The Big Issues

Does the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) have a hope of upsetting the political status quo of Antigua and Barbuda? Could it win an election if one were called in the next 12 months? In this episode we talk about the electoral prospects for the organisation which has been around since 2017, and we ask whether it will be able to seriously appeal to voters, who know too well that two party races are easier to win.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

The DNA has been emphasizing a renewed commitment to liberal values - the rule of law, democratic principles and accountable governance. These are things which have at times been very absent in the political history of Antigua and Barbuda. They’ve also emphasized long-term planning, inclusivity and consultation, and local government reform. Economically, they stress the need to grow other sectors of the economy alongside tourism. 

But how "new, fresh, and dynamic" are their ideas really? Haven't we heard the similar pledges from other parties? Does anything really set them apart? And importantly, who can say how well they'd fare in a three party race against the juggernaut Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) and the limping juggernaut United Progressive Party (UPP)? And for those voters unhappy with the government, won't they know it's unsound to split their vote amongst opposition parties? 

Perhaps the real question is: Could the DNA present itself as having enough support going in to an election so as to convince voters to support it on the grounds that it might actually win seats outright, and not merely frustrate other parties as red and blue commentators have argued. Or can it convince voters to vote on principle, if those voters have indeed grown tired of both the ABLP and UPP after 27 years of having just those options? 

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on July 4th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

A series of armed robberies - some in daylight - have put many people on edge. In this discussion we asked whether the crime spree was the fallout from persistent unemployment, and whether it could be tamed. Our guests offered many views, but all agreed that it's too easy to get a gun in Antigua and Barbuda. And you can't have gun crimes without guns. 

John’s Delicious Pizza on Friars Hill Road was held up near the end of May. The Okay Supermarket on Church Street and Newgate Lane was robbed around June 20th. Days later a supermarket in Villa was robbed by a masked gunman. On June 25th there was an attempted robbery by gunmen at the Golden Grove Gas Station. 

The last three incidents mentioned were caught on security camera. Chilling images of cashiers with guns pointed at their heads were soon being widely shared. In some cases - like the assault on the Golden Grove Gas Station - suspects were soon arrested. But what is responsible for the spree? 

Clearly many people are struggling and out of work due to the most severe recession Antigua and Barbuda has endured in modern memory. How much does desperation play a role in crimes of this nature? What about opportunism and youth at risk? Then there's the gun problem. What will it take to better resist gun smuggling into the country? What security measures businesses can take to reduce the risk of tragedy? Those were some of our themes in this episode. 

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on July 4th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Are you happy with Antigua and Barbuda's two main political parties? Are you happy with a system where just two parties have any real chance at winning an election? The way we vote has much to do with how broad our political spectrum is. Our system of voting is called first-past-the-post. In this episode we ask whether it ought to change, and if proportional representation is a viable alternative. 

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 27th, 2021. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

In our first-past-the-post system, the country is divided into constituencies. We have 17. Voters in each constituency are able to elect a single representative to sit in Parliament. In a general election, 17 separate elections are held - one in each constituency. In each constituency election, whoever wins the most votes, wins the seat. If a party wins a majority of the seats, it can form a government.

In our first-past-the-post system, in any constituency, you don't need more than half the votes to win, but just more votes than any other candidate. So if you get 4 votes, Mary gets 3, John gets 3, and Luke gets 3, then you win, since you got more votes than anyone else. In that situation, while you got 4 votes, there were 9 people (3+3+3) who did not vote for you. And those 9 people will not get to see their preferred candidate take a seat in parliament. 

In that way, the first-past-the-post system naturally supports the emergence of just two dominant parties. This is because many parties running in a single seat will divide up the vote, and for parties in opposition, this lessens the chance of unseating an incumbent representative. So naturally, two parties emerge as dominant, because there is always pressure on the opposition to unite. Our two dominant parties since the mid-1990s have been the ABLP and the UPP. 

But what if you're unhappy with both? How easy is it for new parties to break into the system? Not very. We compromise when we vote. We know how the system works. So we vote for big party candidates because they have a better chance of winning, even if we don't wholeheartedly support them. But why should you have to vote for anyone you don't truly like, just to keep someone you like even less out of power? Why can't you have more electorally viable party choices?

Another criticism is that in a first-past-the-post system where there are few seats, there's a risk of having no opposition in parliament at all if one party wins all seats, if even by slim margins in each area. In 2018, one party won all 30 seats in Barbados' election even though 27% of those who voted, voted for other parties. The same year, in Grenada, one party won all 15 seats even though 26% of those who voted, voted for other parties. A Parliamentary democracy without a parliamentary opposition? In Antigua and Barbuda in 2018, opposition parties won just 2/17 seats despite gaining over 40% of all votes cast. 

