the Labour party, in its drive to revive the hey-days of the longest serving party in the State. And unless the two sides can amicably resolve their differences, and present a united front to the people in an Election setting - they would make no difference to what will take place at the polls when d-day comes around. But quite out of the blue, the other opposition party of the PLM - headed by Dr. Francis Alexis - has suddenly hit the headlines with Five Executive members resignations in the space of three or four weeks. As the Deputy Political Leader, Mr. Bernard Jones, was saying in his statement to the press about his reasons for quitting the party - even if we do not agree with what someone has said on any subject, we should at least respect the persons democratic right to speak out. The impasse arose from statements made by Dr. Terrence Marryshow, the then party chairman, in an article he wrote in Spice Isle Review newspaper, of which Mr. Jones is the Editor, and in which he criticized Justice Belle and the Chief Justice Brian Alleyne - for what he termed “a set up” in the re-sentencing matter of the Grenada Thirteen of Richmond Hill, for the 1983 October killings on the fort. Apparently the Political Leader, Dr. Alexis, raised the matter at an Executive meeting of the party - because he felt that Dr. Marryshow had gone much too far with his criticisms. From what I gather in the reports I have seen, the Party Chairman was given the opportunity to retract the statement, because if left as written it could be interpreted as being the position of the PLM - my interpretation.The Chairman refused to retract and instead he tendered his resignation from the PLM. In support, it seems, of the Chairman’s right to stand by his statement - Mr. Jones, Mr. Bullen, and two other un-named Executive members also tendered their resignations, and all resignations were accepted by the Party Leader. As Dr. Alexis put it in a statement to the press, it is their democratic right to resign and so be it - the PLM goes on. The bigger picture, in my opinion, is not simply the democratic right to criticize anyone, or to exercise the freedom of speech - but the principle surrounding what you are saying, against whom you are saying it, and the probable impact of your statement because of who you are. An unknown chap in a rum shop in any village, or a bar in town, saying that a Judge thief or was bias for one side against the other in any conflict - would not be noticed. But the Chairman of a Political party, that is vying to contest Elections, in the hope of winning so as to be responsible for running the affairs of the State - cannot, and must not, be heard to be making the Statements made by the ex-Chairman of the PLM. The situation is no different from that involving the Special Legal Advisor to Government, Hugh Wildman, when he went to the press ranting and raving about the Judiciary whose grubby fingers - are dis-colouring Justice against the AG and Government. That is why the Bar Association is insisting that Wildman should be disciplined, one way or another - but then again, his boss and Political Leader is so different from the PLM Political Leader, Dr. Francis Alexis, that it is like seeking to move mountains by wishful thinking. So here we have two of the parties in opposition to the Government of the day, already in some dis-array at the Leadership level - although the Election date is still some months away. It is to be hoped, that the malaise do not spread to the other remaining official opposition party (NDC), in the run up to that date of political salvation for Grenada and Grenadians as a whole. And talking about lessons to be learnt from happenings around us - the breach of Contract between the Stadium Management Committee and Q west Promotions of Gouyave, is another classic that deserves keen attention. The Government appointed the Committee to manage the Stadium and generate finance to maintain the facility - and after doing just that in their very first attempt, the Minister of sport goes on T/V, looking up to the heavens because he could not face the Cameras, and purported to confess that it was his fault for not detailing the Committee’s mandate and the Government’s policy to the members. Jah Rasta for I, Allah, Yahwey, the great “I am” - when will it ever come to an end and we can return to some semblance of transparency and normalcy in Government? It seems that no sooner one issue of scandal or embarrassment is disclosed and passes by - another is already waiting in the wings to enter centre state. And as though nothing that is said, or done in those disclosures, make any difference - the powers-that-be go on as if all is normal, and the people are only getting what they deserve. Maybe they are right - and the people will only get a better standard of service when they rise up and take steps to change the Servants that have become the masters. And while we all are waiting by the road sides, wringing our hands in the hope of salvation - we should start getting ready for the on set of VAT, that has been put off again for next year sometime. That tax, when it does come, will increase prices in the shops overnight - because it will be added to the landed price of goods at the Customs, and importers have to add their mark-up to make a profit. But what is more relevant at this stage - is what is happening about the CSME regime that has been in operation for sometime now. There seems to be a deathly silence about that system, and the effect it is having on revenue collection and the cost of living. But no one should be mis-led into thinking we are escaping - because when the new property Tax Assessment figures are eventually published, the message will be loud and clear. In the meantime things are happening here at home and in the region around us - the big question is, are we learning any lessons from those happenings?