Leader of the Anguilla United Front (AUF) Victor Banks. *Photo credit: www.gov.ai

In his first major public address since his shock defeat in February 15 general election, the leader of the Anguilla United Front (AUF)  Victor Banks has admitted that he is disappointed but not discouraged.

” A setback is a relaxation for a comeback,”  Banks told party supporters who turned out at a public meeting here in the Valley this week.

The former Finance Minister in the last government of retired Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming began his address by noting that there is a need for honesty and truth in campaigning .   This was an indirect jab at his opponents who claimed that Banks was to blame in a big way for the current economic malaise in the country.

Banks has stated in the past that Anguilla like the rest of the world was not immune from global economic shocks.

The AUF leader especially thanked the people of the Valley South constituency for their support over the last 25 years in seven conseccutive elections.

” We still remain the largest party in Anguilla,” Banks declared noting that “we see a ground swell of support from the young people.”

Banks said that the election is over and that the duly elected government “must do its work.”

He said that he was proud to see that his former cabinet colleague and party member  Evans McNeil Rogers has taken up the appointment as the leader of the opposition in the Anguilla House of Assembly.   Rogers served as the minister of Social Development for five years under Fleming’s leadership.

“The opposition must do it works…we want to teach them what opposition is all about,” Banks said.  The ex-government official said the AUF would be an effective opposition.  Also joining Rogers on the opposition bench in the House is the AUF candidate and winner of the Island Harbour seat newcomer Othlyn Vanterpool, who takes over from retired minister of Communications and Works Kenneth Harrigan who occupied that seat for over a decade.

According to Banks, the entire AUF party will be involved in making inputs through its members in the House.  He also assured party supporters that the AUF will remind the Anguilla United Movement (AUM) government of the promises it made during the election campaign.  ” Government must be reminded of its criticisms,” Banks said.

Banks, who has been involved in active politics for 30 years, said that with the elections out of the way – the message of unity, hope and love must continue.

“I have been the focus of the attack” Banks conceded but adds that the AUF will be listening and will take action when and where necessary. He said that during the campaign they did not listen and pay much attention to the “innuendos, lies…..” but things will be different now and appealed to his detractors to be careful with their words.

” Give us a chance to lick our wounds in peace. We will give you a chance to do your work in peace,” Banks said in a direct response to the new administration of Chief Minister Hubert Hughes.   ” This is a time for healing. We have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Banks challenged the new government to match the AUF’s record of achievement; noting that ” it would be in the best interest of Anguilla.”

He said that the AUF would support the government when they do the right thing; but would vigorously oppose when they do the wrong thing.  Banks criticised the overall campaign in the run up the February 15 general election and said that he would not want to be involved in such a campaign again.  ” We cannot continue with disrespect and lies…my supporters have suffered because of slander, innuendos and attacks.”

Banks also told his supporters that ” Anguilla is bigger than all us. The government must do well for all of us.”  He admitted that Anguillians are suffering today and “we must now build for the future.”   He said ” whatever my decision is in 2015, I will always be here.”   The AUF leader offered congratulations to Evan Gumbs for his victory; adding that “he is now my elected representative.”   Gumbs, the AUM’s candidate for the Valley South constituency, pulled off a stunning victory over Banks.  ” I am here to make sure he represents the people.”  Banks said that he was prepared to offer his support to Gumbs if needed.  He also assured the supporters that he stands  firmly behind Rogers and Vanterpool, who also have the support of the entire AUF party.

” We did not do it this time, but there’ll be other times. We must stick together as a people; always united around the truth,” Banks said.  He concluded by calling on AUF supporters to vigilant and to be engaged.

Former Social Development Minister Evans Rogers.

Pressure continues to mount on the new opposition leader and former Social Development Minister Evans Rogers to put rest speculations about his American citizenship.

Speaking at a public rally of the outgoing Anguilla United Front (AUF) government to thank supporters, Rogers told party faithfuls that they had nothing to worry about in relation to his legitimacy to sit in the House of Assembly,

The former government minister, without going into details, maintains that the halls of justice (courts) are always open for people to challenge his legitimacy.

The independent candidate Rogers narrowly defeated to hold on to the Valley North seat businessman Sutcliffe Hodge has announced that he is mounting a legal challenge into Rogers’ legitimacy to sit as a member of parliament and also what he alleged were certain election day irregularities in district 3.    General elections were held here on February 15.

Throughout the campaign opposition candidates and their platform speakers had been calling on Rogers to come clean by producing for publication in local newspapers a notarized copy of the certificate from US State Department stating that he had given up his US citizenship.

Rogers studied, lived and worked in the United States for several years  before returning to his country of birth to enter the political arena just before the 2005 general elections.   He ran and won his seat in the House of Assembly.

Political observers here said at that no legal challenge was launched into his legitimacy to be a member of parliament.

