#Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands – Wednesday, July 11, 2018 – Turks and Caicos politicians were chastised by one of their own during House of Assembly session today; a former Chief Minister and current Opposition Leader called-out Members for harbouring so much animosity that bipartisan unity is virtually non-existent.

Hon. Washington Misick, during his rebuttal to the Budget Communication made the bold statement.

“And so Mr. Speaker, it is an indictment that we, the Political Class and Senior Management of this country have all drank the kool-aid and now operate at the intersection of capacity deficit and system designed faults that have seen the establishment of a hegemony who do not know from whence we came!”

While the Opposition Leader did not define what exactly is a hegemony – leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others – he did opt to decipher the meaning of his bombastic remark.

“The system that we now have is one that we have to accept responsibility for and it is partly because of the division we have among ourselves…  because Mr. Speaker we all bought into the kool- aid, the theory or the snake oil, whatever it is that was sold to us and we have made decisions that we understood things as they were, when things happened but it is now time for that to change.”

Hon Misick, who is the immediate past Minister of Finance said he understands the frustrations eluded to by the Premier and current finance minister in her Budget Communication of the day before, where Hon. Sharlene Robinson said:

“When we got into office, we met certain institutional structures that were resistant to the change the people wanted; that were bent on maintaining the status quo and, on frustrating the will of the people and diluting the power of their vote.  And so this budget Mr. Speaker, but must be seen as a significant part of the foundation we are re-building.  We have had not only to navigate the institutional and structural landmines put in the people’s way, but also face head on the challenges that nature presented.”   

The PNP Leader in the House of Assembly expounded with, “It is a non-partisan statement… we have to, all of us, whether we are politicians, permanent secretaries and other people in powerful positions, we have to start thinking critically about the next generation and not continue to drink the kool-aid that is served to us.  We know what happened in Georgetown; we should let our actions be those that in our best interest and in the best interest of our country.”

Referring to Queen Esther of the Christian Bible, who is revered for her fearless stance which rescued her nation of Israel from complete annihilation by an evil ruler, Hon Misick said “we are all Esthers in our different roles… we should all in our separate roles think about the decisions we make, whether we are dancing to the music of a hegemony who do not know from whence we come.”

There were many analogies and Bible scriptures lacing the early remarks of Hon Washington Misick, the fifth all-Island member. There was also a backwards glance, deemed vital to perspective, by the Member and it captured some of the major events of 2008 and 2009 affecting the TCI including Hurricane Ike, the global financial meltdown and constitutional suspension. 

Hon Misick labelled the story of the Turks and Caicos’ economy in the last decade as ‘unprecedented’ and a full recovery, no longer in need of a doctor’s care.

“…yet it continues long after the patient has recovered, it continues to this day.”

The Opposition Leader called on the Premier not to “flip-flop” on the matter.

The phrase ‘drinking the kool-aid’ is a euphemism emanating from a heart-breaking story from 1978 which happened in Georgetown, Guyana.  Cyanide and Valium spiked kool-aid was willfully drank by 900 people who were followers of American Jim Jones.  The poisoning of the Peoples Temple ‘cult’ members is one of the worst mass genocides and one of the more infamous chapters in Caribbean history.