Evil is never good, right is never wrong, and wrong can never be right.
My brothers and sisters, the violence which surrounded the Congressional Confirmation of the Electoral College Vote for the election of the 46th President of the United States of America is wrong. Period!
There should be no excuse or substitute for violence as an answer to any political impasse, because violence only breeds more violence. My Dominican brothers and sisters, let us be cautious with our calls for violence in Dominica following the ugly scenes which were played out in the USA on Wednesday must never ever happen in Dominica.
There is always a better way to do the things we intend to do. We should be strategic in our thought and be slow to anger. In fact, the Holy Bible – in Proverbs – teaches, that a person of quick temper acts foolishly, and those who harbor evil devices are hated. We need a middle ground, and APP provides this middle of the road position for meaningful compromise in Dominica’s politics.
My brothers and sisters, the lessons from our neighbors, the USA, on January 6 speak loudly to us here in Dominica. While we understand the people’s rights to protest – and we encourage it – APP wholehearted condemns of all forms of violence and lawlessness. We are also acutely aware that corrupt systems and governments inflict more violence on a people, than the people can ever dream to commit against the system and government.
My brothers and sisters, Wednesday’s action shows the abuse of power and fight for democracy, and at the end – democracy won. The scars, however, remain with us; hate and racial tensions will linger for a long time in America. Wednesday’s actions show us the ugliness of an overgrown appetite for power, and how a clearly defined structure of authority and checks and balances can expose, and even remove or neutralize such ugliness.
Brothers and sisters, what we need now in Dominica – more than ever before – is a sober discussion about what is decent and good and right for all of us – not just for a few. Let’s turn our anger against the system into the right passion to change the system. Let’s employ the right tools; let’s work together; let’s achieve together. We are better when we combine our best efforts.
We are each other’s keeper. We can fix Dominica together with an APP-lead winning coalition. Join our effort which is driven by love, compassion and empathy. Let’s be sober in our anger…let’s be sober in our anger, but we are right to be angered by authoritarian abuse.