During the meeting, Rogers warned that the ruling Anguilla United Movement (AUM) government will be held responsible for the many promises they have made to the people of Anguilla.   He congratulated the members of the new administration under the leadership of veteran politician Hubert Hughes and noted that ” the honeymoon period will be very short.”

” We will be constructive in opposition. We will be an organised opposition,” Rogers told the AUF supporters at a public meeting held outside the Landsome Bowl Cultural Centre in the Anguillian capital – The Valley.

” We will have a very active and forceful opposition. I promise you that,” Rogers concluded.   During Rogers on the opposition side of the House are his AUF colleague and elected representative for Island Harbour Othlyn Vanterpool and the only Anguilla Progressive Party (APP) candidate to win his seat -Jerome Roberts.

Jerome Roberts. *Photo credit: appaxa.com

The newly elected parliamentary representative for Sandy Hill (District 2), Jerome Roberts, has ended days of speculation about his allegiance in the House of Assembly.

Roberts, who was the only member of the Anguilla Progressive Party (APP) to win his seat in the February 15 general elections,  said after much prayer and thought, and after hundreds of telephone calls, text messages  and emails from the East to West, he has decided to sit on the opposition bench.

The new government of Chief Minister Hubert Hughes had extended on offer to Roberts to join his team.  However, during a meeting with his constituents late last week at the East End basketball court Roberts put the decision to join the government or remain in opposition to a vote.

The majority voted in favour of their representative sitting on the opposition side of the House.

At the meeting, Roberts confirmed receiving the offer from the government but said that he came with some conditions including him relinquishing ties with the APP.   He explained to his constituents that he was a member of the APP and did not feel it was right to just abandon his party in order to secure a position in the new administration.

The vote, which reflected a small sampling of voters from Distrct 2, was close.   The constituents who favored Roberts siding with the government said that he would be in a position to influence and do more for the district if he was a part of the government.

However, those against the move said he has effective outside of government and that he could still be effective and work in the interest of his constituents in the opposition. ” I am aware that decision would not be met favorably by many but that is how democracy works,” he said.

Roberts expressed profound gratitude to the residents of District 2 ” who came out in the early hours of February 15 to ensure that true and sound representation would be the order of the day.”

” Your support will always be appreciated and I will strive to work on your behalf in and out of the house of parliament. Today is a new day as i stand committed  to the task of creating a new direction for our district as your representative for the next five years,” Roberts said in a  note to reporters here on Tuesday.

Roberts, who is a member of the management team at the Anguilla Electricity Company (Anglec), thanked God for his guidance and grace throughout the election campaign and noted that there is much to be done and it requires all hands on deck if meaningful reformation is to take place.

The oppostion MP offered his personal congratulation to the Hon. Chief Minister Hubert Hughes and his team for their success at the polls. Roberts said he will seek  to support what is good from the government side of the House and what in his opinion is not in the best interest of Anguilla he will object to.

Last Friday, Governor Alistair Harrison appointed former Social Development Minister Evans Rogers of the outgoing AnguillaUnited Front (AUF) government  as leader of the Opposition.   Also on the opposition side of the House – the victorious AUF candidate for Islan Harbour Othlyn Vanterpool.

New leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly, Evans McNeil Rogers.

Anguilla’s British Governor Alistair Harrison has appointed former Social Development Minister Evans McNeil Rogers of the outgoing Anguilla United Front (AUF) government as the new leader of the Opposition in the House of Assembly (parliament).

Harrison presented Rogers with a signed document on Friday naming him as the ‘official’ leader of the Opposition during a short ceremony at Government House, the Governor’s official residence and office.

The ceremony was witnessed by other members of the AUF including defeated party leader Victor Banks, recently retired Communications and Works Minister Kenneth Harrigan and the other elected member Othlyn Vanterpool, who the the Island Harbor constituency in the February 15 general elections.

Governor Harrison said he was making the appointment under section 40 a (2) of the Anguilla Constitution ” that the Governor shall appoint as leader of the Opposition.the member of the Assembly who in the judgement of the Governor is the leader of any opposition party whose numerical strength in the assmebly is greater than that of any other opposition party.”

Rogers in his response said he was committed to working for the people of Anguilla in his new role as opposition leader.

” I want to take this opportunity to thank my colleagues and supporters..those of us who are members of the Anguilla United Front…and to thank the people of Anguilla and in particular the people in district 3 Valley North who once again came out on February 15 and supported me,” Rogers said.

His challenger in the Valley North constituency independent candidate Sutcliffe Hodge has said that he will launch a legal challenge into what he said were “irregularities’ on election day.  Hodge said that he also plans to the challenge the alleged US citizenship of Rogers.

