Doug Parnell- leader elect of PDM and what does this mean for the Turks and Caicos Islands

Doug Parnell the offspring of a white British man and a black Belonger assumes the reigns as leader of the former opposition Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) last evening Saturday the 31st October 2009.

The election of the leader of such an establish political party in the TCI is critical at this stage, particularly as the TCI is being govern by what can only be describe as a dictatorial regime with an unelected but appointed British Diplomat acting as Governor being assisted by unelected persons of Belonger and Foreign origins acting as the Executive and Legislative Branches of government respectively; all assisted by a Judiciary appointed by the said Governor.

The importance of Doug selection to lead the PDM must be examined the context of how the TCI is currently being govern; It is further important to note Doug’s involvement in the events leading to the summarily dismissal of the elected and appointed members of the political parties by the British Government. The elected voices are the only voice of a representative government given a mandate by the people of the TCI to govern and speak on their behalf, therefore it is going to be interesting to see how Doug is going to manage his competing interest which are his role as leader of one of the major political parties and his desire to invite the British in our midst. Whatever is his mindset Doug must remember that it is incumbent on the leader of the two major political parties to be engaged and vocal as to the state of affairs of the TCI under this Interim Administration? Particularly, as with the suspension of our constitution Doug must realize that today the form of government in the TCI is a dictatorship in that there are no separation of powers of the various branches of government in the TCI; With the results that the lack of checks and balances on the powers of the government in the TCI exposes every Belonger, Resident and Visitor to arbitrary treatment at the whims and fancy of the Governor.

In short the selection of Doug’s as leader of the former opposition PDM party sends mixed signal in that it is common knowledge that Doug along with Floyd Seymour was instrumental in providing the British with the bulk of lies, innuendoes, mistruths and half truths, which prompted the institution of commission of inquiry that resulted in the suspension of our constitution, suspension of representative government in the TCI and a termination of the right to jury trial by the citizen, residence and visitors to the TCI. This is no criticism of Doug as he has on several occasions taken credit for his involvement with bringing the commission of inquiry to the TCI. Since the arrival of the British and the interim administration he has been quoted in the national media as having said that he does not regret that his representation has led to the suspension of democracy in the TCI. These words I suspect will come back to haunt Doug and his PDM leadership reign. I predict that is going to be most difficult for him to attract and grow the membership of the PDM party as I believe that one of the biggest challenges for those who seek to lead is to rid the TCI of the British. Doug certainly until yesterday do not meet that criteria as he is on the record as somebody who clearly advocated for them to come here in the first place; I don’t see how he credibly make the argument that they should leave now that he is the leader of a major political party.