Dear Hon. Allen Chastanet…

You will probably by now have read or been made aware of my open letter to Prime Minister Philip J Pierre. I must let you know that I took no pride in writing that letter. As a matter of fact, I was quite appalled by the circus that took place at the last sitting of the House of Assembly. Somebody had to react to it and so I thought, why not me? As Saint Lucians, we have a collective responsibility for everything that goes on in our country; good, bad, or indifferent. When we vote—or even when we do not—we make a statement about our approval or otherwise of what goes on in our name.

As regards the current political climate, I feel compelled to let you know that I view with a heavy dose of shame and revulsion some of the utterances, in the social media or otherwise, in the name of or under the banner or brand of the UWP. I will not mention names nor give specific examples or instances—the culprits and perpetrators know themselves and I believe that you, too, know who they are. The use of derogatory and offensive language and reference to opponents or opposition members in insulting terms is completely unnecessary and way beneath the standards appropriate in a civilised society and more so for a political party that is vying to lead the country.

Actually, I am not expecting a reply from you; that is not the intention. Nonetheless, I have decided to frame my rejoinder based on what I expect to be the standard response from you:

a) These are done by independent individuals or groups, without my imprimatur or that of the Party.

Well, that may well be true but if I knew that anyone was committing an offensive or unpleasant act in my name, I would do the decent thing by either stopping him/her, if not publicly disavowing the act. That is what any responsible leader, be it you or Prime Minister Pierre, would or should do.

b) The UWP and its supporters did not start this, we are simply responding or reacting to “lies and deceits” of the SLP but, more so, the SLP supporters do the same.

The UWP and its supports have every right to respond to misleading information and false accusations that may be levelled at them by the SLP and its supporters. You will have my unequivocal support on this. However, is it not possible and infinitely better to do so civilly?

After all, is it not your aim to win the trust and respect of the people so that they will vote you back into office?

Also, it may or may not be true that the SLP and its supporters are engaged in the same kind of disgraceful attacks, but nonetheless two wrongs do not make a right. As the great philosopher, Socrates, said: “One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been treated by him”. You will have no moral right to criticise the SLP and its supports if the UWP and supporters behave exactly like them. Where is the point of difference? One of you must have the courage to take the moral high ground. That is the ONLY way you can demonstrate a genuine desire to move the country forward. If you believe that behaving like the SLP and its supporters is the best way forward for Saint Lucia, then as a matter of logic why don’t you canvass to keep the SLP in office? This is the absurdity of that kind of argument. The UWP ought not to operate as if it were SLP Mark II or vice versa—there must be some clear identifiable points of difference between the two parties—otherwise, what is the point? For now, one would struggle to find those points of difference. The two parties are the equivalent of “six of one and half a dozen of the other”—or as we say in patois, “meme b?te m?me poil”. They represent very little, by way of real choice, to the people, and so, at elections, the people are asked to play musical chairs with the two. All the slogans and colours are meaningless and only the na?ve and simple minded will fall for it.

I could have written this letter to Prime Minister Pierre in the very same vein—and I hope he reads it—as you are both equally answerable, if not culpable, for the lack of discipline and civility in the political discourse. More importantly, both of you are best placed to weigh in on your respective parties and its supporters to stamp out this unsavoury development before it completely engulfs the society.

Both political parties, when in government, have grappled with the growing phenomenon of criminal activities. Are you or anyone surprised by this? You need not be a psychologist to observe the link between the rise in criminality and (a) the decline in civility and discipline in the society, where misdemeanours and low-level crimes are ignored or go unpunished, coupled with (b) the shameless perpetration of corruption by officialdom with complete impunity. Sooner or later, the “ordinary man” becomes aware of the pervasive corruption and forms the dangerous view that the only way to be successful in life is to “join the band of robbers”. This is not just the slippery slope to a depraved society, it is the wide-open road to moral corrosion and a decaying, corrupt, and wretched society.

To quote the French economist and writer, Claude-Fr?d?ric Bastiat, “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorises it and a moral code that glorifies it”. By commission or omission, we are institutionalising and glorifying corruption. A corrupt system is incapable of addressing or cleaning up corruption because it depends on it for survival. Regrettably, this is where we appear to be heading as a society.

Hon. Chastanet, both you and Prime Minister Pierre have a moral duty to wrest our society from the swelling cancer of indiscipline and chronic corruption. Tearing down or attempting to humiliate each other in the most contemptible and uncivil manner is exacerbating the problem. What is happening today ought not to have the support of any right-thinking Saint Lucia and, instead, should be viewed with utter disgust and roundly condemned. I am happy to add my voice publicly and loudly to such condemnation—I hope others, with a voice or the pow of the pen, will muster the courage to do the same. I am happy to be part of a broader movement aimed at calling time on indiscipline, incivility, and corruption in our society but more so in public life. I hope both you and Prime Minister Pierre will join the crusade.

Yours sincerely

Bernard Cornibert