If Rogers is a US citizen, under the Anguilla constitution, he is barred from sitting as a member of the House of Assembly.  Hodge, who lost to Rogers by 23 votes, wants Rogers to produce a certified document from the US State Department indicating that he no longer holds US citizenship.

Meanwhile,  Governor Harrison following a media query has been explaining why the appointment ceremony was taking place prior to the first sitting of the new House of Assembly.

” I think it is right it is the same sequence that was used with the chief minister and other ministers that they are sworn in as ministers before the first sitting of the national assembly and there a good pratical reasons for doing so to ensure that the chief minister and the leader of the opposition occupy those positions at the formal  swearing in..and also in particular the appointed of the second of the two nominated members I can only make after consultation with both the chief minister and the leader of the opposition and I can’t consult the leader of the opposition before he formally becomes leader of the opposition,” Harrison said.

Chief Minister Hubert Hughes and his three ministers – Evan Gumbs, Edison Baird and Walcott Richardson were sworn in last Tuesday.  Also sworn in was the parliamentary secretary and first nominated member Haydn Hughes, the 38 year old son of the Anguillian leader.

Jerome Roberts of the Anguilla Progressive Party (APP) is the seventh elected member of the House of Assembly.

Hodge lost the Valley North seat by 23 votes to former AUF minister Evans Rogers.

Businessman Sutcliffe Hodge, the former Cable and Wireless (LIME) Chief Executive  and unsuccessful candidate in Monday’s general elections for the Valley North constituency, confirmed here Thursday that will be challenging the result which gave victory to the former Social Development Minister and Anguilla United Front (UAF) representative Evans McNeil Rogers.

Hodge ran as an independent candidate but received public support from the now ruling Anguilla United Movement (AUM), headed by new Chief Minister Hubert Benjamin Hughes.

According to Hodge, several of his supporters in the District #3 constituency and throughout the island have been approaching and calling him on issues which they regard as the basis for a legal challenge to Rogers’ victory.

Rogers won the closely fought race by 23 votes.

“We are going to challenge Evans McNeil Rogers’ citizenship along with the campaign irregularities and there were many and this matter is now being passed on to an attorney a QC (Queen’s Counsel) to be specific to be dealt with; so over the next couple of days we intend to pursue this matter aggressively,” Hodge said.

Hodge alleges that Rogers is a US citizen.

During the campaign in the run-up to the general elections, several members of the AUM party charged that Rogers had not renounced his American citizenship and they have called on the former government minister to produce the necessary cerificate that he is no longer an American citizen.

In the past, Rogers has called on his detractors to test the matter in the courts.

Party leader of the Anguilla United Front,Victor F. Banks. *Photo credit: www.gov.ai

Party leader of the Anguilla United Front, Victor F. Banks, in a press release  issued here Thursday, expressed his thanks and appreciation to all those who faithfully and confidently supported the party in the just concluded General Elections held on February 15, 2010.

The Anguilla United Front contested all seven constituencies on a platform of Social Reconstruction built on a Foundation of Solid Economic Progress and Development.

Banks in his reflections on the outcome of the elections said “we have always believed that no matter the outcome of the election we are winners.  We are winners because we based our campaign on truth and integrity because we believe that only truth can endure.  We are winners because there were 2782 voters who chose to believe in the integrity of our characters; there were 2782 voters who chose to believe that we could deliver on the programmes outlined in our manifesto; there were 2782 who believed in our message of hope, love and compassion.  We thank those 2782 voters; for it is their confidence and love that fuel our will to see good come to Anguilla”.

Banks, who lost the Valley South seat he held for over 20 years, offered his congratulations to the new government and wished them the very best as they seek to govern and manage the affairs of Anguilla within the context of the realities of the global economy.

“The Anguilla United Front captured 2782 votes of the ballots cast and our party in general and our two members now in the opposition in particular will seek to ensure that Anguilla receives the best possible representation that the present government may be able to deliver.  We were the only party that offered total representation to the island and we captured the highest percentage of the votes cast.  We therefore have a responsibility to those 2782 voters as well as the others who will in the course of time come face to face with the truth, to remain vigilant and committed to the cause,” Banks stated.

Former Social Development Minister Evans McNeil Rogers of the AUF narrowly won the Valley North seat against the ex-Cable and Wireless (LIME) Chief Executive Sutcliffe Hodge.  AUF newcomer Othlyn Vanterpool won the Island Harbor seat, defeating four other candidates – Pam Webster of the Anguilla Progressive Party (APP),  Samuel Webster of the Anguilla United Movement (AUM) and the two independent candidates in District #1  educator Terry Harrigan and businessman Kennedy Hodge.

The AUM won four of the seven electoral seats in the Anguilla House of Assembly following Monday’s general elections.

Chief Minister-elect Hubert Hughes

THE VALLEY, Anguilla, CMC – Newly-elected Chief Minister, Hubert Hughes, who has been accused of being anti-British, is warning that his approach to Britain will not change.

