steemed Prime Ministers;
Secretary General of CARICOM, His Excellency, Dr. Edwin Carrington;
Honorable Ministers and Attorneys General;
Other Members of Delegations;
Other Dignitaries:
It is a singular honour for Antigua and Barbuda to host this historic meeting of the Bureau of Heads of Government. As the newest kid on this block, I beg your indulgence should any lapses into local realities during my remarks be seen as representing any affront to protocol.
As I trust you will come to appreciate before your departure tomorrow afternoon, I am under binding obligation to begin my comments at this meeting on a particular note mandated by the Antiguan and Barbudan people. Just under six weeks ago, the people of this country convincingly demonstrated their capacity to terminate the tenure of their government and their Prime Minister. Conscious of their manifest potency, the Antiguan and Barbudan people are quite likely to set about devising means of seeking my immediate impeachment should I fail to begin my remarks with the affirmation which is now virtually mandatory in Antigua and Barbuda; on all occasions, and at every level.
It is thus my duty, on behalf of the Antiguan and Barbudan people, to open this meeting with the sentiment that seemingly all in our country share and are anxious to proclaim to the world:
Welcome to Government in the Sunshine! For us, ladies and gentlemen, this declaration goes beyond Government in the Sunshine of Public Scrutiny and speaks to rebirth, renewal and fresh energy.
Permit me another reference to the sunshine.
I wish to thank the Right Honourable Dr. Kenny Anthony, the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, on his astute management of the elements of nature over the past weekend. Thank you, Prime Minister Anthony, for arranging two days of glorious and victorious West Indies cricket in those two back-to-back One-Day Internationals against England.
On the subject of international cricket, I take this opportunity to respectfully petition Colleague Heads to create a spare a moment and to find the disposition to issue a formal citation on the latest record-making achievement of that celebrated West Indian genius, Brian Lara. May I further petition you to consider including in whatever citation this meeting may, in your discretion, issue to Mr. Lara, a reference to the fact that both of his record test cricket scores were executed at the nearby Antigua Recreation Ground. May I humbly submit that reference be also made to the fact that the West Indies record fourth innings victory total, and the record West Indies team score in a test match innings, were also executed at the Antigua Recreation Ground.
None of this, colleague Prime Ministers, is to be taken as an oblique bid for Antigua to be selected as a venue for the 2007 Cricket World Cup series. I would, however, petition Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community to propel all who feel duty bound to rally round the West Indies, into doing all that is possible to ensure that the 2007 Cricket World Cup series takes place within the West Indies. It is sufficiently regrettable that CARICOM countries have been made to bid against one another for venue selection. We in the Region ought not to be found so badly lacking that we would lose any of the 2007 Cricket World Cup games to a non-West Indian country. I am confident that the people whom we all serve will support this position.
Honourable Prime Ministers:
I must seize this opportunity to pay special tribute the Most Honourable P.J. Patterson, the distinguished Prime Minister of Jamaica. For reasons that are now part of history, Prime Minister Patterson graciously agreed to retain the chairmanship of CARICOM when it fell to Antigua and Barbuda on the 1st of January 2004. CARICOM could not have had a better leader at the helm in the crisis surrounding Haiti, which developed shortly thereafter. As Chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister Patterson exhibited exemplary principle, wisdom and courage, when leadership of a lesser character would have served our Haiti and our region most inadequately.
For many of us, even from a distance, the Prime Minister of Jamaica has long stood ten feet tall. In his responses to the removal of President Jean Aristide, and in the policies he articulated and in the positions he took in its immediate aftermath, Prime Minister Patterson now stands fifty feet tall.
Prime Minister Patterson, we salute you.
I must also express my appreciation to the Right Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, for agreeing to host the 15th Inter-sessional that immediately followed the change of government in Antigua and Barbuda. Prime Minister Douglas, I thank you for coming to my rescue two days after the party I have the honour to lead successfully completed the rescue mission we had undertaken in our election campaign.
Colleague Heads; Honourable Ministers; Other Members of Delegations:
The agenda for our meeting is, on paper, quite short. It is possibly the shortest agenda of a meeting of the CARICOM Bureau of Heads of Government. This does not mean that our discussions will be either short or easy.
We are here to grapple with very troubling issues which have exercised the minds of CARICOM Heads of Government over recent months. Chief among these issues is, of course, Haiti. Our sister CARICOM country remains in the throes of a deep political, economic and social crisis. It will take every ounce of CARICOM goodwill, compassion, commitment, common sense and courage to make a breakthrough.
Two hundred years ago, our precursors in Haiti struck a blow for freedom, which was heard around the world, and across centuries. The armies of Napoleon were defeated. The British were routed. The Spanish were put to flight. The world’s first black republic, and the second free nation of our hemisphere, was born.
Since then, however, the story of Haiti has been largely a tragedy and the people of Haiti its victims. Indeed, Nobel Laureate, Sir Vidia Naipaul, with biting insight, has said that it is the fate of Haiti to suffer. The world should no longer suffer this to be so.
Admirable and moving though David Rudder’s apology in calypso might be, simply saying “Haiti, we’re sorry” is just nowhere good enough. It is time for the world, the hemisphere and the region to make sure that relevant institutions of civil society and relevant laws are embedded in the mechanisms of governance that the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti will shape. Respect for and belief in those institutions and laws must also be embedded in the psyche of the Haitian people.
