A DIVISION CONVENTION?

Preamble

THE HERO

Sam is undeniably a divisive figure and when he walked into the convention, he received a resounding ovation. Was the ovation for Sam's entry symbolic of the "paradigm of Division" on which the UWP is built?

In this brief article, I will argue that the division within the UWP is peripatetic and may be in it to stay, as long as Allen remains leader.

The pronouncements I feared

If Allen’s speech were implicitly divisive, then the Great Man Sir James Mitchell’s keynote address was explicitly abrasive and was perhaps designed - unsuspectingly or otherwise - to fan the flames of division within the UWP. For a moment, I was under the impression that parts of his script were either written or influenced by Guy Joseph. In an apparent direct hit at King, he said a leader who loses an election should resign (suggesting that there was absolutely no place for King in the scheme of things) and in an apparent reference to Sarah, he suggested Johnny-come-latelies must take the line.

Those were the very pronouncements I feared. Even after 3 conventions - and even with Chastanet anticipated thrashing of Sarah Flood-Beaubrun by a historic and humongous margin of 280-55, the deep wounds of division continue to fester as if they were a plague cast on the UWP. It is in this context I argue that there was absolutely no place for abrasive comments - implicit or explicit.

It may therefore be fair to say that the great man was a partial let down. He brought little fire or value to the UWP convention.

Platform for healing

Notwithstanding the non-materialization of the peace talks, the convention could still have become a platform for healing, for unity and for reconciliation. Perhaps the organisers and various speakers didn't take the “potential energy” of the convention in that regard into consideration.

SARA FLOOD-BEAUBRUN

Sarah Flood-Beaubrun deserved ample kudos for her concession speech, which probably represented an embarrassment to the mood of division which prevailed at the convention. She was excellent; but whether she remains true to her word, only time will tell.

Chastanet’s words and deeds

Chastanet’s perennial problem of synchronising "word and deed" came to the fore once again; and it is a matter that he must pay serious attention to, if he wants to resolve his own credibility and believability problems as well as those of the governance of his party. Let’s us look at a couple of scenarios.

ALLEN CHASTANET

Firstly, Chastanet has made the word "Team" a cuss-word in the lexicon of UWP politics. Whereas, a team denotes unity, when it comes to Chastanet, many see it as connoting division and chaos. In the case of loyal and obedient members of the team who fall in line, it is perceived to mean inclusion; but for the outspoken and dissident members, it means exclusion and excoriation! That kind of scenario poses a major dichotomy to be reconciled which in my view is a self-inflicted Herculean task directly proportional to the cleaning of the UWP Augean Stables.

NICE WORKERS POSING MINISTERS OF GOVERNMENT

Secondly, the UWP leader does not seem to be able to jump out of his double-standard suit. This was evident in his claim government was practicing discrimination in the NICE programme; yet, (even when opposition) he is accused by his own party of practicing exclusion, marginalization, victimization and even demonization against his own subjects. He kicked out Richard; he marginalized King, Spider, Bousquet, Polius, Flood etc.; he has even caused the neutralization of the Women's and Youth Arms of the party.

In direct contrast to Sarah’s concession speech, Chastanet’s victory speech was still immersed in his divisive "Team" politics; and one can only hope that the magnitude of the margin of victory does not represent the magnitude of the division within the party.

Purge Ahead

Already, there's a loud suggestion that Chastanet should continue the purging his opponents. Guy Joseph is already suggesting that the purge should be voluntary; but we can only wait with baited breath to see the form of the post-convention reconfiguration of the party. What will now be the fate of Stephenson King, Spider Montoute, Rufus Bousquet, Mary Polius, Michael Flood etc?

Team Chastanet in UWP clothing?

RICHARD FREDERICK KICKED OUT OF THE UWP

Notwithstanding the results, there's hardly anything new inside the UWP.  It is generally the same old pro-Chastanet configuration still dominated by the same old merchants and peddlers and division, chaos and exclusion. I'm not sure that the convention has solved anything - Perhaps, if anything, it may have further alienated and marginalized a key and powerful wing of the UWP. The former Gros Islet MP Lennard “Spider” Montoute may have subtly warned of the potential dangers ahead very well when he said that it is now up to hierarchy of the party to focus on inclusion and healing; but Spider's caveat may not mean a thing to a brand new second-hand executive cast in the old way of doing things.

GUY MYERS - INCOMING NEW CHAIRMEN

The new chairman has already given us some insights into the chemistry of the new team and their blueprint for the way forward. Although being a media owner himself, he has signaled the party’s intention to “corral” dissenters by taking away their democratic right to speak to the media. He seemed to more "Ezekielian" than his predecessor Ezekiel when he vowed to wrestle unity using an “ivory tower” approach by twisting the arms of dissidents. Let us hope and pray that he does become another Ezekiel Joseph.

