Who Truly Runs Montserrat? It May Not Be Who You Think

Election Time is a "Wonderful Time of the Year" (so an old song ‘could’ go). Especially in the Caribbean, and even more especially in Montserrat. Our small dynamic island gets ready to face the polls to determine the characters deemed ‘competent’ enough to run the country.

What does election time really mean?

We see the faces on posters, we hear the voices on ZJB Radio, we even come face to face with the candidates on Sunday morning in church; do we really know what the candidates really want.

OK, they want our votes and they will promise to move heaven and earth, if they had the chance, to obtain those votes. But after the elections are over and the successful candidates take control, the rhetoric ends and the reality kicks in.

It is a cyclical process, every election we vote for change and new promises. Yet every election we fight tooth and nail to oust the party or candidates we fought so earnestly to give power at the last election.

What happens in the interim years between elections to make us so vehemently distrust those we once supported?

Is it policy, is it broken promises, is it rhetoric or is it just plain and simple failure of the candidates to deliver, or is it the Politicians do not have the power we think they do?

The BIG question to answer is WHO TRULY RUNS MONTSERRAT?

Let us check out the contenders:

1 – The elected Politicians

2 – DIFID

3 – The Civil Servants and Government (non-elected)

Round One – Administration
There is a clear winner here, The Government machine runs the administrative processes. All those little forms we have to fill in for Birth Certificates and Driving Licences and new pens in the office are produced by Civil Servants. The Politicians and DFID have very little involvement in the actual running of the island and nor do they have much influence.

The clue is in the name, Permanent Secretary. These characters, no matter how badly they perform, are not easily removed. Their failures are passed on to the Ministers of the department which in turn affect the voting public opinion.

Round Two – Financing
Again a clear winner in this round, DFID have a swathe of ‘experts’ and ‘consultants’ who visit Montserrat, gobble up a fee and leave richer and fatter, to confirm to us that we do not need as much funding next year for healthcare as we did this year. When in fact we are already in a dire state.

The DFID machine is similar to an oil tanker, it gets pointed in one direction and is very difficult to divert quickly. A cumbersome operation which never really understands the needs or requirements of the population of the countries it controls.

I hear frequently calls from the opposition politicians that they will close down this department or change spending on that or excavate somewhere else. Why they cannot see who actually holds the purse strings to all these operations is worrying.

Round Three – Rhetoric
No competition, the Elected Politicians promise the earth in the months, weeks and days before the election date. Suddenly all these promises disappear on the day after election. However this may be because the realisation of the winners to the first 2 Rounds have been encountered in their full glory.

The Elected Politicians are merely figureheads there to ‘try’ and manipulate Government and DFID and ‘try’ to change funding and ‘try’ to streamline processes. But to what level of success?

The Final Round (Knockout Punch)

So far level pegging, but into the ring steps a new contender.

There are a ‘few’ Montserratian Business Men who we all know pull the purse strings, who really control Government, who really manipulate politicians.

An example. We have to consider who is at the forefront of the largest development agency in Montserrat. This may seem like a lip service position to be a figurehead in the development of the island but there is a deep routed power in those shoes. The ability to change the very heart of a nation. The ability to control Montserrat.

Those who see the photographs of the Dubai visitors this week will have undoubtedly witnessed this very person heavily involved in the negotiations, ably assisted by Premier Meade and the MDC team. Let us backtrack a few years and remember who nurtured Premier Meade up through the ranks of Government, now fast rack to today. Has that master/servant relationship changed? Is it really Premier Meade who is the alleged Dictator?

Power and Control!
This is what drives some people. The need to be in charge. The need to be better than another.

There is more power behind the scenes here in Montserrat than meets the eye. If you are fortunate to be on the right side of that power you will excel. If you are on the wrong side, you will scrape by.

Remember, whoever we vote in at the next election, there is always going to be somebody who wants that power and control driving them and manipulating every move. Know who is behind the scenes as they are the ones we are really voting for.