Two days ago, Mr. Mark Brantley, Opposition Leader in the National Assembly, delivered a letter to the Governor-General, signed by himself and five other elected Parliamentarians, namely, Dr. Timothy Harris, Mr. Sam Condor, Mr. Vance Amory, Mr. Shawn Richards and Mr. Eugene Hamilton.
In their letter, the six Representatives informed the GG that they had no confidence in the Prime Minister and Government, and that they would all vote in favour of the Motion, calling on the GG to ensure that the Motion would be heard without further delay.
Once in possession of the letter, the GG became aware that the country has a minority Government, as only the PM can count on the support of only three Representatives and himself in his coalition Government.
We know what happened in 1993 when, for the first time, there was a minority Government.
Back then, many people thought the Kennedy Simmonds Government was both politically and constitutionally illegitimate. And while they might’ve had a case to argue on the political point, there’s no question that his Government was constitutionally legitimate.
But that didn’t stop the frustration, the agitation and the action on the streets. And everybody knows who has boasted on a public platform about having incited the people back then.
Today, the shoe is on the other foot. The self-declared inciter of 1993 now heads up a minority Government. The eagle has morphed into a caged crow.
Is his Government politically legitimate?
No. The Motion of No Confidence takes that away, even before it’s debated in Parliament, because six of the eleven Representatives have declared, both publicly and in their letter to the GG, that they will support it.
It’s a done deal, and Douglas knows that. Which is why, despite all of his pathetic braggadocio, he’s been a scared cat since the Notice of Motion was sent to the Clerk of the Parliament.
A clear example of his mortal fear has been his recent pattern of holding constituency town hall meetings and carrying busloads of supporters from other constituencies to give him validation that he doesn’t have and can never recover, and to be his human shields. At those meetings he’s also accompanied by enough armed personnel to topple a small country. Guns like sand!
And his conduct and language have become increasingly crude, disrespectful, disingenuous and thuggish, not to mention incredibly illogical. His press conference yesterday afternoon and his town hall meeting in Molineux last night provide ample evidence of that.
Is his Government constitutionally legitimate?
No. At least not to the extent that the he can govern, business as usual.
There are provisions in the Constitution which require the GG, in certain instances, to act in accordance with the advice or the recommendation of the PM. And under ordinary circumstances, he’s obliged to do so. But not always.
Now, to be fair, if six of our eleven elected Parliamentarians inform the GG that they’re not in support of the PM and his Government, then that does not remove the PM’s constitutional legitimacy, because our Constitution allows for minority Government. However, if the six also inform the GG that they’ve filed a Notice for a No Confidence Motion and that they’ll all vote in favour of the Motion, then the picture changes radically, because it’s now guaranteed that the Motion will succeed.
And if it does succeed, then the GG will have to remove the PM from office unless the PM, within three days of the passing of the Motion, either resigns or advises the GG to dissolve Parliament. But even before that point is reached, once the GG has been informed, as he now has been through the said letter, he has to act. The Constitution says so.
He can first summon the PM and the Opposition Leader to a meeting to discuss the matter and to have them substantiate their respective support bases in the Parliament. But I contend that he does not have to do so in this case, because he already knows that six Representatives will vote in favour of the Motion.
However, to be complete and thorough, he should meet with the two men. Once that’s done and he’s satisfied that the situation has not changed, he must call on the PM to ensure that Parliament meets without delay. And if he meets any resistance, then he, the GG, must, on his own accord, summon the Parliament to expeditiously meet and debate the Motion.
In that situation, he will not have to take any advice or recommendation from a PM who is in no position, and has no constitutional status or authority, to give any advice or recommendation to him in such a matter.
Twenty years ago, he was afraid to go into Parliament to push a No Confidence Motion against then PM Kennedy Simmonds. He was afraid of the possibility that it might fail. And today, as PM, he’s again afraid to go into Parliament to answer a No Confidence Motion that’s staring him dead in the face. But this time he’s mortally that it will succeed.
You see that now?
And the widespread lack of confidence among Representatives in the Parliament is shared by the vast majority of people in this country. That’s for sure!
A young father of two engaged me in conversation yesterday. He’s a hard working man and a devoted father. And he can’t find work. He went to the PEP Office to apply for work, and he was told that there were two conditions that he had to meet in order to be allowed into the Program:
(i) He had to be registered to vote; and
(ii) He had to vote for Labour.
Some other young people had told me the same thing previously. But it sounded hard to believe.
Then the young father told me the same thing yesterday. And even after he did, I contacted a number of persons who all confirmed that the young man was telling the truth.
To whom does the money used in the PEP program belong? How much more outrageous are the misuse and abuse of public office and of the public trust going to get? How much more disrespect do these folks want to dish out to our nation’s young people?
Whatever it is, the young people are registering, as they’re being told to do, working to get their little change in their pockets, and waiting to give Douglas ‘a Duggie’. Especially they want to give him ‘a Duggie’ because they’re disgusted with his behavior and attitude. And many of them are not concerned about this PAM and Labour ray-ray anyway. They want to know about today and tomorrow.
You see that now?
Finally, Douglas is trying desperately to gather traction to his propaganda that Sam Condor and Timothy Harris are PAM.
Ask Milton Smith, Calvin Leader and other well known PAMites from Sandy Point, Newton Ground and St. Pauls what Douglas really is. Ask Dr. Kennedy Simmonds if Douglas was ever in discussion with his Party to be one of its candidates.
Let me say this. At the epicenter of the philosophy, policies and actions of the Labour Party going back to its genesis in 1932 as the Workers’ League, is empowerment.
Empowerment through education, health, social and economic development, and politics. And empowerment through land ownership.
Between the 1930s and 1967, the Party fought to get people elected, then had to fight against the British who kept planting nominated persons among the elected representatives to dilute the voice of the people and to stifle democracy.
Robert Bradshaw, more than any other person of his time, led that fight for Labour and the people.
Over the past 18 years, and more recently as accentuated by the recent pappyshow called the Senators (Increase in Numbers) Bill, Douglas has assumed the role of the British, while Condor and Harris have acted like the real Labour men that they are, in defending the integrity and honour of the people and of democracy through their elected representatives. They resisted the Bill stoutly, because its intent was identical to that of the colonialists back then.
Similarly, in terms of land empowerment for the masses, no person has equalled Bradshaw. And, as he would want and expect them to do, Condor and Harris again took a stand when ‘Disaster Douglas’ pushed the Land-for-Debt Swap Bill through Parliament late last year in an attempt to avert collapse of the financial sector, after having squandered public resources up to a $3 billion debt.
And what has happened to Condor and Harris for taking a stand as would be expected of true Labour soldiers? They’re out of favour in what used to be the Party of Bradshaw, while Disaster Douglas is leading it. And he’s calling them PAM.
You see that now?
The truth is, Douglas has desecrated everything about the Labour Party. And he controls the carcass that remains.
Condor and Harris will always stand firm to the core values of Labour. But they can’t move the Party or the country forward with things the way they are. Clearly, however, no matter how people try to cheat, Douglas cannot win the next election, and our nation’s best bet is to have a coalition Government with Condor and Harris in it to continue fighting for, and promoting, those core values of Labour. So it’s either a Government with a big piece of Labour or a Government with no Labour at all. Those are the options.
Soon it’ll be Douglas out and Condor and Harris in. And fresh hope to revive the party of Bradshaw. The only hope.
You see that now?