Chastanet echoed the exact sentiments of the chairman: "his way or the highway" approach which characterised the eternal reign of Eddie Seaga in Opposition! He warned that opinions can only be expressed internally and not to the press. Apparently, the chairman and the leader were singing the same dictatorial hymn of which a key component also involved the marginalization or exclusion the press also. Chastanet explained that the party has a new "code of ethics" which precludes members from making comments to the press. The irony was he had no sooner had he cited the new code of ethics when he himself had violated it by spilling information about Stephenson King.

SHEIK WALID JUFFULI

He is still harping on Grynberg even when the Government is winning the case at every turn. Also he either seems misled or is misrepresenting the Sheik Walid Juffali case. He misrepresented the Gas price issue and went on to excoriate LUCELEC - in which the Chastanet Family is one of the biggest shareholders - for hedging. His use of reckless political hyperbole and hate politics was prevalent. One therefore wonders what calculus will facilitate unity and reconciliation in the face of UWP's paradigm of division.  The UWP needs help!

 

The UWP must be clear on its definition of democracy. It must never be about election of officers and not also extended to members’ fundamental rights and freedoms.

Closing remarks 

In the final analysis, it is the constitution of the land that matters; and if the UWP wishes to have credibility and relevance, then it’s constitution must be consistent with the national constitution. Perhaps, it is precisely that dichotomy that may be the source of the chaos that plagues them.

Unity must be based on the principles of the national constitution; not on any constitution which responds to the whims and fancies of a team or cabal.

STEPHENSON KING

Perhaps Stephenson King – by his interview with St. Lucia News Online in respect of the Mary Isaac controversial statement - has provided the first test case for the new UWP code of ethics.

The re-election of Chastanet as Party leader – as one of the learned members of Saint Lucians Aiming for Progress (SLAP) wrote on his Facebook page - was a coronation. I will go further to say it was a “coronation of division”. If there is any doubt this is case, then the Mary Isaac's controversial statement in her Vote of Thanks targeting Stephenson King - and King’s swift fighting back - sealed paradigm of division on which the UWP is built.

A PRESCHOOLER’S DEATH BY INJUSTICE

In the article, I'm using the incident of the death of the pre-schooler to bring to the fore some my concerns related to the press and its handling of public debate on the issues. The article has many rough edges in logic, content and its general modus tolens and it is by no means a refined product in the way that I would like it to be; but THE CHOISEUL POWERHOUSE thought in the heat of the moment, we should quickly add my voice to the debate before it characteristically fades away

Among other things, I argue that "justice” blown out of proportion as in the case of the death of the Dennery pre-schooler, is also justice denied. Why on the one hand should we excoriate the PM for the IMPACS report and at the same time go to work on the Department of Human Services, falling just short of calling it a “Department of murderers”? The “lines of demarcation” between the two may not necessarily be obvious but they are not as blurred as we think either.

The discussion is a little "academic" in nature and, if anything, it is rough contribution to the "agenda of enlightenment" unfolding in certain quarters of the Talk Show circuit. Your comments and feedback are welcomed!

The litmus test

At the risk of over-generalising, I will venture to say:  If you want a good measure of us especially as reflected in the press/media, then you may want to take a good look at our approach to the incident involving the death of the Dennery pre-schooler; and if you have done so rationally, then you may perchance want to the conclude that we have failed another major litmus test! There’s an old saying that “justice delayed is justice denied”; but in this instance, it looks like “justice blown out of proportion” is not only injustice but equally it is justice denied.

Setting the stage

Let’s rewind to RCI “NewSpin” with Timothy Poleon on Thursday, October 15, when the “Honourable Soukou” played the role of the opening batsman on the show. After all the skewed analyses on mainstream and social media (perhaps akin to the Mckinley fabrications on VH), I said “boom! . . . here comes a voice of enlightenment” from a typically rational elder Rastaman; but my intuitive premonition soon proved to be dead false! For once, my esteemed colleague and friend found himself out of character and also out of favour with me!

Uncharacteristically, the Elder sharpened the tone of the excoriation of the Department of Human Services (DHS) and perhaps inadvertently paved the way for the avalanche that ensued. Admittedly, it eventually seemed that what Richard Frederick calls the vengeance of Moko took him down when he tried to conclude his tirade of the DHS with a soundbyte from Tim’s NewSpin Ad! At that point, he somehow looked like he was caught “between the Devil and the Deep blue sea”. The stage couldn’t be better set for what was to follow.

