An open letter to Franka Alexis-Bernardine, the Leader of the NDC
On the day you were appointed leader of the NDC I felt great pride and admiration, for you and for the symbol of hope you represented. Hope for better days ahead and hope that powerful female leadership was capable of leading this country through the difficult years ahead. However, ever since your appointment I have watched in awe and disappointment as the NDC has disappeared into the abyss.
The country is facing one of the biggest crisis in modern times, and you have failed to showcase the leadership skills required to lead in a time of crisis. Make no mistake whoever eventually takes the mantle from the current PM will be faced with an economy that is in crisis; the health care system is underfunded and without resources, the roads are falling apart around us and Agriculture is at an all- time low.
You have remained silent on some of the biggest issues facing our country, when indeed all these provided you an opportunity to show Grenadians that you are indeed capable of steering this ship.
- The Government is planning on re-opening the borders to the UK and US COVID19 epicentres and you have remained silent.
- The public workers salaries are being threatened, yet again, and you have remained silent.
- The government has proposed a stimulus package that is aimed mainly at their supporters from the public coffers and you have remained silent.
- The GTA in collaboration with the Ministry for Health has called for a show of “appreciation” to frontline and essential working by making a loud sound on Friday April 24. The majority of our nurses are on contract, the hospital is lacking basic supplies of oxygen, (PPE) personal protection equipment and hand sanitisers. Surely it would be a greater show of appreciation to provide them with the resources required to do their jobs and keep them safe, and yet you have remained silent.
- The MP for Carriacou & Petite Martinique and others has been seen delivering hampers solely to their supporters and you have remained silent.
- Our economy is heavily reliant on tourism, yet the CEO of the GTA has a background in mobile technology and you have remained silent.
- We have yet to hear another word from the Government on the supposed discovery of oil and you have remained silent.
- The Government is promoting the MSTAR platform as a major advancement, while that might be so, many of the teachers and students are without the necessary resources, such as laptops, tablets and WiFi, to access the platform. As a former Minister of Education, you are perfectly suited to take up these issues and challenges, yet you have remained silent.
- Our agriculture sector is in tatters and needs revamping and yet you remain silent.
- The students have yet to receive the tablets they were promised (which would be useful in this crisis) and you have remained silent.
Instead of having your voice be heard, the NDC instead has become defensive of its silent position, using the excuse of not being elected to justify your silence.
You know as well as I do that all evil needs to triumph is for good people to remain silent, and your silence will never command the confidence of the people.
I used to look forward to reading the NDC Heartbeat in one of the weekly newspapers, but it appears that this too has disappeared into thin air. Your silence is deafening.
Are you waiting on the election campaign to then try to convince us that you are capable? The NDC needs to provide a credible alternative, that is relatable and capable of making the tough decisions. If not, then you too are part of the problem, as you contribute to creating an environment that lets the PM sail smoothly to victory on your back.
A cursory glance of your social media is also not impressive. Whatever events you do manage to attend or promote are sorely lacking publicity. Whoever manages your public relations is failing you. I have yet to discern whether it is your team that is failing you or whether it is you that is failing to lead your team.
While I applaud the efforts to redesign the NDC website, the NDC has planned a COVID-19 digital press conference for April 22 and it only came to my attention from visiting the Facebook Page. Was a press conference notification and invitation sent to the media outlets for dissemination?
The NDC National initiative for COVID-19 has received little to no play in the public domain. Again, its existence only brought to my attention by visiting the Facebook Page. How do you propose to reach the masses of the population with this laissez-faire approach to public relations?
You have failed to command confidence and you have failed to show the qualities required to steer this country out of the 20+ years of economic turmoil we have suffered under the boot of the PM. If you really are capable of steering this ship, the time has come now to STEP UP. If not, then it is time to step aside.
Liberal Feminist