VIEW FROM THE CWP


Hon. Dame Eugenia Charles, MP, Prime Minister of Dominica, and Hon. Paul Keating, MP, Prime Minister of Australia, attending the opening ceremony of the 1993 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Cyprus.


I would like to think that I speak on behalf of all women everywhere in this world who refused to consider that this tiny seedling of political consciousness growing in their soul was a mere weed when they permitted it to grow and flourish at great personal cost and sacrifice. As I write this, Dame Eugenia’s indomitable spirit is foremost on my mind. They are in politics today because they decided, among other reasons, that the sacrifice is worth it. My foray into politics was not dissimilar from that of my mentor, Dame Eugenia. In the late 1940s and up to the early ‘60s, my late uncle was a politician who was deemed to possess high oratory skills. People in my country walked or rode on horseback for miles and miles to come to the capital, Roseau, to listen to him whether they agreed with his politics or not. It was not lost on me that at that time there were just three women on the political scene. My impressionable mind took in only that women were part of that scene. Coupled with the fact that my father and mother had instilled in me that I could do anything I wanted once I applied myself, my subconscious was already formulating my future. Dame Eugenia came after, but she cemented in me the desire to become involved.


But my ambition had to wait for me: to go to the United Kingdom to study, to curtail my studies to get


her 15-year tenure. Although she rose admirably to them all, by 1995, battle- weary though still regarded as the “iron lady of the Caribbean”, she called it a day in favour of one of her all male senior party colleagues.


Dame Eugenia’s legacy has not gone unnoticed in her country, in the region or even the world. Well after her retirement, she continued to receive accolades, particularly for her innovative approach to development.


Her brave entry into politics was at a time when women who ventured into that arena asked no quarter, expected no concessions and got neither. Several books have been written about her and she continues to be a role model for many an aspiring female politician, not the least myself. I fully acknowledge her remarkable strength of character and determination as being the motivation for me to enter politics.


But before I relate my experiences as Speaker, now in my 14th of service, please permit me to repeat here what I consider to be the three most compelling reasons for women to have a place in the most important decision-making institution in a country. First, the Chinese have a saying: “Men hold up only half the sky.” It therefore stands to reason that women must hold up their half or the inevitable will occur. Need I point out that it seems the inevitable is occurring all around us?


Secondly, powerful world leaders, some of whom are conferring in Northern Ireland as I write, have persuaded us for decades that democracy is the only acceptable form of governance and I agree. But surely what is more democratic than the two genders that equally share the space on this planet participating in the political and decision-making process equally too? And thirdly, of course, most persuasive of all to my mind, is that by leaving women out of the decision-making equation, half of the world’s potential intellectual resources remain untapped.


I would like to suggest that the seeds of political consciousness do not discriminate by gender when searching for suitable planting ground. However, it is in the nurturing of the tiny plants that have sprung from these seeds that obstacles, real and imagined, present themselves. Some may argue that many of these obstacles are, for the most part, self-imposed. But the social, environmental, sexist, religious and cultural obstacles are real.


married and have children, to wait until they went to university, to go along with them to complete my studies this time in law, to get back to my country by 1990 and to begin my advocacy for abused women and children. By 2000, the Labour Party won the elections with a one-seat majority and asked me to be their nominee for Speaker. I agreed, was voted in and then, as they say, the fight started!


From the day I became Speaker, virtually every ruling I make has been subject to organized criticism. Over the airwaves, on political platforms, in internet blogs, the most unsavoury things have been said about me. It was no solace to me to learn that my sister Speakers in other islands were faring no better. I, as Speaker, have been taken to court I think a total of nine times, counting appeals. But I have won every case so far. There are still two or three matters pending. I understand letters have been circulated to every Legislature in the Commonwealth criticizing my rulings.


At times like these, I remember Dame Eugenia and, thanks to my close-knit family, friends and many, many supporters, I am able to remain focused and ride out yet another storm.


Politics is clearly not for the weak and fainthearted, more so for women. But I do believe that great strength can be acquired when one becomes imbued with a clear sense of purpose and one surrounds oneself with family, friends and supporters, particularly for the times when the going gets even tougher than usual.


Since the days of Dame Eugenia and others who, cutlass in hand, hacked a road through the political jungle, they left a footpath for us to follow. We, in the here-and-now, can do no less for those who desire to succeed us than to turn that footpath into a smooth, well-tarred road.


It is my hope and belief that the less the new female politicians stumble, the more likely they are to arrive at their ultimate destination: a seat in Parliament, in the shortest possible time.


[Author’s Note: Sections of this article were based on Women in Parliament in Dominica: Past and Present, written by Ms Boyd Knights and Dominican historian and anthropologist Mr Lennox Honychurch.]


The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Two | 97


© David Gadd/Sportsphoto


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