One-sided rampage

The procession of callers which followed (except the self-styled Golden Dragon) went on a one-sided rampage of the Department of Human Services (DHS) and in my view falling just short of calling it a department of murderers.

I must applaud the Golden Dragon for attempting to introduce a strand of objectivity and a logical perspective to the skewed discourse; but apparently it was too skewed to be rescued.

Even Rick, when compared to the magnitude of what had gone on, was mellow in his contribution.

Moderation

Rather than trying to moderate the discourse, Tim seemed quite happy to allow the excoriation to proceed unfettered and even allowed himself to fall into the wormhole, if not at least facilitating it. Towards the end of the programme, it was therefore not passing strange that he simplistically blurted out rather awkwardly that if Gov’t could find resources to host Maduro; then why couldn’t it allocate the same to the DHS (to have prevented the murder of the Dennery preschooler?

Bandwagon?

Before you call me callous, let me make it clear that I too am concerned about the murder of the Dennery pre-schooler; it is an atrocious act crying to the heavens for vengeance. However, I cannot jump on a band wagon of emotionalism when as Tim himself would say “I don’t have all the facts”! While the police have deemed it to be a murder, it is far from over. There is a dichotomy in the versions of events proffered by the DHS and the families concerned which has to be reconciled. In the final analysis, only a court of law can rule, not emotional public opinion!

The Nobel vs the charlatan ratio

There is a vociferous clamour among some St. Lucians (and I can only hope that it is a vociferous minority) who seem to take pride into turning our little island into a state “famed with shame”; I cannot support the island of Derek Walcott, Allen Lewis and Dunstan St. Omer to be brought to shame by the irrational behaviour of persons with axes to grind!

It is a well known fact that St. Lucia has the highest ratio of Nobel Laureates in the world per square metre; equally, if we were to go by the ranking of countries by IQ as indicated in the Economist, we may also have one of the highest ratios of charlatans by square metre, too.

Journalists missing out

While I’m not necessarily putting up a case for “academics” per se which themselves continue to face demonization and excoriation perhaps to the point of being driven to the verge of extinction in St. Lucian society, I however wish to make two points here which might necessarily anger our press: Firstly, while the diaspora rates St. Lucian academia highly, the press tends to snubbed them at home. Secondly, I don’t think that our press is academically or intellectually ready to take up the complex challenges facing it and the broader society in a constructive way. The fact that after 37 years of nationhood that we don't have a genuine newspaper but only Tabloids which rant and rave bears testimony to my argument. Their editors' lack of verified academic competencies in the performance equation of the press may well be the single biggest hindrance to genuine intellectual discourse. A perfect example was our journalists’ general reluctance to gruel Chastanet on his questionable academic credentials and challenge Kenny more on the transparency and accountability in government.

If our journalists subscribe to President Kennedy maxim that the press is “not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and sentimental, not simply to give the public what it wants . . . but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to sate our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and choice, to lead, mould, educate and sometimes to anger public opinion”, then why would they allow landslides of sentiments over national radio and television? Similarly, why would they have one-on-one discourse with political leaders and exclude the people who are the employers of the politicians seeking power from the discourse?

Vacuum of rationality

But again we suffer from a major vacuum in our sphere of rationality which seemingly circumscribes our immature press more than it does our society at large; and, in that context, it is no wonder that we get the “tail oft wagging the dog”. Hence, a case of the nature of the death of the Dennery pre-schooler will ideally get much traction and provides plenty of ammunition for the rascality which passes for journalism in our society.

Therefore, it is not passing strange that Timothy naively makes a mockery of what is dubbed the most important speech an American president has ever made every time he plays its truncated version following his “NewSpin” programme – a programme that represents everything else but the spirit and content of that speech. Moreover, there’s the issue of context: the speech was obviously referring to Russia but Tim seemed keen on using it to promote his own “conspiracy theory”.

 Among other things, it is noteworthy that President Kennedy also said in that great speech, “. . . I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to re-examine his own standards, and to recognise the nature of our country’s peril”

He went on further to say: “I’m not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American People”.

I’m pretty sure this is every democratic government’s position, including ours!

Conclusion

In conclusion, perhaps, the most sublime comment on the death of the Dennery preschooler came from Hon Richard Frederick (RF) on his “Can I Help You Show” on the MBC channel: Let’s reserve judgement and wait for the results of the investigations. The question is: Why didn't RF’s comment inform the “framework” for the conduct of the national discourse on the death of the Dennery pre-schooler?