With proportional representation, parties wins a proportion of seats in parliament according to the proportion of the vote they won nationally altogether. So, 20% of the national vote, means you get roughly 20% of the seats in parliament. But as our panelists warn, this too, has its disadvantages.

From June 16th to June 27th, there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Antigua and Barbuda. It follows a period of intense restrictions implemented mainly in February and March, which has since been eased. In this episode we ask how we got to the coveted status, and about reducing the risk of another significant outbreak.

Undoubtedly, public vaccination since February has played a major role in reducing transmission. So far over thirty-six thousand people have at least been given a first jab. And altogether, reaching this point represents a tremendous effort by our doctors, nurses, inspectors and health workers. Our guests say they are cautiously optimistic, but warn that complacency, if it occurs, will undo what has been achieved. As tourists arrivals increase, the question is asked whether we should stop unvaccinated travelers from entering the country.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 27th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

She survived an attack years ago, just barely. She encouraged other women never to accept apologies and excuses from intimate partners who become their batterers, controllers, and abusers. But Althea Henry was killed at her home last Sunday and a man who was at some point her lover, has been charged with her murder. The things is, he was charged for her attempted murder years ago when she barely survived an attack. 

We don't know what became of that case. But on this episode we talk about intimate partner violence. We discuss battered woman syndrome and the conundrum of prosecuting abusers without the cooperation of survivors - something that seems necessary given how trapped survivors often feel. Our guests say the message needs to be louder - that abuse is never love, that leaving is possible, and that abusers must be held accountable. 

 The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 27th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

De mortuis nihil nisi bonum is a Latin phrase understood to mean speak no ill of the dead. This isn't a full episode. It's a 4-minute extract from a discussion on the work of Walter Rodney, the influential Black political scholar-activist of the 1960s and 1970s (listen to the full episode about Walter Rodney here). From it, we extracted a clip of one of our speakers, Dr. David Hinds, criticizing a host of prominent Caribbean, post-independence leaders of the century, including Sir Vere C. Bird.

This extract is from a programme that first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 13th, 2021. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The speaker is:

A Note on Sir Vere: Sir Vere dominated national politics in Antigua and Barbuda for more than half the 20th Century as a labour leader, as Chief Minister, as Premier, and as Prime Minister. He and his generation fought the early battles for the labour rights of an abjectly poor and downtrodden working class, fought for the right of all adults to vote, shepherded-in the era of self-rule, and led the nation to political independence. His good works were mammoth. His misdeeds are far less often spoken of though. In fact, even acknowledging his misdeeds in the wrong company is treated as blasphemous. Yet, only gods can be blasphemed against, right? The legacies of men and women meanwhile, must be interrogated. And criticism where earned, should be doled out freely. 

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

A company called GROW Antigua has received the first license for the production of medicinal cannabis in Antigua and Barbuda. It is a collaboration between private sector investors, the government of Antigua and Barbuda, and Rastafarians. On this episode, we talked about the economic potential that the industry could hold for Antigua and Barbuda. 

Note: Having a small amount of marijuana for personal use was decriminalized in 2018. Since then, progress has been made in allowing for a regulated, legal, medicinal cannabis industry. 

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 20th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

There are no good choices, right? Money spending has rigged the outcome. Besides, government as we practice it is broken anyway. Or maybe you're not interested in politics. Maybe you haven't been following what's going on, so you feel you can't make an informed choice. Or maybe the reason you don't vote or you haven't registered is because you think one vote can't matter that much. It does. In this episode, we discuss why you should vote, and the reasons many of us don't. 

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 20th, 2021. The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

About voting: Yes, sometimes the choices in an election are pretty crappy. And yes, campaign spending and inducement corruptly skews outcomes. And yes, government as we practice it is a hot mess in some cases. But you're wrong if you say you are not "interested" in politics. The fact you have these feelings shows you are interested. In a democracy, politics involves everyone - every person, and every voter. It is not just the business of politicians. Please, never believe that.

Politics is how we as a country choose what do with ourselves and our resources, how we choose the best people to manage both, how we tell those people what to prioritize, and how we rid ourselves of crappy managers who seem to be deaf. If you care about anything - joblessness; taxes; policing and crime; running water; or the policies in your child's school, then you are interested in politics. The question is, how do you make a difference when it comes to those things? VOTE.

