G. Michael Reid on two party politics
The commentaries on the Last Word have traditionally managed to avoid the subject of partisan politics, and while he does not intend to deviate from that practice, with less than two weeks to go before elections, G. Michael Reid has a bit of eleventh hour advice for the electorate.
“Many have pointed to December 31st 1949 as the day when politics in Belize was beget. That day, much to the dismay and demurrer of every jack man on the bay, the then governor Sir Ronald Garvey, announced to the colony that the dollar would be devalued. It should be noted that while some of our ancestors have always been fervidly loyal and patriotic to the crown, the majority was never really happy with the idea of England dictating our policies. Yet, things were going along fairly well, until they gon mess round and touch wi money. Later that same New Year’s eve, a public meeting was called and the decision was made to begin our move toward self-determination. With a cry for national unity, Belize’s first political party, the People’s Committee was formed and nine months later it gave birth to the People’s United Party. In 1958, Philip Goldson and Leigh Richardson, two of the four founding fathers of the original P.U.P., formed the National Independence Party and a two party system manifested. Since that time, and notwithstanding the fact that every election has seen its share of independents and some semblance of third parties, our elections for the most part, have been a contest between two hues; the reds and the blues. So far, there is no indication that this election will be breaking from that tradition.
Now in a most unfortunate coincidence, when the notorious ghetto gangs of America with whom many of our young people identify decided to choose colors, they had to settle upon the very two that we had chosen: the bloods took red and the crips took blue. These gangs for the most part, subscribe to a life of crime, violence and mayhem and should our political parties elect to capitalize on this blind allegiance to color, then it will present a serious risk to our haven of democratic tranquility. It might in fact, actually be a sensible move to one day soon, borrow a page from the American book of politics and assign to our political parties, symbols instead of colors. The Democratic Party for example, uses a donkey while the republicans use an elephant. Couldn’t the P.U.P. use say a Toucan and the U.D.P. maybe a tapir? In this way we could remove this dubious parallel that exist between our political system and the ignoble estate of street gangfare.
As we build toward the impending climax of August 27th, the atmosphere has become increasingly volatile and to paraphrase an old metaphor, “the tension is so thick, we can cut it with a knife.” With just fourteen days to go and counting and with all the formalities foregone, the two sides have long since shed the gloves and are out fighting. The ads are merciless, the mudslinging vicious and the rallies on both sides impassioned. Let us not forget, however, that when all is said and done, red or blue, we are still all Belizeans and must not allow sore losers and over zealous politicians to goad us into confrontation. Let us vote and vote wisely and after the majority has spoken, let us close ranks behind those we elect and push forward into the new millennium with renewed hope and the same spirit of national unity that wrested us from the grips of colonialism.
With the Last Word, G. Michael Reid.”
The opinions expressed on the Last Word are those of G. Michael Reid and not necessarily those of Channel Five. Viewer comments are welcome.