The Labour Spokesman Editorial
The determination of the Sri Lankan people will undoubtedly serve to remind people across the globe that they, the people, ultimately have the political power, and those that govern do so only with the consent of the governed. For days on end, traditional and social media have been transmitting footage of an enraged Sri Lankan populace storming and setting fire to the prime minister’s residence, and their occupation of the president’s palace, with a demonstrated determination to remain in place until the two top officers of state resigned. Reports and analyses have variously attributed Sri Lanka’s ongoing dilemma to ‘the dynastic’ and systematic abuse of that country’s institutions and resources by certain closely related ‘political’ families. The president ultimately fled by secret military flight to The Maldives, then Singapore, before sending his letter of resignation to Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner. That news was followed by huge outpourings of measured joy and relief throughout the nation of some twenty-two million people, their months of sustained protest having yielded the political results which they were committed to achieve.
We have related the Sri Lanka experience because we wish that certain elements in our country will come to their senses and refrain from fooling around with the electorate of St Kitts and Nevis. The people of St Kitts and Nevis are fed up with the governing regime, such as it is, and have already made up their minds that the First and Second Fellow MUST GO! One can easily discern that he is terrified by that prospect, and is thus seeking to put off, for as long as possible, what is clearly inevitable. Hence the attempts to stir up trouble, which can then be used as an excuse to have a state of emergency declared, and the general elections constitutionally put off. But such actions would be worse than ‘playing with fire’, and the consequential ill effects would be devastating. We of The Labour Spokesman advise against anyone doing anything to stir up the anger of our people. History shows that such is NEVER a good thing to do. To all concerned, we plead: “Please, please refrain from stirring up the anger of the people of St Kitts and Nevis. Please learn from the Sri Lanka experience.”