Published By The Turks and Caicos Sun News
Some Turks and Caicos Islanders who confessed to have agitated for the British to temporarily take over the running of the country, but now are sorrowful that they did, are calling for the UK-administration to have a change of heart also and pull-up stumps.
A number of persons at different levels of the social strata had advocated for the United Kingdom Government to step in and take over the reins of the country, if only temporarily, after coming to the conclusion that the Michael Misick administration was not acting it their interest.
They believed it was a good thing for the British to step in and regulate the governance of the country so as to plug the holes of corruption for future administrations. They however said they were saddened at the way things were going, and believe it was high time that the UK direct rule curtains be drawn.
At least one of those confessions came out during the Providenciales leg of the Constitutional and Electoral Reform town hall meeting at the Community Fellowship Centre Assemblies of God Church located along the Leeward Highway, on Monday (May 17).
One of the speakers - noted attorney-at-law Beryn Duncanson - admitted to being one of those supporting UK intervention, being convinced that the country was headed down the wrong path.
Duncanson, a member of the All Party Commission, which drafted an alternative Constitution, noted that the time had elapsed for direct rule to end since it has so far been a dismal failure and proved counterproductive to the forward movement of the country.
“Those of us, sober-minded Belongers, who were in favour of British intervention and the suspension of the Constitution – I am one of those – and I regret it. I regret supporting the British suspension of the Constitution, because of what we have been experiencing and have been seeing happening,” Duncanson revealed.
Similar utterances of initial support for British intervention into Turks and the Caicos Islands affairs by successful businessman Albray Butterfield Jr., caused him to resign from his deputy leader posts, after movers and shakers within the party pressured leader Clayton Greene to have him axed.
Butterfield, during a news conference, said he advocated for the British to intervene in the operations of the country but said that he felt they had used up their goodwill capital and it was time for them go. Nonetheless, party rank and file members mounted a relentless campaign to push him from the position.
Meanwhile, Duncanson stressed that whatever goodwill that was drummed up for the suspension of the Constitution has been squandered by the British Government. Duncanson declared that the British Government was barking up the wrong tree, when it moved to overhaul the Constitution, saying that the problem was with certain areas of legislation which needed to be tweaked.
“There was no constitutional crisis that brought us to the mess that we are in,” Duncanson pointed out. He bemoaned the fact that Governor Wetherell now wields absolute power where he does not have to listen to anyone to make decisions, which the attorney said was not a good thing.
When it was announced sometime ago that it was recommended by Commissioner Sir Robin Auld that the TCI Constitution be suspended and the UK institute direct rule, PNP high ranking member Don-Hue Gardiner publicly declared that he would take a PDM government any day over British rule.
