COMMENTARY: The Hour of Reckoning

By Dickson Igwe, Contributor

The one-time voters see or witness humility in the average politician is when General Elections approach. All of a sudden, there are nervous smiles in crowds, defense of past sins, and a mixing with the peasants at the marketplace. Voters normally ignored get that knock on the front door and the BIG SHOT appears on the other side smiling like a TIGER, grinning from ear to ear like the legendary POLECAT.

The Virgin Islands of 2027 will be no different. There are specific characteristics of voters. The average man and woman on the street is so busy with making ends meet during the years before a general election, that by the time of General Elections there is amnesia. A promise by Jack or Jill the District Representative or At Large Candidate is believed, even though past promises have been willfully broken.

There are three essential cultures voters must be guided by to make some type of responsible choice at a General Election due 2027. Not voting is never a good option. The reason is that if a vote is to be strategic it either does two things. It prevents one bad option and introduces a better option, or it allows for the status quo which may be worse. However, the vote cast has value. Not voting has zero value.

The first essential culture is accountability. Voters must ask if the politicians on a slate are accountable. That is, have they been held to account for their great or poor decisions? Have they evaded being accountable? If yes, the voter must decide if they can go for another 4-5 years without receiving accountability.

The second essential culture is the equity or justice factor. Has the politician adopted a process that is fair and just in their behaviours? Does the great man or woman possess integrity? Have they dealt fairly with Joe Public? If the answer is no then receiving a white envelope to get JACK THE SCAMP elected will not benefit the voter’s balance sheet over the next 4 years. Voters will continue to suffer.

The final culture is completely owned by the voter. It is the consequence factor or the punishment factor. Many a time the voter will punish the politician who fails to live up to the task, sending him or her home on election day.

There must be consequences for poor governance. The one consequence politicians fear is the vote on election day. As voters can see politicians are above the law mostly until the General Election. That is the one time there is true accountability. The voter decides and that is why the vote is a very powerful tool. The vote is the how, what, why, where, when and who of power.

Elections are around the corner. One commentator stated that the incumbents are the most unpopular government in recent Virgin Islands history. That does not mean a thing presently as there is no meaningful opposition in place and the present opposition is very much a divided motley.

Voters, and those activists organizing themselves to oppose the incumbents at the next general election must decide if complacency will allow four more years of the same. Make sure you organize, register, and vote, or spend another four years weeping and bawling, as the cascade of social, economic, and public safety failures continues to compound and be an ever–growing rod, beating the back of the voting resident hard and fast.