24th INDEPENDENCE DAY GREETING from THE POLITICAL LEADER OF PAM -Mr. Lindsay F.P. Grant

Mr. Lindsay F. P. Grant Political Leader of The People's Action Movement

It gives me great pleasure on this august occasion to extend best wishes to you all on this annual celebration national pride and to share with you fond reminiscences of our milestones as an independent people. It is a blessing that we have another opportunity to thank Almighty God for the hard work and visionary Leadership of our forefathers that brought us successfully along the hard road to full sovereignty.

Of course we have a special reason for pride as it was the Leadership of the founding members of our own party the People’s Action Movement that had the privilege of being the midwife in the birth of a new nation. I can and I know that those among us who are older can also remember were I was on that special September 19th twenty – four years ago.
 
The national commemoration of our emergence as an independent state always fills me with a special sense of achievement but this particular milestone is special in for two reasons. We do not usually ascribe significance to numbers like 24, the special anniversaries are those that end in a multiple of five so we know that next year will be extra special as we celebrate one quarter century of full sovereignty but this year and this time are different.

Firstly, 2007 marks the bi – centennial of the passage of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act by the British Parliament on 25th March 1807 and as a Caribbean people and a Black people there is much for both solemn and celebratory reflection.
 
In both a symbolic and very real way the road to independence began in earnest two hundred years ago. We must be solemn as we recall the terrible struggle that was waged by our ancestors that was necessary for that achievement and we must celebrate the indomitable spirit and perseverance that has been bequeathed to us by that struggle.

The modern Caribbean that is composed mainly of Free states that are progressive and despite small size have made significant contributions to the world in fields as disparate as music, literature and economics is their accomplishment. As they have given us an inheritance of which to be proud so we must in turn establish a legacy that is worthy of their sacrificial lives and deaths.
 
~~Adz:Right~~The other reason that this Independence Day is special is, of course, the fact that the Federation has now been engaged in an Electoral Reform process for more than one year without any progress. It is a truism to state that the electoral process is imperative in the maintenance of a democracy and the assault on democracy that is being perpetrated by this Government is cause for serious concern. If this situation were not so serious our Party could enjoy a sense of superiority because our principled position to abstain from the process has been vindicated but we do not have that luxury. The electoral system that is codified into law as a result of this process will bind our children for the next generation.
 
The issues are well known by now. This Government has arrogantly refused the generous offers of assistance extended to us by the Commonwealth, it has made the process cumbersome by employing a variety of committees that have all been stacked with Labour Party hacks, it has subverted the constitution especially by appointing a Boundaries Technical Committee and it has refused to release the results of the public consultations in a timely manner. Perhaps the worst offense however is the blatant attempt to undermine the clearly expressed will of the people as outlined in the public consultations. As you are all aware the Government has taken the absurd position that the voice of the majority is not the bellwether of democracy when that voice is contrary to its own position. This is a dangerous precedent to set. It sets up a system of minority rule that is against all the principles that we celebrate on Independence Day.
 
This fight for a fair and credible Electoral System is only just beginning and each of us must be committed to using peaceful democratic means to ensure that elections in our Federation continue to express the will of the people and not the will of any political party. This Independence Day will be remembered as a pivotal moment in our development as a democratic nation it is for us to make it the beginning of a new era of progress rather than a return to the regressive era of the past.