Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/3061/-1/133/
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Democracy Is No Longer Democratic by Colville Petty
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One of the better items of news in Anguilla during the past week was the announcement of a fall in the price of gasoline from $13.89 to $10.69 per gallon. The fall was contrary to the laws of economics in Anguilla, one of which says that when the price of any commodity goes up it does not come down irrespective of conditions of demand and supply. And so people everywhere are most pleased with the relief brought about by the fall. They were catching hell.
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Colville Petty
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Me too. My SUV drinks gasoline like cows drink water. When I first bought it, I find myself having to put gas in it every few days. So stupid me took it to the mechanic to see if there was a leak in the gas line. He checked it out and then told me, with a broad grin on his face: “You bought a gasoline guzzler and it goin milk yer dry.” He added that the most miles I would get per gallon are 17 but that I should not feel too badly because Quart for Duda and Concher used to get about 8 miles per gallon in those long American cars they used to drive.
Another bit of good news was that the Honourable Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming was formally re-admitted as a member of the Mount Fortune Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church of which his mother (Ta Margaret) was a founding member back in 1937. It will be recalled that it was at dedication of that church’s new building on Sunday 28th November 2004 that Osbourne announced publicly that he was returning to the Christian fold. He formally returned, just under one year later, on 26th November 2005. It was by admission on “Profession of Faith” which has the same effect as baptism by water. Pastor Danny Philip conducted the proceedings, with Pastor A. Williams saying the dedicatory prayer, in front of a packed church. Incidentally, Osbourne first became a member of that church on 23rd July 1950 when he was baptised at Savannah Bay.
Our Chief Minister is a born again Christian, a matter he takes seriously. He told Nat Hodge of The Anguillian newspaper that he had won seven elections in the last 24 years and that he was now dedicating the rest of his life to winning souls for Christ. I understand that he is very keen on winning the souls of Victor Banks (a ministerial colleague of his) and Hubert Hughes (from the Opposition). By the way, two other persons were admitted to the SDA Church on Saturday. They were Agnita and Snakey who were baptised at Sandy Hill Bay. When I heard that Snakey got baptised I said to somebody, “I am happy for Snakey, and I hope dey baptised him good.”
Having written thus, I hasten to point out that neither the fall in the price of gasoline nor the saving of souls at the Mount Fortune SDA Church, last weekend, is the focus of this column. Instead, its focus is the changing nature of our democracy.
Most western countries, including Anguilla, are regarded as liberal democracies a major characteristic of which is representative democracy and the entrenchment and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. It is a consequence of a combination of two strains of political thought: firstly, democracy which is majority rule and secondly, liberalism which refers to the existence of a political culture in which individual rights, civil and political liberties, inclusive of freedom of speech and freedom of religion, are paramount. Other main features of a liberal democracy are universal adult franchise, periodic elections and the right to organise, whether by way of trade unions or other pressure groups, to influence government policy.
The organisational framework within which liberal democracy is practised is referred to as representative democracy. It involves people voting for some among them to represent their interests in a legislative assembly. Therefore the primary function of elected officials is the representation of the interests of the people who voted them in office.
That is the theory. But the practice is much different. Globally, representative democracy is a misnomer. Democracy, which is supposed to be rule by the majority, has been replaced everywhere by rule by the few – rule by big business. This is very much the case even in the USA which is widely regarded as the world’s leading democracy. The influence of corporate business – of special interests – on the US political system is so dominant that it is often said that in the USA its people get the best government that money could buy. The same is true in the UK, perhaps to a lesser degree.
History has shown that those who control the economics – those who control the economy – control the politics. And history has proven history right. Economic power is political power and it continues to fashion the functioning of democratic systems and institutions globally. Anguilla, a mere cork floating on the ocean of global politics, is not immune to the global forces now re-shaping traditional democracy in substance and in practice.
