Another Sign of the Times!

Come Tuesday, the governor general will once again mouth the words of the prime minister as produced by the prime minister’s favorite storyteller. Count on the governor general reading aloud, for the umpteenth time, that “we are a resilient people, we are used to hardship.” Never mind that what we have become is a nation of particularly passive sheep!

We know also that the governor general—the queen’s representative—has been reduced to the rank of puppet of the prime minister. It wasn’t so long ago that the governor general publicly acknowledged that she makes appointments but has no idea why. Even when she welcomes dignitaries to Government House, she said, she must bluff her way when answering their questions.

Is it any surprise, then, that Saint Lucians are daily losing faith in our political system and the politicians who operate it? Is it any wonder that few of us will tune in to the governor general’s throne speech, and fewer still will bother to follow what passes for parliamentary debate on this Rock of Sages, our Nobel winners notwithstanding?

One thing for certain, on Tuesday we will hear not a word, not a word, not a word about Grynberg, Lambirds or IMPACS. Small wonder that more and more of us are planning to stay at home come Polling Day. On Tuesday our photographer couldn’t resist a chuckle when he found himself stuck in rush-hour traffic (why do we call it that when traffic is at its slowest between four and six in the evening?) and confronted by this particular writing on the wall!