Never forget our significant milestones

It is to his eternal credit that local historian Dr. Adrian Fraser of “From whence we came” fame, keeps reminding us of significant milestones in our historical development. The latest of these was his column in last Friday’s edition of the “SEARCHLIGHT’, (to be continued this week), which reminded us of the first elections held in St Vincent and the Grenadines which were open to all citizens 21 years and older.

This was called Adult Suffrage and implemented throughout what were then the British colonies in the Caribbean. It was an important step in our constitutional evolution but did not come out of kind heartedness of the colonial government. The rebellions throughout the Region in the thirties had severely weakened the colonial system, and the second world war, during which again Britain had to seek support, both economic and in personnel, from the colonies, had dictated that colonialism would have to adjust in order to survive.

One way of doing so, and to try and sidestep the demands for independence, was to allow all adults of voting age, 21 years at the time, to vote without the discriminatory property and literacy qualifications under the colonial system. Those restrictions meant that the vast majority of the adult population were not allowed to vote. Yet the colonial government boasted of the introduction of parliamentary voting in 1925.

So, on October 15, 1951, there were the first elections to the eight-seat Legislative Council, as Parliament was then called. One would think, that if there was only one institution in our country which would uphold this landmark, would be the successor to the Legislative Council, our House of Assembly. But for some reason, the date of the 1951 elections seemed to be taken for granted. If we take 10-year anniversaries, can we remember any significant fanfare about the 1951 elections, in 1961, 1971 and so forth even up to 2001, 2011 and 2021?

For all its inherent weaknesses, the introduction of Adult Suffrage and the holding of the 1951 elections were major steps forward in our constitutional development.

Judging by our expressed commitment to the Westminster system of government in the outcome of the 2009 constitutional referendum, we want to keep this system. How come our Parliament has never commemorated the occasion or our political parties, among the biggest beneficiaries of party politics and elections, have never taken any measures to institutionalize the 1951 elections, date and all, in the consciousness of our people?

In the 73 years since then there have been modifications and improvements. Among them has been the evolution of the political party system on the British model, and above all, the lowering of the voting age to 18 years at the minimum. It all started on that October day in 1951, and it must not be taken for granted. It emphasizes the need for continuing political education and in the process, the completion of the task of writing OUR STORY, the serious responsibility given to four of our local historians to write our history from our perspective.

While we await, we must not let important landmarks pass us by.