With the General Election in Anguilla now over, one of the first things we all should do is express gratitude to the Almighty that it was a peaceful, fair and orderly exercise.

A noticeable feature in the larger constituencies was the provision of more polling stations, clearly marked alphabetically, to direct persons where to vote according to the first letters of their surnames. This substantially reduced the long queues and overcrowding thus relieving the pressure on those who conducted the voting and saving time for busy people.

The long experience, hard work and diligence of the Supervisor of Elections, Mr. Colville Petty, and the team effort of the Returning Officers, Polling Clerks, Tally Clerks and members of the Royal Anguilla Police Force, have combined to ensure the peacefulness and smoothness of the voting and are therefore praiseworthy.

Those who civically and freely exercised their franchise to vote are also to be thanked because without them there could have been no elections. We share the disappointment of those who were unable to vote because their names were not registered for one reason or another. Perhaps it may be a good idea at this point to repeat a call for a continuous system of registration as well as a general electoral reform process which may clear up any anomalies in the system.

In any competition, there are winners and losers. An election is a good example. Just as in sports when players are required to demonstrate a high level of sportsmanship, candidates in an election are expected to lay aside their rivalry and any possible animosity. The electioneering campaign has been a hard fought one with many issues raised and the laying out of the positives and the negatives before a discerning electorate.

Many of the candidates have spent much money in various forms of publicity including high quality display boards, posters, pamphlets and other media activities. They all should be complimented for paying attention to decency and respect. The only disappointment was that in some areas a few of the posters were defaced by wayward persons. Such was the unusual proliferation of display boards across the island that one observer commented: “Truly, these are the last days.”

It is now time to forget the heat of the campaign, to mend broken relationships and to move forward. Anguilla belongs to all of us. We must preserve its good name. Government and Opposition must work together, putting country above self and their supporters must all join in this noble effort. We must be one people with one common purpose.

There are many lessons to be learnt from this General Election. Those in leadership positions would do well to listen to the voice of the people as articulated during the campaign. There are many challenges before us despite the strides and success stories Anguilla has achieved over the years. We can overcome these difficulties if we work in unity and peace for the good of our island home.

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