I can hardly wait for Carnival 2005. It goin be great. Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming (Bunton) seems hell bent on entering the local Calypso Monarch Competition. The boys say he goin sing under the name of the Mighty Bunton. I will not miss that show for the world. I understand his backup vocalists will include Bee, Shirley, Hot Shot-Olive and Edith.

What has put our Chief Minister up to this is the heavy lashing his Government got from the calypsonians during this year’s carnival. He and Victor Banks are very much displeased and feel that the calypsonians had put the Government in bad light. They said that much at a meeting of the House of Assembly on Friday 13th August when Osbourne expressed a desire to enter the competition to sing about the good things his Government has being doing.

I do not know how well he could sing now but in his young days in the SDA Church he was good at it. I remember him, during Morning Watch, singing:

Face to face shall I behold Him,
He alone may glorify, Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by!

Whether Osbourne will see Him or not is an entirely personal matter, but what I know for sure is that he will never see the Local Calypso Monarch crown on his head. I only hope that Harold gets him to change his mind.

It is true that this year, more than any other, the calypsos were heavy with politics. After all general elections are constitutionally due in the next few months and therefore most of the calypsonians used the opportunity to give vent to their feelings. They attacked the Government on all fronts including the golf course project, legislators’ pensions and the rising crime situation. Even newcomer De Adjudicator threw in her two pence with How Do You Plead? She asked:

But isn’t it also true
That only just a few
An elitist minority
Reaping the booty
While de vast majority
Scrunt and struggle daily?

But if the Chief Minister thinks he and his Government got a licking from the calypsonians he should have been at the AUM meeting at the old East School on Thursday evening 2nd September. Hubert Hughes and his boys vomited all over them.

Most of the speakers bragged that under Hubert’s Government, Anguilla’s economy grew by some 8%. Regrettably, they said, it had gone into a depression under the stewardship of the United Front. How come? According to Davis Smith, the UF Government “is made up of architects of poverty.” And what is the evidence? Listen to Evan Gumbs: “Under [Osbourne’s] leadership we are next to Haiti and Dominica” in terms of the level of poverty. Then George Hodge (Teacher George): The people “are losing houses. They are losing vehicles and they say, in some cases, some people are losing even virginity. They are becoming prostitutes . . .” He added that conditions in Anguilla were so bad that, “many a dog is having a much better life, than many a man and his wife.”

Evan made ridicule of Osbourne’s remarks, of some three years ago, that there was light at the end of the tunnel. His message to Osbourne was: “We are waiting for your light in the tunnel for too long . . . In order for the tunnel to be lit we need a new bulb. Mr Chief Minister, you are a blown bulb . . . You can’t light anymore. So step aside and make room for a new bulb.”

He went on: “We will light your tunnel for you. We have five new bulbs and one old experienced long-lasting florescent bulb,” a reference to the AUM’s five candidates contesting the upcoming elections. He said, of the long-lasting florescent bulb, Hubert: “His lampshade is clean. He is not corrupt.”

Because the meeting was in Osbourne’s home territory, the AUM sought to show that for all the years he was in office he did nothing for District 2 (East End). He neglected it. Evan caused much laughter when he said that, “If Columbus was to come back he would remember East End” because it has not changed since those times.

Haydn Hughes endorsed those sentiments. He observed: “When I survey East End . . . I look at an area that has been neglected by its representative. I look at an area that has suffered from the lack of economic opportunities. The infrastructure is poor, the roads are of a poor quality, the job opportunities are poor, the investment from the outside is poor but the representative is rich.”

People have criticised Osbourne along those lines before, but what some of his supporters have been saying is that wherever he could find a job vacancy he fills it with somebody from East End. Take for example, they say, the ANGLEC Board. Six of its eight members came from East End. Then the Tourism Board. Four of its seven members are from East End.

A matter that appears to cause the AUM much concern is the union between Bunton (Osbourrne) and Victor Banks. Evan was heavy on this. By the way, do not take quiet, Christian Evan by his looks. He is throwing some heavy fire at the UF. In portraying Bunton (Osbourrne) and Victor Banks as bad news for Anguilla, he warned:

Be aware
The Killer Bs are here.

He told his listeners that the Killer Bs “sucked out all of Mr [Ronald] Webster’s pollen and left him there to wither. They not only sucked his pollen but they gave him the political sting of death.” He said that the “two Killer Bs must be eradicated politically” because “all they are doing is making their own honey and making the people of Anguilla suck salt.”

Evan also referred to them as the “Siamese Twins” and warned: “The people of District 2 and the people of District 4 will be your surgeon on Election Day! And we will separate you! And we will leave you on the operation table to die politically! Just like you kill the Anguilla National Alliance and you kill the Anguilla Democratic Party we will kill you too!”

