PDM Opposition Leader calls for no fear in the stride for Self Determination on JAGS Day

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, June 6, 2022 – “We should not be afraid of self-determination” was the message from the nephew of J.A.G.S McCartney, Edwin Astwood, leader of the People’s Democratic Movement as he spoke at the wreath laying ceremony in honour of the national hero held Monday May 31.

The Opposition Leader did not mince words as he called for a reassessment of the TCIs Governance structure.

“England is our mother country but the Turks and Caicos Islands have grown up, you may not believe it but it is about time for us to prepare to branch out on our own.”

Astwood argued that there were models in the Caribbean region from other countries that showed the wrong and right way to go about independence and could be applied to the tci setting.

Astwood went ahead and outlined a plan to get the islands ready for independence. This plan included strengthening the institution for good governance, creating systems to assure peaceful transfers of power after general elections and committing to enhancing food security, national security and safety. After this, Astwood said, then a referendum could be put to the people to have them decide if they should stay with the monarchy or not.

“I am hereby proposing that we develop those milestones and then seek permission for a referendum,” he said.  Astwood then criticised the current system of government in which the UK could deny the islands a referendum as well as ‘loyalists’ who he said did not believe that the Turks and Caicos could stand on their own saying that the islands could not use the excuse that they were ‘not ready’ forever.  He argued that not only should membership in the United Kingdom be voluntary but the Turks and Caicos should be partners rather than ‘loyal subjects’.

“I wholeheartedly believe that the United Kingdom should be a voluntary association of nations on the basis of mutual cooperation and respect. The Turks and Caicos’s future is a matter for the people of the TCI and it would be fundamentally wrong to deny us the right to a referendum.”  He said, “Over the years we have built a multi-cultural society.”

He addressed the Governor and Queen’s representative in the Turks and Caicos directly urging Nigel Dakin to use the time he had left with the TCI, to advance meaningful discussions between countries while protecting both the UK and TCI interests.

A united country is what Astwood asked for as he addressed the sitting premier, Washington Misick, directly, “Yes we are on different parties but we’re on one team and that team is team TCI.”

Astwood urged islanders and the government to assess the areas in which the country had progressed and regressed in the last 42 years since J.A.G.S. McCartney’s death and maintained that the islands must ‘look ahead’ to important issues of the future including  citizenship, land, home and business ownership, diversity of educational opportunities, natural security and the preservation of the environment.