THAT HANDSHAKE FIASCO: WHY ARE SOME SURPRISED?

It happened before, the refusal to shake the hand of a prime minister who had replaced him in office. Remember? Prior to the first refusal, the MP for Vieux Fort South had snubbed the lounge room reserved for parliamentarians, after he was no longer prime minister. It may have entered the head of the MP that his first electoral victory as leader of the SLP was about him and him alone. Perhaps he never considered all the hard work put in by others after he had abandoned ship and run away, when the SLP government, of which he was Minister of Education, was under severe pressure. He later returned to enjoy the rich trove of votes which the more determined advocates of the working class had established in his absence. By then the return of the prodigal was so well orchestrated by those who were fed-up with Julian Hunte (and John Compton) that the MP may be forgiven for thinking it was all about him and no one else.

Given the clear incompetence displayed during his turn at bat, even the blind saw the necessity to remove him from office and return the tried and proven John Compton. They measured his promises of transparency versus his exposed secrecy and poor management of the economy, and decided such incompetence and secrecy should not stand. Today, the propensity for secrecy in matters of state still leaves many more questions than answers. The conclusion of incompetence is indeed a most charitable language.

To add insult to his failure as Minister of Finance he has now refused to shake the hand of the prime minister at the end of the debate on the 2019/2020 budget. The friendly gesture offered by Prime Minister Allen Chastanet had been warmly accepted by other opposition MPs who had earlier flayed his budget. The conduct of the former prime minister was further proof that such a metaphorical slap in the face is something new in the island’s politics. I was the least surprised person who watched the event on television. It was the first time in more than fifty years observing and participating in debates of the House of Assembly—amid often severe acrimony—that I had witnessed a member refusing to accept another’s offered handshake. I had known of the MP, having contested elections against him in 1997. However, to mistake the tall, flattened and seemingly food-deprived specimen of 1997 with the later expanded girth and personality as prime minister would be a serious political error.

At no time during those years in which people held their radios close or ran to their television to hear and see the opposition during debate on the budget were such bad manners displayed in parliament. At no time did I or anyone else from the opposition refuse to shake hands with Prime Minister Compton, even when he had received more than his fair share of body blows from us. We were each elected to represent a particular constituency in parliament and knew our jobs; hence there was no room for bad manners. The unspoken word was that we were all in for the benefit of all the people of Saint Lucia, and the people could hear and see who the superior performers were.

Neither Prime Minister Stephenson King nor Allen Chastanet deserved such bad manners. They were (and are) better by far than the angry hater from the little corner between Laborie and Saltibus, from where George Odlum and one Peter Josie rescued him. Sadly, few journalists took time to record the many opportunities on which that particular MP tried to stand out in his gauche, rural Saltibus style by avoiding social contact with MPs he thought superior to him. Unseating him from his prime minister perch was made to look criminal.

This article is meant to focus on the behaviour of the prime minister of Saint Lucia and to encourage him to keep the political tract of treating his opposition MPs as colleagues with different views on how to develop the country. Prime Minister Chastanet must keep in mind the many people who expect a more civilized approach to politics from him. It must not be business as usual. The people expect politicians to close ranks when the business of the country, especially its weak and vulnerable citizens, is at stake. The citizen has a right to expect the prime minister to be civil and to seek the support of the opposition in important matters of state such as investments and job creation. He must keep pressing on regardless, and with ill will towards none.

He must press on to rebuild a new court house and a new police headquarters. It’s past time that the prime minister develop some gonads and grab that bull by the horns and find the money to rebuild these two institutions. Is the government waiting to behave like the opposition by giving the nod to some foreign private sector outfit in its BOLT-preference scheme? If the government has no money, why can’t it enter into an agreement with the local private sector and arrive at a BOLT locally, instead of letting our scarce resources flow outwards, as would have happened had the opposition been in charge?

Before ending, I must add this little tidbit. A political enthusiast asked me if I would shake the hand of the MP for Vieux Fort South. My simple answer was yes, especially if I were prime minister.

To be truthful, the MP from the south seems to lack the energy and enthusiasm to continue as an MP. He looked lacklustre and sounded worse. Even MP Guy Joseph, whom he disparaged as a poodle, dared to teach him how to properly pronounce plagiarism and other simple English words. Imagine that! The man most definitely has had better days. The sooner the people of Vieux Fort realize that, the better for all concerned. It may therefore be time for the south to get rid of this sad, unhappy and irreversibly angry man. His most recent display of uncouthness—that refusal to shake the prime minister’s hand in an official setting—was further proof.