Obvious to us, the election season has to an end; The results were declared and the winner was announced. As a first time voter, I took the time out to watch and observe. I attended rallies of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) as I did for the New Democratic Party (NDP) as well as I used social media platforms to watch and observe.
Over the past couple weeks, it has dawned on me just how lawless and non-chalant we are to the things that matter and we forget that people are in fact watching us.
In the 2015 elections, I remember oberseving the posts and rallies of both sides, I read manifestos and I showed interest even though I was unable to vote due to me not being in the gap of the legal age and though I noticed many things, soemthing that stood out to me was some posts made by people that are educators and other public servants to whom are very well known around St. Vincent.
At the time of elections back then, they were very vocal and though I understand the process of free speech and I understand that we all have the right to express our opinions, as an educator and ambassador of the government, certain standards should, under all circumstances , be upheld no matter the environment. Some posts made by educators, managers, employees of the government and people whom should be respectful at all times were very disappointing.
An educator of a respectable secondary school here made posts referring to the NDP North Windward candidate with some nasty words; this same educator has had a reputation for acitng out on social media platforms and she is never held accountable for these actions. In one post made by the manager of a very important business that is of importance to our economy featured a curse word and it was sent around; when asked about it, she replied “my prime minister is in government, nobody can’t tell me anything I say what I want”.
On both sides, as long as a position is held and you are an employee of the government, that automatically makes you an ambassador and a product of the government and at some point, the lawlessness must stop. Just because you support the party that is serving government does not mean you should say, do and act out as you please under any circumstances because it is unacceptable.
I know of people whom are holder of high positions in business, principals and teachers whom are vocal supporters of the ULP and I for one do not find an issue in such, I believe ultimately that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and should state them without fear; Their posts featured things the government had done and basically explanations of why they would always choose to vote for the Unity Labour Party due to progress and that is commendable.
I have always had huge respect for people whom can be opinionated and respectful at the same time but what I would never forget is the statement made by some people during the times of elections; people of whom, might I add, are holder of positions that people look up to and young people aspire to have.
Under absolutely no circumstances should someone whom is of a high position choose not to hold someone accountable for their actions, their wrong actions specifically, even if they are supporters of the same party. Whether or not you see eye to eye politcally should not be a determining factor in if you should be held accountable for your actions or not. The post of which I spoke about early on social media by the educator, I take the time out to ask everyone reading this, how can we show such disregard for protocols along with the youths and expect to be respected because of our positions? St. Vincent is not a land of miracles and you get what you give. In the event someone, specifically a student turns around and use that same word in dialogue with that same educator; that act is subjected to punishment by the supervisor of the institution.
I say all this to say that it matters not where your allegiance lies, in the public, someone is always watching and keeping an eye out there. As much as we may not like or be fond of it, we are always watched by those whom are trying to learn from us and they pattern their lives as ours as they grow. Our founding fathers did not fight as hard as they did for our nation to become lawless and I am a firm believe that they should be honored at all times.
In my observation also, I realized an issue that I wont call victimization but one of which needs emphasis by the necessary parties. I personally know of school that carries a principal to whom i have had the honor of knowing and I ask not to be misunderstood , she is a respectful woman.
Over the election season, the school to which I make reference to hired three new employees (SET employees) two of whom did not graduate the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College and obviously , they were put on the pay roll. I also know of a lady whom graduated Teacher’s College as we know it, volunteered at this same institution, was never placed on the pay roll and left because of the fact that she was not even considered in any of the three spots that appeared because of the SET program.
This same school has a reputation for being a “family school” as the supervisor has a tendency of hiring her family members whether or not they are qualified for the position of which they are hired for.
I say all this to say, as the Unity Labour Party is granted another term in government, there are some things that must not be over looked and must be dealt with, even if they are done by a person whom supports the party. I ask that the record state wrong is wrong under all circumstances. We cannot have a nation where one is allowed to do as they please because of where their allegiance lies because in simple terms, that is called chaos in the making.
I aim not to bash the sitting government in anyway but as a first time voter, I found it a responsibility of mine to watch and observe and I did. We must do better and we must do better to move forward. Our nation should be one of international standards, no matter how small we are, we are rich in culture and we are more than capable of being as big as other nations. We cannot stay at one stage at all times, we must aim always to clean up and go forward.
First time voter
The views expressed are not those of ANN, please submit all articles to [email protected]