Our Chief Coordinator Designate for the Task force on Haiti, Mr. Hugh Cholmondeley, would be eminently qualified to formulate and implement communications strategies geared to increasing enrolment among the Haitian people in democratic institutions and systems. Mr. Cholmondeley’s expertise can also be mobilised in bringing the Haitian people closer to the people of the English speaking Caribbean.
United Nations Resolution 1542 on Haiti defines a central role for CARICOM in the stabilisation effort in that country. I submit that our toughest task will be to ensure that enduring attitudinal change in the Haitian people accompanies structural change in Haiti.
I face similar challenges in Antigua and Barbuda. That is why my Government is resolute in our commitment to shaping a new political culture.
The fundamentals to this culture are transparency, accountability, integrity, participation and justice. Indeed we embrace the essential tenets of the CARICOM Charter for Civil Society. In this context, all policy on social and economical development will be informed by the inputs of a National Economic and Social Council drawn from all sections of civil society. We shall, very shortly be introducing integrity legislation.
A Freedom of Information Act is also at the top of our legislative agenda. As can be readily seen, my government is committed to openness in government and freedom of the press as the principal pillars of a participatory democracy. I am deeply gratified at the spontaneous offers of technical assistance that Heads of Government of a number of countries have offered Antigua and Barbuda in our current period of transition.
As we struggle with CARICOM’S second intervention in the interest of governance in Haiti, I submit that every other member country would be well served if Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community would move governance to a more conspicuous position on CARICOM’s agenda. This organisation’s seemingly studied aloofness from issues of governance within member states appears to make concessions only when crises ignite. It is a major anomaly that CARICOM appears to resolutely ignore the existence of democratically elected Opposition Leaders.
This is a paradox within a dilemma in an organisation comprised of parliamentary democracies. Industry, Commerce and Labour representatives participate in CARICOM Summits. Yet, there is no place at the CARICOM table for the region’s elected Opposition Leaders.
It is incomprehensible to me that with a single exception, on a single occasion, none of my communications to CARICOM and to individual Heads of Government in the year, months and weeks preceding the March 23rd elections in this country elicited even the courtesy of an acknowledgement. It might be felt that I raise this issue in the relatively secure position of having constitutionally due elections fully five years away. Such a thought would be an injustice.
I am driven by the conviction that CARICOM remains in contradiction of its Charter for Civil Society so long as it marginalises Opposition Leaders, and looks the other way when Governments of member states routinely violate accepted standards of governance.
On this note, ladies and gentlemen, I return to Haiti. It is time to assist the people of Haiti in taking charge of their own destiny and in placing their country on the path to enduring democracy and development. Other countries, including some of the world’s major powers, are looking to CARICOM to point the way forward. As CARICOM, we are keenly aware of our responsibilities to Haiti, to our Caribbean Community and to the international community as a whole.
It is no secret that the question of the recent controversial transition from one government to another in Haiti strikes at CARICOM’s core values. In CARICOM, we believe that there is only one way to change governments, even long-standing and arbitrary ones. I am in an excellent position to provide you with a good example, of very recent vintage, of how this is done.
In Antigua and Barbuda, we are more convinced than ever before that the legitimacy of governments turns on their adherence to democratic principles and practices. There is no substitute. Participation in the UN Follow-on Stabilization Force by CARICOM forces is a stark reminder of the grave responsibilities that attach to being sovereign members of the international community. There comes a time when what is needed is not just rhetoric, but boots on the ground.
It would not be the first time that CARICOM would have sent forces to Haiti. We did exactly that ten years ago. Prime Minister Patterson and Prime Minster Manning were directly involved in that exercise. We hope, however, that this will be the last time.
This Joint Meeting of the CARICOM Bureau and the Core Group which takes place today and tomorrow underlines CARICOM’s determination to resolve the Haiti question and to find an acceptable formula to re-establish dialogue. This dialogue is essential if we are to position ourselves to assist the people of Haiti.
The CARICOM Bureau is, of course, an executive management mechanism to facilitate efficient implementation of CARICOM decisions. On Haiti and other fast-moving questions, it is important for Heads of Government to monitor the latest developments and devise strategies for the way forward.
Over the next two days, we will review the progress on the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice. Antigua and Barbuda’s full participation in designating the Caribbean Court of Justice our final appellate court is contingent on a national consensus on the issue. We will, at this meeting, also examine progress on the bids and other requirements attaching to CARICOM member states bids to host the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
There are also several important international summits coming up, and the Caribbean Community will have to take certain decisions relating to its participation. Speaking for Antigua and Barbuda, I would put forward the view that the Secretariat should be significantly strengthened so as to enable it to relieve member states of the cost and the high demand on Ministerial and technical personnel time. We would consider this a good investment for the member countries who participate in funding such a programme.
I make no apologies for proposing this extra burden on the Secretary General and his staff. Our esteemed Secretary General continues to impress with his elastic capacity to take on new challenges. His wise counsel and his adroit negotiation are as invaluable in these testing times as they have been over the past decade. I have every intention of making the fullest use of the access I will have to the Secretary General’s counsel and assistance during my remaining period as chairman.
I take this opportunity to give the Secretary General the assurance that I will give my personal attention to Antigua and Barbuda’s outstanding debt to CARICOM.
Colleagues; Ladies and gentlemen: It is time now for us to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We do so on an agenda that speaks to democracy, economic growth and development for the people of the Caribbean. It speaks to redemption for the people of Haiti.
I pray that our deliberations will redound to the benefit of those we serve, the people of our beloved Caribbean.
Thank you.