Hughes, who was sworn in as Chief Minister of this British overseas Territory on Tuesday for the third time in his lengthy political career, led his Anguilla United Movement (AUM) to victory over the outgoing Anguilla United Front (AUF) in Monday’s general election, winning four of the seven legislative seats.

He told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that Britain’s approach to matters such as economic migration needs to change.

“The Governor can stall you at anytime. If the Governor doesn’t like you he can veto everything you do. These things have to change. Britain is 4,000 miles away and I have tried to become White and I haven’t been able to manage it, so I’ve decided to stay Black,” said the veteran politician, who previously served as Chief Minister from 1994-2000.

“Britain needs to change, not me,” he declared, questioning London’s approach to the recruitment of foreign workers.

“How does the British allow its Consul in China to send 500 Chinese to work in Anguilla and 780 Indians to work on Anguilla while Anguillians remain without jobs?

“Yet, when I try to get two Guyanese workers (out of Guyana) to work in Anguilla, I had like six months difficulty because they even wanted me to apply through London to get two Indians out of Guyana, who are Guyanese citizens. There is a conspiracy,” Hughes declared.

At the same time, former Chief Minister Osbourne Fleming, who bowed out of elective politics ahead of the poll, dismissed suggestions that by contrast he has been very soft on the British during his decade at the helm.

On the contrary, Fleming said he was never afraid to stand up to London if he had to and warned that bulldozing simply does not work.

“This does not give us anything. So why should I go up there and fight them. Fight them for what? They don’t have anything to give us, they can’t give us a cent, so why should I fight them,” he said in a separate interview with CMC.

But he said that when the situation required, he was more than willing to stand up to London, including when the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee recommended an inquiry into allegations of bribery in Anguilla.

“I stood up like a man in front of them and said ‘listen, if you know that there is some bribery going on, tell us where to start from’. We haven’t heard a word (from them) in two years,” Fleming said.

Another top official of the former AUF administration, Victor Banks, who led the party into the election, stoutly defended their policies and programmes over the past decade in office.

Banks, a former finance minister, who was the leading casualty in Monday’s election, said contrary to what his political opponents have been suggesting, there has not been any selling off of the island’s “crown jewels” under his watch.

He insisted that less than seven per cent of land in Anguilla is alienated, adding that it is local Anguillians who have been opting to sell the land. But he said the policy of the former government was one of leasing land for the benefit of the people.

Banks, who lost his seat to an AUM candidate he defeated five years earlier, also defended the granting of concessions to foreign investors.

“We have got to give them some kind of concessions and incentives to come in here and we have to get something out of it.

“What we get out of it? We get jobs, we get business opportunities, we get the visitor arrivals…that is why we give concessions. You don’t give concessions because you’re overly jealous, you give them because you have a motive and the motive is to create economic activity,” Banks said, adding “Anguillians who are not being misled…understand what we are doing”.

The AUF was only able to secure two seats, while the other party in the race, the Anguilla Progressive Party, claimed the other seat.

The new government

THE VALLEY, Anguilla, Feb 16 – Anguilla’s outspoken new chief minister Hubert Hughes has included his 38-year-old son Haydn on the list of appointees to his cabinet following Monday’s general election which saw his Anguilla United Movement (AUM)  party capturing four of the seven seats in the Anguilla House of Assembly.

Haydn, who ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in the 2005 general elections, will serve as a junior minister in the Chief Minister’s office with special responsibility for tourism. During the election campaign, the younger Hughes was unabashedly vocal on issues such as tourism, the economyand the massive concessions he charged were given away by the previous administration to big foreign developers on the western tip of the 35 square mile British Overseas Territory.

Hubert Hughes, in addition to being the head of government business, will also serve as Finance Minister,  a position that was held by defeated Finance Minister and former deputy chief minister in the Osborne Fleming administration, Victor Banks.

The key ministry of Labor and Immigration has gone to former school teacher and educator Walcott Richardson, the representative for the West End constituency; newcomer Evan Gumbs has been assigned the Ministry of Communications, Utilities and Works.  Gumbs, a former cyclist and basketball player, will also be in charge of sports.

Former minister Edison Baird, with 16 years of parliamentary experience under his belt, heads the Ministry of Social Development including health and education.

It has been hinted here that Barbara Webster-Bourne is tipped to become the first appointed woman Speaker of the Anguilla House of Assembly.  David Carty, a businessman and former politician, is the outgoing Speaker of the House here.

Party insiders also said that Jerome Roberts, the new representative for District 2 in Sandy Hill, could join the government and possibly serve as parliamentary secretary focusing on the youths, culture and the environment.

Roberts won his seat as a member of the Anguilla Progressive Party (APP).