As regards the leadership debate with which the UF is presently confronted, Hubert remarked that there was “no clear leadership going in the next election.” He explained: “You have a man who carries the name as Chief Minister and you have another one who pretends that he is the real Chief Minister . . . [Victor Banks] who should never be Chief Minister of this island is claiming that he is fed up of doing Osbourne Fleming’s job so he wants the job for himself.” Hubert added, “The Chief Minister is saying he cannot risk Anguilla with his Minister of Finance so you know that Anguilla is in turmoil because the leadership is in turmoil.”

There is no doubt that the Chief Minister issue is bound to be a divisive one for the UF. How it will pan out is anybody’s guess but what I do know is that Osbourne is under tremendous pressure not to give way to Victor. His supporters are determined to end his political career if he does.
Also determined to end it is the AUM, but for different reasons mainly poor performance. In the words of Teacher George: “The Chief Minister has made too many mistakes. He has outlived his time in office” and “it’s time to call it George!” He told Osbourne that he “must take the blame and the shame” and demit office. Evan chimed in: “You have expired . . . I want the people of District 2 to put you on one of Mr Petty’s shelves over at the museum with the old antiques.”

Notwithstanding that, in the event of an UF victory, Hubert would prefer to see Osbourne, rather than Victor, as Chief Minister. He despises Victor whom he once said (1999), “Has a good scent of money.” His dislike for him came across at the East End meeting when he was commenting on Neil Rogers’ candidacy for the Valley North seat. Hubert said that one of the “two issues” he had with Neil was that “he supports Victor Banks and anybody who supports Victor Banks does not like Anguilla.”

Hubert is convinced that he and his AUM love Anguilla and are capable of providing the quality leadership it needs. In making the case why the AUM should be elected to office, he told his listeners at East End that it was the party of the ordinary people. The Anguillian people, he said, had “only two choices” in the upcoming elections: “You either vote with the privilege party [the UF] . . . that looks after the big corporate boys, with the big money, . . . who want to own everything on the island, or you vote for the party of the people – the Anguilla United Movement.”

Despite the AUM’s charges, the UF feels that it has the leadership Anguilla needs. And I understand that it is not prepared to allow the AUM’s accusations against it to go unchallenged. And, according to one of its supporters, it will be mounting a campaign against the AUM which will make the Iraq war look like child’s play. The UF, they say, plans to highlight the extension of the Wallblake Airport and the building of the Golf Course project as two developmental showpieces with immense potential for the future development of the island. The roads programme, including the Jeremiah Gumbs Highway, is also high on its lists of achievements during its tenure in office.

Surely, election time is an open season for claims and counterclaims. For charges and countercharges. It is a time when the island is flooded with promises and promises and more promises. Actually, during general elections Anguilla becomes a land of promise where everybody is promised the fulfilment of whatever he or she wishes for. And after elections we become a land of broken promises. During the 1994 elections campaign, Edison Baird promised: “We in the Anguilla Democratic Party will go to the Promised Land. We going go to the Secretariat and the people would say –‘Look at the wonderful things those five men have done!’” Today, the five men have gone their separate ways and the Anguilla Democratic Party rests under a slab of concrete, inscribed ADP (1984 – 2000) RIP, in Anguilla’s political graveyard. And there is not the faintest sight of the Promised Land?

Election time in Anguilla is noted for optical illusions of many varieties. Like, for example, the female ghost which Honourable Albert Hughes gave a lift (on Sunday night 13th April 2003) and which later opened his car and went her way without him knowing. He was surprised that the sweet smelling, young beauty with whom he was talking refused to say anything and disappeared without a trace.

Election time is one of smoke and mirrors. In my view, if voters are not to be fooled by all the theatrics they need to ask themselves several pertinent questions before marking their X. Here are a few of them: Are we better off than we were five years ago? Has the standard of living improved? Do we have less unemployment? Has the level of crime decreased? Are we safer in our homes? Has there been any appreciative increase in the standard of education, health and social services in general? Are the costs of utilities, such as telephones and electricity, reasonable and justifiable? Has Government been open, transparent and accountable? Did Government manage the country’s scarce financial resources with prudence? Did members of Government put the interest of the people before their own interest? Does the present leadership comprise men who are honest and possess the management skills necessary for dealing with the many complex issues that confront us now and are bound to confront us in the future?

Other pertinent questions with respect to the opposition parties should include: Would they do better than the incumbents? Are they committed to open, transparent and accountable government? Would they manage the country’s scarce financial resources with prudence? Would they put the interest of the people before their own interest? Do their leaderships comprise men who are honest and possess the management skills necessary for dealing with the many complex issues that confront us now and are bound to confront us in the future?

I say to voters, whatever you do, vote wisely. Not only for yourselves but for the good of your children and children’s children. I got a feeling that we have advanced beyond those days when Victor would simply tell us (6th March 1984):

Besides the Hat there is a little square!
Your X belongs in there!

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