By David Browne
We are witnessing, once again, the full force of political hypocrisy in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Some supporters of the ruling Unity Labour Party, along with a couple of radio commentators who are simply misguided, have been loudly condemning Dr. Kishore Shallow, insisting that it is a conflict of interest for him to serve as President of Cricket West Indies while running as a candidate for the New Democratic Party in the upcoming general elections.
But these same voices fall silent when it comes to the glaring and far more serious conflict of interest presented by Grenville Williams, the sitting Attorney General of this country, who is now a declared candidate for the Unity Labour Party.
Let us call this what it is. A full-blown constitutional contradiction. A direct assault on the principle of impartial justice.
The Attorney General is not a sports administrator. He is the government’s chief legal officer. He advises the Cabinet. He oversees legislation. He may guide prosecutions. He appears in the courts as the Crown. His role is central to the fair and neutral functioning of our legal and political system.
And yet, while still sitting in this role, Grenville Williams is being presented to the nation as a candidate for the Unity Labour Party. This is not being done in hushed tones or in the shadows. It is being done boldly. Bombastically. With the full support and blessing of the party in power.
This is not only a conflict of interest. It is a conflict against peace, against fairness, against the constitutional order. How can an Attorney General, whose job is to serve the legal interests of all citizens, be actively campaigning for one political party? How can the same person be expected to enforce the law fairly when he is also seeking to write that law as a partisan politician?
And where is the outrage? Where is the chorus of concern about the erosion of democratic norms? Where are the defenders of principle who cried out about Dr. Shallow’s candidacy?
Dr. Kishore Shallow was elected to head a regional cricketing body. He holds no executive authority in government. He was not appointed by the NDP. His role, though prestigious, is unrelated to governance or public legal affairs. The same cannot be said of Grenville Williams. His role cuts to the core of how a government functions. His candidacy calls into question the independence of his office. It destabilizes trust in our institutions.
The silence from the ULP’s supporters is not accidental. It is strategic. It is self-serving. And it is shameful.
We are a nation in decline. Not just in terms of governance, but in terms of standards. We bend rules for party loyalty. We excuse wrongdoing for political gain. We destroy principle to protect power.
When the New Democratic Party wins, it will inherit a country in crisis. Not just economically, but spiritually and morally. We have sunk into depths never before seen in the history of our civilian and indigenous society. Depths of corruption. Depths of dishonesty. Depths where ethics no longer matter, where principles are mocked, and where decency is treated as weakness. Fair-mindedness is gone. Integrity is ridiculed. The work ahead is immense. But it must be done if we are to lift this nation from the hole we have dug and restore some measure of dignity to public life.
The Views expressed are not those of Asberth News Network