It was with a sense of insecurity and perhaps a measure of trepidation that the news was received in Anguilla last week of the decision of the British Government to suspend the Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands and take over the Ministerial responsibilities of the elected Government by Order-in-Council.

To start with, it is an uncomfortable and embarrassing matter when the will of the electorate in an Overseas Territory can be frustrated by an act of parliament in a Mother Country. At the same time it tells a story of how very vulnerable and powerless the political leaders of our territories are and the very fine line they are required to walk by their masters in Whitehall.

The erstwhile Turks and Caicos Government has fallen on charges of corruption, a terrible thing to be accused of. The Governments of other Caribbean Overseas Territories, including Anguilla, have faced similar charges. Luckily for the Ministers in Anguilla they turned out to be blameless in that an apology was eventually forthcoming and they were exonerated with the matter having been settled out of court with their acceptance of the offered payment.

There appears to have been little or no effort by the Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands, or the British Government, to stop the Government’s decent into any perceived wrong-doing and its eventual downfall. Certainly, there must have been some obvious and looming pitfalls of which the Ministers could have been warned about. You just don’t see people about to fall off a cliff and break their necks if you could somehow stop them from committing suicide – if they would allow you to help them. Now that the Turks and Caicos former Government Ministers have fallen, some of their regional counterparts have reportedly said either individually, or collectively, that they had advised them to be careful about what they were doing.

Anguilla’s Chief Minister, Osbourne Fleming, ever ready to protect the name of his Government, said of the TCI situation: “That can’t happen in Anguilla,” noting that no Minister of his Government has direct monetary access or is likely to become involved in questionable dealings.” What has happened in the Turks and Caicos Islands is a lesson for all other Governments in the Overseas Territories that the perceived power they have can disappear in thin air at a moment’s notice and that they should follow the maxim: When your brother’s beard is on fire, put your own to soak.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend |

World News