Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
Caribbeannetnews.com
Published on Tuesday, July 29, 2008
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: Regular readers of Caribbean Net News know that Anthony Livingston Hall is one of our featured columnists who writes on a wide variety of topics every week. However, his commentaries on political developments in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) have proved to be most provocative and prophetic. For example:
On corruption in the TCI government
Over a year ago, Hall wrote a commentary entitled A wannabe gangsta…perhaps, but Premier Misick is no genocidal Mugabe – in which he called on the British government to inquire into alleged corruption in the TCI government.
Specifically, he warned that gross abuses were going unchecked because “…this Governor [HE Richard Tauwhare], like our Premier, seems only interested in enjoying the ceremonial trappings and perks, as opposed to performing the duties and responsibilities, of his office.”
This, and subsequent commentaries challenging the British government to honour its constitutional obligations to ensure good governance in the TCI, incited considerable wrath amongst members of the ruling Progressive National Party (PNP) against Hall. A provoked Premier Hon. Michael Misick even took to the floor of Parliament to denounce him.
Nevertheless, there is no denying that Hall’s commentaries have proved uncannily prophetic.
On appointing a Commission of Inquiry
At a time when he stood alone in calling for a Commission of Inquiry, the PNP and even the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) were insisting that there was “insufficient evidence” to appoint one.
Yet, on 10 July 2008, the outgoing Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Richard Tauwhare, “appointed a Commission of Inquiry to inquire into whether there is information that corruption or other serious dishonesty in relation to past and present elected members of the House of Assembly (previously known as the Legislative Council) may have taken place in recent years”.
On PNP motion to halt Inquiry
In his commentary on 18 July entitled TCI government attempts to halt British Inquiry into corruption, Hall dismissed a PNP motion to restrain the Inquiry from proceeding “as frivolous and utterly without merit”. But many people thought Ariel Misick QC, the celebrated lawyer who filed the motion, would make him eat his words.
However, on Monday, the Chief Justice of the TCI Supreme Court rejected the motion on the very legal grounds Hall predicted he would.
On Premier calling snap elections and declaring independence
Now rumours are spreading in the TCI about Premier Misick preparing to dissolve the Parliament and win re-election on a manifesto calling for independence from Britain as “an end run around the Commission of Inquiry”.
Therefore, given his unimpeachable record, Caribbean Net News decided to seek Hall’s opinion on this prospect. The following is what he said:
“The notion that Premier Misick and his party will be able to render the Commission of Inquiry irrelevant by dissolving Parliament, winning snap elections, and declaring independence is every bit as impudent and uninformed as the notion that they could prevail in court on a motion to restrain the Commission from proceeding.
“Frankly, despite their salutary neglect, which so shocked and appalled Sir John Stanley, even the British could not stand by and allow them to perpetrate such a ploy. After all, it would not only constitute a brazen attempt to pervert the course of justice that the Inquiry was convened to deliver, but also pose an untenable challenge to Britain’s constitutional authority…..
“For the record, Premier Misick has no authority to dissolve Parliament. He can only advise the Governor to do so. However, the Governor is not obliged to accept any advice offered by the Premier – especially if, in his discretion, he deems it in the country’s national interest to ignore that advice.
“More to the point, the Constitution provides that the Governor can do anything when acting under instructions given to them by Her Majesty’s government. This means that if the British instruct even the acting Governor not to prorogue or dissolve Parliament, that’s it!
“Besides, since this Commission of Inquiry is independent of Parliament, its work would not be affected by prorogation or dissolution. Therefore, frog-marching our people towards independence would not necessarily give the Premier and others the immunity from prosecution they so desperately seek.
“Never mind that once TCIslanders realize all of the benefits and protections of UK citizenship we would lose if we were to become independent (some of which John Hartley delineated on 26 July in an article published by the TCI Journal entitled ‘Not the Promised Land’), they are bound to reject the PNP and their election manifesto calling for independence.
“And I suspect the British would be loath to make the TCI the first of their Caribbean colonies they leave not as a thriving democracy but as a de facto dictatorship.
“Finally, the Commission of Inquiry is bound to refer many TCIslanders for criminal prosecutions. And I hereby offer to represent (pro bono) anyone who’d rather cooperate than risk prosecution. But I urge them to contact me before it’s too late.”
Observers in the TCI and elsewhere will watch events unfold to see if Hall is proven right again.
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Chris Burke says
You got at least one thing right — many people have been ensnared in this mess by over zealous radicals. These radicals might even think they’re doing the right thing idealistically – but it is bring down the economy and innocent people and foreign investment confidence. We owe plenty to the wrongfully ensnared.