In our quest for justice, it is easy to fall into the trap of injustice when we rush with indecent haste to pass judgement in the absence of all the facts! Indeed, we have the right to debate; but even public debate has rules. It is incumbent upon the moderator to ensure that this is case and that he must resist the temptation to jump on the bandwagon. Justice is not a “good girl, nice boy thing”; equally no amount of anger, ranting or raving can bring about justice . . . Justice is based on sound ethical, universal ethical principles, sound judgement, rationality, logic and the facts. We do more injustice to the death of the Dennery preschooler when we act otherwise!

MR UNIVERSE: JESUS CHRIST, PONTIUS PILATE OR JUDAS?

Preamble

After the “unprecedented” lecture on the intricacies of monetary and fiscal policy by ex-Foreign Affairs Rufus Bousquet to the Star Publisher (Rick Wayne) on his own TALK show where he is believed to be infallible; and followed by the brilliant legal elucidation by Antigua’s former Attorney General Justin Simon QC on the interface between the Minerals Vesting Act and the Interpretation Act; and culminating with another abrasive “legal” lecture by Anthony Astaphan QC to the Star publisher on Shelton Daniel’s 90-MINUTES on RSL, I felt impelled to share some of my technical and political perspectives with you.

Retribution by Gravity

As long as the laws of gravity exist, they were bound at some point to act on Rick’s “education” and it was only a matter of time before the writing was on the wall. From time immemorial, Rick’s discourse has fed not only on common sense and intuition but equally on misconceptions and misinformation derived from that common sense and intuition. Apparently his wide selected readings and research have not taken him into the mission-critical areas of world discourse.  A typical case is the dynamics of monetary and fiscal policy and their impact on the financial markets. He apparently thought because of the ECCB’s reduction in interest rates on savings that Saint Lucia was the worst country in the world until Rufus Bouquet appearing as a guest on his rejuvenated and rebranded “TALK” show lectured him on haircuts.

Previously, Rick’s journalistic credibility had been put on the line by Guy Joseph's notorious disclosures in the House which placed Rick at the epicentre of an “ethical” dilemma. Even his colleague journalist Clinton Reynolds - a member of his own media fraternity – had pronounced him as “not being credible”.

With “Rochamel”, “RDP 1 & 2” and “Grynberg” having effectively been blown away by the winds of truth; and with the “Lambird’s” pseudo-scandal seemingly on its deathbed, and with the DPP having put IMPACS in its proper perspective, we are now curious about how much is left of or for Rick! Will he “wheel and come back again”? Will he - like King Lear – be left exposed to the elements?

Perhaps not! As we say in the Lucian vernacular, Rick’s head is not only “hard”; but he is also a hard nut to crack! Let’s use some elements of “SWOT” to make a rough assessment of him.

Rick’s post-formal thinking

Rick is blessed with encyclopedias of “crystallized intelligence”; but sadly his universe of crystallized intelligence only seem to have completely overshadowed his “fluid intelligence”; and perhaps, therein may lie a partial scientific explanation for the mismatch between his excellent language skills and his almost “defunct” intellect.

Let’s analyze Rick’s post-formal thinking in the context of the formal literature.

The literature (cf: Kallio, 2011) on cognitive and intellectual growth suggests that at the post-formal level of operations, people like me and Rick are generally able to reconcile even the “irreconcilable” when we think, speak or write. It was therefore expected that it would be a “given” for Rick to appreciate the interface (in law) between the provisions of the Minerals Act with the provisions of the Interpretation Act; but he has thus far not demonstrated that competency, and with the legal revelations coming out of RSL’s “90-minutes” with Justin Simon QC and Anthony Astaphan, it appears that the faith and trust in Rick’s pontifications on the talk shows and in his degenerating Star tabloid might be eroding.

An appreciation of the potentially complex legal and intellectual issues related to the rationalization of the Mineral Vesting Act in the context of the Interpretation Act may require post-formal thinking. According to Michael L. Commons of the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts Harvard Medical School, post-formal thought has four levels: systematic, meta-systematic, paradigmatic and cross-paradigmatic. The systematic stage involves solving problems of a multivariate nature; the meta-systematic stage involves acting on systems; the paradigmatic stage generally involves creating new paradigms out of multiple metasystems; and the cross-paradigmatic stage calls for the integration of paradigms into a “new field”.

My view is: because Rick is quintessentially an “anti-intellectual” wearing a large intellectual mask, it is extremely difficult to place Rick anywhere in that post-formal hierarchy!

There’s also the intervening issue of his oversized “Mr Universe” ego; he is not only arrogant but equally a paramount figure who likes to bully (but not be bullied) into submission. Lately, however, the tables seem to be turning on him and his larger than life ego has been subject to a few bulls-eyes resulting in his upward, cocky trajectory of motion finally beginning to obey Newton’s Laws of Universal Gravitation.

