Dear Editor,
If you are on social media these days you would have immediately noticed that the people of St. Maarten are sharing pictures, videos and speeches of the Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley. Popular saying goes that you should never lift a politician too high, but Mottley is on a roll as a global leader. Compared to St. Maarten’s Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs, the PM in Barbados must seem heaven-sent to many here. And on Monday, November 1, Jacobs showed us exactly why people do not hold her on high.
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten shamed herself on live radio on Monday morning when she did not rebuke Chairman of Parliament Rolando Brison. She did not even distance herself and her party from Brison’s grotesque comments. She condoned his comments towards women, she condoned his wheeling and dealing, she condoned his narcissism, she condoned political victimization. Shame on you, Prime Minister.
She did this by stating that Brison’s recorded statements were out of context and in anger. Seriously, Prime Minister? So, was that not his voice and did the words not come out of his mouth? By being Brison’s biggest apologist and not addressing the serious implications for the country, Jacobs condoned every single thing Brison uttered on that recording. And that is beyond shameful. Shame on you, Prime Minister.
It was disappointing to see the Prime Minister, a woman, sit there and condone Brison’s tearing down of another woman. Then again, this is the same Prime Minister who took a week to say anything about Minister Doran’s disrespect towards the Ombudsman, also a woman. Shame on you Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister is an educator by profession. But instead of using her position to live up to the honorable ideals of an educator and respect the trust people placed in her to lead them, she has personified the saying “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The Prime Minister apparently has lost her moral compass or perhaps she never had one. She is now protecting her power base at all costs, even at the cost of losing her soul. Shame on you Prime Minister.
Finally, a word of respectful advice to the Prime Minister: All of your media appearances lately either start or end with a speech that’s somehow meant to be motivational, like you are a teacher in front of a classroom talking to children. But because you have shown that you are unable to live up to your own examples, I have a request: please stop preaching to us. It’s condescending and insulting, especially after defending a narcissistic, misogynistic, unremorseful and verbally abusive individual like Rolando Brison. Your words carry no weight. Shame on you, Prime Minister.
Name withheld at author's request.
