Their own minds
A spokesman for what he calls the “We” Movement says some 40 close friends from all over the island have joined hands to make a list of demands with which they believe the parties in the election should comply to receive their votes.
There is in itself nothing wrong with that. It shows a healthy desire to participate actively in the electoral process and to have an influence or say on what the parties do after they are elected into office.
Any interest group, movement or other organisation certainly has the right to do so and such a high degree of involvement obviously must be encouraged. This group is apparently well-organised and goes to the length of attending public meetings of the different parties in neutral attire, to present the list of demands to the party leaders.
But while their demands are mostly reasonable and would probably earn the support of many others, the announcement that the party that signs the agreement with them will get all their votes raises questions.
First, there may be more than one party willing to sign the agreement; what happens then? Second, there may be demands, such as giving all legal immigrants the right to invite family to visit them four times a year, that cannot be met by the Island Council that will be voted into office on April 20, but are in the hands of the local chief of police or even the Central Government and Kingdom when it comes to visas and such.
Adjusting water and electricity prices is also not in the hands of the Island Government. GEBE, while owned by Central Government, operates on a commercial basis and its prices to a large degree depend on the price of the fuel it needs for production.
Dropping the rent of all homes by 25 per cent of the existing value also may not be feasible, because they are often privately owned and prices are determined on the free market by supply and demand, although an independent rent tribunal committee could certainly introduce regulations and standards, as is the case on other islands.
The increase in the old age pension also is not the prerogative of the Island Government, but of the Central Government and the Antillean Parliament, which recently approved an increase already, as a result of which everyone’s AOV premium went up as well.
All in all, even a party that signs the agreement simply won’t be able to meet all the demands, at least not in the Island or Executive Council.
What the “We” movement should do instead is see which of the parties comes closest to its views and is willing to meet the demands where feasible, then advise its members accordingly. It should not guarantee any party that it will get all the votes, also because there is no way to control that since taking photos in the voting booth has been expressly prohibited.
Then there are other criteria to consider, such as the track records of the parties and candidates, and how they measure up when it comes to integrity, honesty, capacity, experience, knowledge and common sense.
In other words, it’s best to let each of the individual group members make up his or her own mind.
Give us your opinion on this story ![[new]](/images/new.gif)
Post a message on our message board! Click Here!
