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TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
April 7 - 13, 2012
A Weekly News column that puts you on the spot for your opinions on the issues of the day
More info on electoral candidates Elections are forecast for the year and electoral reform is in the news. Many voters will vote for the first time and many will try to be careful in casting their votes this year for at large candidates. In evaluating the candidates would it be helpful if each candidate was required to publish a resume? Education, employment history, status and reasons for changing employment career accomplishments and marital status, number of children, dependants etc. If the candidates have to file financial declarations, why not have this requirement to assist the voters in making their selection?
Good idea
Sounds like a good idea to me, since everyone is so concerned about transparency these days.
Imperative
I think it is imperative that all voters know the candidates in terms of their accomplishments and success stories. For too long politicians have been hiding behind other people, events and circumstances to gain the confidence of voters. I think publishing a resume is a great idea but it can also be misleading. I have seen some impressive resumes but when the individuals started talking and working, it was nothing like their resume suggested. Their performances were awful. On the other hand, I have seen some less than impressive resumes but the individuals performed really well. Therefore, resumes alone do not help. People also misrepresent information on their resumes. I recommend that in addition to a resume, each candidate should go through an interview process on national television and eventually a debate with their opponents. In addition, they not only need to provide examples of what they did, they need to show the evidence of what was accomplished. I do hope that some thought is given into this and the voters seriously vote for the best candidate and not vote solely on partisan politics. After all, there is no difference between the parties except personalities.
New order
Why not? We need to have a new order in the way we do things. I totally agree that any and all candidates should be expected to lay bare everything that the public may deem necessary to know about them as a public servant. If we had such a requirement in place prior to 2003 we definitely would not be in the place we are today. Very often these politicians refuse to be answerable to the voters once they have been elected and soon forget that they are the employee and not the employer. They all should be treated just like they are
applying for a job with any company. If these criteria are implemented we may find many persons changing their minds about serving in public office. Let us bring it on - accountability and transparency should be the order of the day going forward for anyone wishing to serve as a politician.
Logical voting
We must apply logic to our voting selections this time. This is sorely needed. If we as voters are to evaluate candidates this is the minimum information we need. The permanent secretaries in the civil service had to submit their resumes to the British advisers. We as voters need nothing less than as much information and more to select the country’s leaders. Does having a restaurant or running liquor store qualify one to lead the country? How about a civil servant with a civil service background? He may be slightly better qualified but has he ever had to make ends meet in a business situation. Has he or she ever had to make a business plan and work at it? Government is a monopoly and automatically collects taxes. Give me a purchasing agent who has a history of saving his firm’s money over a lawyer who breaks the law or works for a tainted developer. Give us a leader who can expand the economy and lower our taxes. We have had enough of civil servants and corrupt ministers who believe in tax, tax and more tax. Education is important but so is experience. Experience in government is helpful but not enough to qualify anyone. I assume the editor of this newspaper has high qualifications because he runs a business that has worked. He has experience in hiring and firing, The results speak for themselves. Another newspaper did not even pay their NIB dues. Another keeps switching editors and attracts few advertisements. This is telling. I would pick an experienced architect who wanted a district seat over a law clerk who wants to be premier. We must exclude those who have a police record. Being excused from public service for sexual embarrassment or child abuse is shameful.
We must also exclude those who used their government positions for self-enrichment. We must be suspicious of people with a vocation, religious or medical, who move towards politics. What happened to their oaths and vocation? The problems the next government faces must be addressed by the voters and the decisions the voters make this time must be based on selecting the people with the right qualifications. Let us print each candidates resumes in this paper so we can ask the right questions when they speak. Let us hope we see some debates on TV this time because that will also help us to see who has a vision for solving our problems.
Not necessary
All that information in not necessary. When they put forth their biography they are supposed to highlight certain things, but I do not need to know how much time they married, how much children they have. What is important is that they provide in writing the reasons why they are qualified to hold a post if elected. Education and career history is necessary and please no one over 55 years of age. We need some fresh young candidates in there.
Scrutiny a must
The electorate did not fully know the true character of the elected in 2003, the candidates were not subjected to this kind of scrutiny and the wrong people were elected. Let us just hope the elections in the TCI are successful in electing true representatives of the people and not just puppets of developers who simply want to feather their nests. It would be good if candidates could publish a resume showing education, employment history, status and reasons for changing employment career accomplishments and marital status, number of children, dependents etc. Career accomplishments are good because accomplished people can make sound decisions and not be manipulated by others for short term gains. A man or woman coming from a good marriage is also helpful because it shows stability and honesty on the surface. The concerns of the electorate in whether we will be sold out again to fat cats in London are huge and genuine. Imagine a people paying three and four times to a health care scam all because the Labour government saw fit to bless it. They got the bad money in and we have Interheatlth Canada and NHIP. It is time for this country to look for true leaders who have no personal agenda, ones who can truly represent the people so that the country can move on. The huge donations that the public saw coming out of the public hearings of the Commission of Inquiry were huge and startling but explain why the TCI is in the state it is in today. The country and the people were sold out. If the new campaign finance laws will help the public control the parties, control the government and keep bad money out, then the
TCI really has a future.
Politics with educated minds
Having aspiring leaders present their qualifications to the people is necessary if we are to have a play of politics with educated minds, to give the Turks and Caicos Islands a chance at real and sustainable development. The candidates who have been expressing interest in running for office, overtly or otherwise, give a clear indication of why this is needed. For a country that is looking to make substantial advances, the people of TCI need leaders who are qualified to lead, people whose qualifications would have seen them serving as professionals in their respective fields. One would hope that their professionalism would bode well for their service in politics rather than giving us shameless politicians with aimless commitments and baseless arguments. This week as a well-known member of the PDM was on air expounding on certain current issues, an objective person could clearly see that there was much lacking in the arguments and comments put forward. In the TCI there has been the calamitous trend of anyone with a big enough mouth deciding to run for office. Granted there is no standard entry route to become a politician. A commitment to a political party, campaigning experience, knowledge of the relevant party at local and national level, and a background within the party are all important when it comes to gaining the support of local members. But education must be a primary pillar for people who want to lead this country. Across the Caribbean region most politicians have good CXCs and/or A Level grades, as well as a degree, and these countries have made steady advances, albeit for the one or two bad eggs that will be found regardless. And if we look back where education has not played a vital role in politics in some countries in the world, there is clear evidence that those countries’ development have been affected. If we want compete with other countries, first of all we need to have a power democracy to drive our country and a power democracy will be driven by qualified candidates of whatever political colour. Scrutiny will also avoid having politicians who are highly educated but corrupted and will never serve this country well, but only think about personal gain. The people of these islands have a right to know whom they are voting for, and the aspiring leaders should be mandated to open continued
Become a contributor Want to become a contributor or have a suggestion for a Talk Back topic for us? What questions do you think we should be putting to the public? And what are your thoughts on it? Call our news team on 946 4664 or email tcweeklynews@gmail.com