But consider this. If big business controls the politics of big time America, the UK, France and other developed countries, then what does one expect it would do to little Anguilla whose economy is driven by foreign capital? And whose leaders and people are just learning politics having come into contact with it for the first time a mere forty years or so ago? Most certainly, one would expect big business to dominate its politics – to call the shots – for who pays the piper calls the tune. Indeed, the reality of the global political environment suggests that Anguilla, whose economy is dominated by foreign capital, is likely to become hostage of that said capital.
Anguilla’s first experiment with democracy came with the 1967 Revolution. During those early years we had a system of direct democracy (which is the highest form of democracy) in which decisions were taken by the people themselves. For example, the decision on 29th May 1967 to expel the St Kitts policemen from the island (on 30th May 1967) was taken by a show of hands at a public meeting at Burrowes Park (now Webster Park). Several subsequent major decisions were also taken directly by the people.
Later, we developed a system of representative democracy with our own elected legislature (now called the House of Assembly) and over the past 33 years we have been voting for seven representatives to go in the legislature to represent our interests. But the situation is changing. Our representative democracy is showing signs of becoming less and less representative of the people’s interest and more and more representative of that of big business. The functioning of our political institutions is being profoundly affected by the power of foreign capital, including that of trans-national corporations, whose might small islands like ours will be unable to control. As long as our economy is dominated by foreign capital – dominated by foreign interests – representative democracy as we know it will be a thing of the past.
This state of affairs did not come about overnight. And it is not the doings of any single political party or government. It is all a consequence of the development path we have chosen. In our efforts to stimulate the economy and thereby create jobs, eliminate poverty and improve the standard of living of our people, our governments spared no effort in attracting foreign capital. We clamoured long and loud for foreign investors. The investors have come. But at a price.
Anguilla is in a state of political transition and is becoming like so called democracies elsewhere. We moved from a stage of direct democracy to one of representative democracy. And today our over-dependence on foreign capital is bringing about the introduction of corporate governance – governance by big business. We are entering an era of new politics where decision-making is being gradually transferred from the hands of our local political leaders to the hands of big business. In the long run our political leaders, whether they are of the AUF, AUM, ANSA or APP, are likely to become servants of foreign capital rather than servants of the people. Right now people are waiting to see what is going to happen to Altamer’s proposal to build a yacht marina in Gull Pond. The proposal is strongly opposed by one of the major hotels and popular feeling is that the question of its approval or non-approval will be determined not by government but by big business. Let us wait and see but, surely, we are entering an era of government by big business.
Of course our system of government will continue to have all the democratic trappings. We will still have the right to vote. But which party wins will be determined to a large extent by which of them big business supports, thus the loss of our ability to choose our political leaders and to be able to influence, in any meaningful way, the course of our own development. In the long run we will be a people without power: economic or political.
Such powerlessness is likely to be exacerbated by the fact that in every democracy big business and political leaders eat at the same table and sleep in the same bed. And they are often business partners. In time to come Anguilla will be no exception. The implications of this are not good. For example, our governments will find much difficulty in protecting the interests of working class people. Why do I say that? Because most times when there is a dispute between big business and workers, governments often take the side of big business. In our case, no matter which government in power, it will find itself having to treat foreign companies with caution. It will find itself being fearful of antagonising them or ignoring their advice. Sometimes that advice will be in conflict with the best interests of our people. In this regard, Claudel Romney said a mouthful when he told the House of Assembly on 27th May 2003 that “large entities do not have a social conscience.”
A final comment. It is the failure of Anguillians to grasp the above dynamics of their new politics which prompted this commentary. They have not yet come to the realisation that in this era of globalisation, marked by the free movement of capital, Anguilla is being incorporated into a global economic and political system and that it is no longer politics as usual. When they do they will appreciate the power of economics over politics. They will appreciate how governments’ decisions are made and that we are living in an era when democracy is no longer democratic. Traditional democracy is being replaced by corporate governance.