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by pltm
(PLTM) - It was suggested that the call for independence is being made for political purposes, and that the public is getting sucked into the fray. Therefore, Legislators on both sides of the aisle, during the July 10 sitting of the House of Assembly, announced that the time has come for a referendum to be called to give the public the final say on the matter.
Opposition Member and Third District Representative, Hon. Julian Fraser was the first to make the call, and told his colleagues that a referendum is most needed on the matter of independence or self-determination, as he said that there is a lot of discussions and misinformation on the subject.
As he encouraged a referendum, Hon. Fraser alluded that persons are using the discussion of independence to manipulate the public for political purposes.
“One of the good things that they have done (government) is that they have put in place referendum legislation, and it is something that I think the time has come to be used. We are too educated a people to be surviving on gossip; when you do that you’re manipulating your people and we need to stop it. We need to stop manipulating people for our own personal gains,” he pointed out.
Hon. Fraser further opined that some of the calls for independence are being driven by people seeking personal gains, and he suggested that a referendum will make the true view known.
“It used to be political, now it has become economical, which we need to stop. Our people are none the wiser, we have people running around talking loose about independence and self-determination. I think we need to stop it.”
“We have legislation, let us put an end to all this vain talk one way or the other. We have legislation, take a referendum to the people…as to what their preferences are. In so doing Madame Speaker, you kill two birds with one stone. The first bird you’re gonna kill is that you’ll be able to educate the people as to what the pros and cons are for self-determination or so called independence. After you have already educated them, in fact you will be getting educated too, because you will hear what they have to say,” Hon. Fraser explained.
The Opposition Member said that there appears to be multiple reasons for the call for independence, and he suggested that none of the calls are strong.
“We got one guy running saying we need to do it because of this reason – one little reason. Another guy running around saying you shouldn’t do it...without bringing the full picture before the people,” he announced.
In further advocating for the matter to be finally put to bed, Hon. Fraser said that the results would outweigh the cost to make the referendum possible.
“The cost of the referendum is part of the process. It is cheaper to do the referendum and do the right thing, than not to have a referendum and you mess the people up. This holds true for a lot of things.”
He said the referendum should also get public opinion on other weight issues.
“Should we be smoking pot or should we not be smoking pot. Should we gamble or should we not gamble -- these are things that have long term ramifications in the life of our people. So the cost of a referendum is well worth having as to what we should be doing. Besides, it takes that stigma away from politicians or government I should say. It takes that stigma away from government of being dictatorial,” he added.
Junior Minister for Tourism, Hon. Archibald Christian endorsed the call for a referendum and said that he also believes the time has come for the people to decide on the major issues.
“I have been talking about referendums for years; it’s in our statutes why are we not using it…It’s in our statutes we need to use it,” Hon. Christian said.
The Junior Minister said that matters such as medical marijuana and pari-mutuel betting should also be put to a public vote.
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