Many of us are just disillusioned with Antigua and Barbuda, so we resign ourselves to engage as little as possible. For youth, political socialization is meager and fallacious. And mostly, what we get from politicians is smiles, promises, handouts; or crass, scandalous, meaningless, uninspired, noise-making between parties. But there's only one way to change that. If you want a competent debate, or you're sick of self-serving, corrupt people, or you think whichever party is unfit for office, VOTE. 

Other Episodes on Politics:

Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online. 

Walter Rodney was an immensely influential Black intellectual, political activist and radical thinker of the 1960s and the 1970s. For his radical ideas, writing, speech and his activism, he was assassinated in Guyana at the age of 38, leaving a legacy which we discuss in this episode. Rodney was Marxist in his thinking, but his positions were still his own. He mixed Marxist class analysis with Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism. 

He was amongst a pantheon of Black intellectuals, academics, leaders, and political thinkers of that era, which included Antigua and Barbuda's Leonard Tim Hector, and Grenada's Maurice Bishop. Rodney delved into the class structures which perpetuated underprivilege and poverty in the Caribbean and in Africa. And he criticized the middle class and post-independence leaders for, as he saw it, neglecting their duty to uplift the masses of poor, working class people in post-colonial societies. 

As much as he espoused a politics of popular liberation, Rodney saw the need for national self-determination to mean more than formerly oppressed races inheriting the reigns of government. It ought to have meant the dismantling of classism. He wrote: “The system doesn’t stop at racial discrimination. Because it is a system of class oppression, it only camouflages its class nature under a racial cover. And in the end, it will move against anyone irrespective of color. In the end, they will move even against their own.” 

His writings and political thought are extensive, and are never done justice with a few words. In this episode, we were fortunate enough to have been joined by a guest who worked with Walter Rodney before his assassination on this day 41 years ago, and we were given a true sense of the late scholar-activist's work and legacy. We are also joined by a student in his early 20s, who shared a younger perspective on the lessons of Walter Rodney.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 13th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

A group of residents of Old Road, some of them reportedly farmers, are protesting the Ministry of Agriculture's decision to lease several acres of land in the area to a woman for growing coconut palms. In this episode we tried to unpack two issues related to the protest. One was historical and community land rights. The other was race relations in Antigua and Barbuda.  

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on June 13th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

The Situation: The residents feel the farm land should be used by the people of Old Road, particularly those who are farmers. According to the MP for the area, some claim that they have tried and failed to get approval to farm the land. They protested the leasing of the same land to the same party back in 2018. That apparently fizzled out without concrete resolution. Because the Ministry has renewed the arrangement, residents feel slighted by the government. 

Further, Jameson "Kublai" Mannix, a spokesman for the protesters, argues that the land ought to be protected against encroachment from "expatriates" and has even suggested the same should apply for "their descendants" regardless of whether such persons are citizens. He claims the Antiguan and Barbudan woman to whom the land has been leased, and who happens to be White, has "expatriate" parentage. If that's true, should it matter? Mannix has pointed to the protest over the Carlisle Bay development in 2001, and promises made by the then government not give control of land to any "expatriate" . Early on, it was actually falsely reported that the land had been leased to a "non-national", stirring a wave of xenophobic and racist comments online.

A Note on Land: Like Barbudans, Old Road residents are guarded about land, and have a sense of communal ownership and inheritance. But a great deal of that land is state-owned. Colonialism created largely Black communities on both islands, which have intergenerationally used land which was not legally theirs. Even after 1838, Black labouring masses were largely unable to own land. It was normal for people to be tenants on land owned by wealthy sugar planters in partial exchange for their labour. Entire communities began as tenants on the fringes of estates, and landlessness, unplanned settlements, and poor housing for Black working-class people became a colonial legacy. 

Then in a single instance, the government took ownership of virtually half of all land in Antigua in 1967, when it bought out the syndicated sugar estates and the Antigua Sugar Factory. It was a guarantee to many poor working-class Black people then, that the government had secured the right for them to continue to use land for living, and for future development. There are just some factors which have contributed to the emergence of a strong belief in historical and community land rights in some places. Isn't that fair?  

On Race and Ethnicity: There is racism in Antigua and Barbuda. That's a fact. But it can be meted out by anyone, to anyone. Here, most people are Black, and the history of the Black experience in Antigua and Barbuda is, for most Black Antiguans and Barbudans, the basis of the Antiguan and Barbudan identity. We often leave little room for those who aren't Black to equally enjoy the status of being "Antiguan and Barbudan" in the ethnic sense, even though citizens come in all colours. Is that right?