It Never Rains but Pours .  . .

They say it never rains but it pours; and with all those peculiar quirks of fate which have been plaguing Rick recently, that may be exactly the case with him! And I can only empathise with extent of cognitive dissonance he may have to endure of late.

Yet, the once-upon-a-time, short-lived SLP Senator is certainly no pussyfooter like the “Virgin Mary” senator! He is smart and he does have a few feathers in his cap, too.

One of his distinctive feathers is his skillful marriage of St. Lucian politics with his brand journalism. In fact, Rick's journalism has (like a parasite) invariably fed on politics. It became the driving force which propelled him to national recognition. It is perhaps this skilful achievement that makes him stand out as a colossus on both the media and political landscapes in St. Lucia! He may well be considered as the “knight in shining armour” who has been on the frontline in the open politicisation of journalism in St. Lucia.

How does an observer like this writer view his paradigm of journalism may depend his/her conceptual frame of reference. To some it may be prostitution of the “discipline”; to others, it may be the best thing that has happened to St. Lucian journalism. There’s a also third school of thought that he may have a few proverbial skeletons in his closet; and there’s an equally powerful countervailing view that Rick is a highly transparent figure worthy of emulation. For the moment, Let’s agree that in our circumstances the jury may still out on those. Suffice it to say that whilst he exhibits much aberrational, idiosyncratic behaviour which may be largely linked to his obvious limitations related to his post-formal thought processes, he has practiced his craft with “distinction”.

Propensity for musical chairs

While the limitations of his analyses and resultant skewness are obvious, his advocacy is strong and unyielding; he is by no stretch of imagination an academic but he is not a pimp either. He is skilled writer with an enviable command of the English language! However, there’s a view that his “limitations” tend to circumscribe the command he wields.

Let’s consider an example: Rick has pathological tendency to neurotically latch to issues that many of us perceive to be irrational and he does so with an unparalleled passion to the point of fixation, playing musical chairs with them for years even when the substance, merit and logic in those issues face increasing degeneration.

The Jessica Affair which was perhaps his sputnik moment in Lucian Journalism; he beat on it until there was perhaps nothing else left in it. Then came Rochamel, RDP, Grynberg which he still continues to “go to Jerusalem” with. Lambird’s and IMPACS were the newest fads.

Distinction in skewness

Perhaps, it is precisely his “distinction” in skewness and his apparent inability to consider a different “geometry” for his investigative journalism that summoned the force of gravity on him.

The fundamental question we sought to answer was: What prevented a journalist of the Star publisher’s ranking from reconciling the “interface” between the Mineral Vesting Act and the Interpretation Act and drives him to continue with his interpretations of the former in a vacuum without relating it to the latter? Is it pure stubbornness, or is it fair to say that with time he may have exceeded his capacity to learn?

Suppose none of the above is the case, then what else would drive the holder of an Honourable OBE to be averse to use his competencies in investigative journalism to research that critical interface and its legislative implications?

 A third dimension to the argument also logically evolves: if Rick’s skewed pronouncements on law are any indication of his “heuristics” of investigative journalism and that he has a following of disciples, then just think for a moment of the impact he has had on the “discipline”; and by extension, the potential impact of his “vast store of misconceptions, misinformation” on his impressionable disciples.

Journey to Jerusalem

Figuratively, Rick loves to “go to Jerusalem” with the issues. At the moment, he may not be able to hit the ceiling; but he will certainly not allow the force of gravity to keep him on the floor! Rick may have seen himself as the “saviour” of journalism in Lucian. It is for this reason that that Rick may be a candidate for the “Jesus Christ of Journalism” in St. Lucia. Indeed, like Jesus Christ, he has picked up a few disciples along the way; but is Rick’s current trajectory also leading to his own self-crucifixion?

Rick’s distinction in skewed journalism maybe a major factor in his self-crucifixion. He hammered Labour for Rochamel, RDP and Grynberg. . . but he turned a blind eye to the breaches of the Finance Administration Act, the Taiwanese funds, the findings from the audit of town and village councils, Boxing in Paradise and many other critical issues of governance during the reign of the UWP; hence, it is no wonder that Rufus came back at him on his own show like boomerang.

Rick’s “trajectories of thought” took him high into space but the gravity of the truth on Grynberg for example according to the gospel of Anthony Astaphan on Shelton’s “90 minutes” had the final say: it dragged him down to ground zero again. Indeed, he was obviously his own Judas and Pontius Pilate.