Before I dive into this article, I must say that I am a man who considers himself a feminist. I believe that women should take up space in every facet of society and that they should be afforded opportunities akin to that of their male counterparts.
With this said, I remember that in 2021, I came across an article where salient points were made related to the presence of women in our Parliament and our representative politics. I truly believed that we as a 21st-century society should be afforded representation that is truly reflective of our society; I still stand by that opinion to this day. I was, accordingly, heartened to see that the ULP made significant strides to include in its roster female senators in the persons of Keisal Peters, who first sat as minister of foreign affairs and trade, and Ashelle Morgan, who sits as deputy speaker of the House of Assembly. I had hope; hope in Ms Peters and Ms Morgan as two relatively young professional women who, by all accounts, were hardworking and intelligent.
Worry struck following the nationwide scandal involving Ms Morgan, who at that time, was accused of being a participant in the unlawful wounding of Mr Cornelius John. Ms. Morgan appeared to handle that situation with the arrogance of a protected individual. Therefore, I turned my attention to Ms Peters for hope.
Ms. Peters appeared to start off on the right foot. Then it seemed as if the bulk of her focus was on becoming an influencer based on her showcasing of Vincentian designs at the many events she attended on the dime of the Vincentian taxpayers. While that is all well and good from a cultural and nationalist standpoint, it was distracting, and then insulting.
It was a rare occasion when Ms Peters informed us of the purpose of her visits overseas and at various meetings; instead, we were told who she wore. I would have never imagined Ms Peters to be so vapid an individual. After Ms Peters was removed as minister of foreign affairs and trade, we saw less of her fashions and even less of her work as a minister and designated electoral candidate.
In the middle of this, the Unity Labour Party’s fifth term in office, we saw the appointments of Ms Benarva Browne and Ms Shackell Bobb as senators — even younger professional women to whom I again turned my hope. My former fears that my dream for young women to rise in the ULP would, however, die with Ms Morgan and abandoned with Ms Peters.
Ms Browne, as minister of urban development, has failed to pull herself out from the shadow of Julian Francis. Ms Bobb, as parliamentarian secretary, seemed to suffer from a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease with her failing to do even basic research before spouting misinformation in relation to the former National Youth Council.
Alas, the ULP has flaunted its many female candidates and senators in positions of power as a badge of honour. However, as an onlooker, I have begun to wonder whether the ULP has employed these women as mere seamstresses to sew the curtains in this high level of window dressing.
I believe that women should be in these positions. I believe that they should be able to represent the societies in which they reside. Pulling women who have no backbone with which to stand and represent themselves and us as the electorate is a useless exercise. Moreover, using women in these positions to fool international indicators of women participation in politics is just another form of exploitation of women — an issue which all and sundry knows plagues the Vincentian society.
Long gone for the ULP are the days of Rene Baptiste and Girlyn Miguel and many more women whose very names and reputations carry with them the inspiration and hope of multiple generations. The sum of all these new ULP women in politics cannot total the powerful forces of Ms Baptiste and Ms Miguel. They cannot step in their shoes.
We now see a flurry of activity with election season in the air by the elevation of Dr. Grace Walters, Keisal Peters and Chevorne Stewart for the ULP and Shevern John and Lavern Gibson-Velox for the NDP.
Look at these candidates and be the judge. Who are placeholders and who are the ones intended to be true representatives?
