It turned out all along that the mood was red, and the code was yellow as well. Stevie Wonder could have foretold the election results, although many like myself were awaiting a phantom wave towards the UWP to provide a more robust opposition. But why did the party suffer such ignominious defeats at the polls, two in a row at that!
The most obvious answer lay in the party’s continued choice to select Allen Chastanet to be their leader after their first shellacking. I remain confused about why many party members continued to be Allen or bust despite numerous indications that the die was cast against them. Often seeming disconnected from the working class, his predilection for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, a disease which many of his fellow candidates adopted, painted him as out of touch and a menace to our culture and way of life.
His desire to rebrand the party and reshape it in his image often led to the belief that it was his way or the highway, as several members departed the sinking ship, warning of his high-handed nature. It didn’t help that the Chairman indicated that potential candidates needed to bend the knee to be considered worthy. Furthermore, the perception of arrogance continued to follow him with many saying they’d never support the party as long as he and his cohort, namely Guy Joseph, remained at the helm. Efforts to rehabilitate his image were seen as wasted, as many pictures of his 2016-2021 reign remained fresh in voters’ minds. The departure of key figures like Andy Daniel, Edmund Estephane, and others of their ilk, many of whom wore the red of the ‘enemy,’ drove a knife through the heart of the campaign.
The party’s inefficiency in selecting viable red wall candidates in the constituencies of the two Vieux Forts and Laborie, to at least even persuade independently aligned or soft Labour party voters to consider alternatives, additionally, candidates who seemed to have a better track record succumbed to many of the same errors that befell the leader, and seemed inauthentic.
How do they fix this?
A one-state, five-term monopoly, like the one that existed in Vincy. Nor what continues to exist in Dominica is what appeals to the rest of us. The first step should be a leadership review as a post-mortem of both election cycles. The resignation and/or firing of the leader, chairman, or campaign manager should be the immediate process. In fact, many are mystified that a resignation didn’t accompany his concession speech/post.
A major apology to party supporters and an acknowledgement of errors by party leadership, particularly referencing their terminology of social nets as hand-outs, calling persons mendicants and beggars, and the many missteps made. Humility, which is often not associated with the party, needs to be shown, and giving priority to listening to the issues and problems people have with the party is a necessary step forward.
A new party policy and identity need to come forward and be shaped, one that, although steeped in the party’s conservative ideals, is considerate, compassionate, and feeds people’s hearts and souls rather than cold economic policy. The deriding of policies which help people, which may be anathema to a party’s position or its policy. Hands need to be extended across the aisle to persons who departed the party in droves, particularly those who donned the red of the SLP to convince them of the need to rehabilitate and revamp the party.
Who will lead this rebirth?
The final task, though, for a new leader may be the hardest part. Who will be ready to take the lead to deal with a potentially problematic Leader of the Opposition, a battered party with low morale and be the Kenny Anthony of the UWP? Who has the cache, the gravitas, the swagger, and the marbles to step up to the plate? Bradley or Herod? Steven, Tommy or maybe Titus? Or does someone new with the pedigree of a Vaughn Lewis or KDA need to step up and redefine the UWP?
Failure to do so may send it tumbling into even further irrelevancy.