Leaders Issue Warning as OECS Assembly Opens

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Regional

Saturday, 11 August 2012 02:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St. John's - Leaders from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the heads of affiliated territories have opened the OECS Assembly here by issuing strong warning that the group should not be allowed to falter as appears to be the case with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

That message was the central theme of statements delivered by host Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, OECS Chairman Ralph Gonsalves, St Kitts and Nevis' Mark Brantley on behalf of OECS Leaders of Opposition and Montserrat Premier Reuben Meade on behalf of Non-Independent Members.

As the first leader to address the ceremony, PM Spencer warned that the Assembly - one of five OECS organs - cannot be successful if it is merely a talk-shop, but instill confidence in the electorates in the decisions taken beyond their borders.

For the Economic Union to succeed, he told the session, its foundation must be built on a consensus that informs regional political decision-making.

"Let us take note of the lessons of history that litter the landscape as we forge ahead. Let us steel ourselves against the examples of failure that exist," the country's leader said.

He pointed to the now defunct Assembly of Caribbean Community of Parliamentarians, stating, "How and why that happened should be an early subject for sober reflection by the OECS Assembly."

Chairman Gonsalves also warned that the Assembly cannot merely be an intellectual or academic pursuit.



"This has to deliver real benefits for real flesh and blood people who constitute the people of our OECS region," he said. "The work ahead is hefty, the agenda is heavily-laden and the hands are few."

The Vincentian leader noted that the sub-region has made immense progress since the 1981 signing of the original Treaty of Basseterre that established the nine-member OECS, noting "challenges abound."

"Ironically, the global economic crisis which ought to cause us to bind ourselves ever more closely in a more perfect union, contains ingredients to divide and fragment us," he warned.

"We are currently on pause in CARICOM in its quest for a single economy. I want us to avoid all these kinds of reversals in the OECS and that is why I urge above all we must over and care for the OECS. It is our anchor in the dangerous regional and global communities."



The ceremony at the Parliament Building in the capital, St. John's, lasted just over two hours.

It saw Rene Baptiste of St. Vincent and the Grenadines being elected unanimously as the Speaker, while former Speaker of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, Walford Gumbs, was elected as the Deputy Speaker without any challenger.

Dozens of parliamentarians and dignitaries from throughout the region and internationally attended the historic opening, among them Secretary-General of Caricom Ambassador Irwin LaRocque.

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