Inauguration OECS Assembly
Concluding the inaugural session of the OECS Assembly marked another historical and important milestone for the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). This milestone included such highlights as the inspection of the Guard of Honour, the election of the first Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the OECS Assembly, with statements and addresses from Host Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda, Chairman of the OECS Prime Minister Hon Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Hon. Reuben Meade, Premier of Montserrat on behalf of the Non Independent Member States and Mark Brantley, St. Kitts-Nevis of the Political Opposition in the OECS.
The nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) then launched its latest political initiative as a major step forwards its efforts to fully establish an Economic Union and deepen its sub-regional integration movement.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines national, Hon. Rene Baptiste was elected the Assembly’s first Speaker. While lauding the historic occasion, she immediately sounded the horn that there is work to be done. “Today we in the OECS have certainly made history,” she said. “We have serious work to do as these are serious times. Time is of the essence and it is our time to write our own history.”
Following the nomination and election of the first speaker, former Speaker of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly, Walford Gumbs was elected Deputy Speaker of the Assembly.
Montserrat Assembly delegates, Colin Riley, Donaldson Romeo and R T Meade
The program of events was followed and parliament host Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda after welcoming all, said, “…nothing epitomizes democracy more than a parliament and here is a regional parliament of not one but all of our sovereign nations of the OECS bound together to secure the regional good in a way that we could not have achieved individually. I therefore embrace the opportunity to welcome you to the OECS assembly Antigua and Barbuda and more particularly to the parliament of Antigua in whose chamber we now sit.”
He told the packed Chamber, the decisions taken at the assembly must be built on a regional consensus and added: “This marks another significant milestone on the road to regional integration and development. We are pioneers in this noble enterprise to alter significantly how we function. It is our duty to show what is possible to those who will come after.”
He boasted the road of the OECS movement since 1981, after pointing out failures before it: “Into this integration void stepped the countries of the Eastern Caribbean and forged their own institutions to promote regional integration and economic development.”
OECS chairman Ralph Gonzales, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, spoke next and during his address noted: “One member of this august assembly, the Hon. Lester Bird leader of the opposition in Antigua and Barbuda, was a signatory to the original treaty. The successor in the governmental instrument, the Revise Treaty of Basseterre establishing the OECS economic union which came into force in June 2010, was attested to by the distinguish prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda the Hon. Baldwin Spencer, the leader of a political party which has been in electoral contestation for over two decades with that of the Hon. Leader of the opposition.”
Giving meaning to the fact, and substance of the treaty and the Assembly, he said, “This fact signifies the absence of political partisanship in the crafting of and support for treaty arrangements design to deepen functional economic and governance integration in our region. Across each of the member states of the OECS the governing and opposition parties are at one on this issue, despite occasional dissonance on this or that detail.”
The next speaker was the full member of the Organisation, not often mentioned, but with hesitation, Premier of Montserrat, Reuben T
Premier Ruben T Meade addressing the Assembly
Meade. He called for the leaders of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to have a genuine love for the sub-regional grouping and what it stands for.
The Hon. Premier spoke on behalf of the three non-Independent Members, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, and Montserrat.
“We must love the organisation of the OECS and we must love the people who we are called to serve,” he told the gathering which included all the Heads of Government for the OECS, the CARICOM Secretary General, His Excellency Irwin Larocque, other regional heads of organisations, including the European Union representation in the Caribbean.
Hon. Mark Brantley MP the leader of the opposition in St. Kitts-Nevis spoke on behalf of OECS Leaders of Opposition, preceding the adjournment.
Premier Meade and Opposition Leader Don Romeo, and Minister Colin Riley were Montserrat representatives at the Assembly.
The Premier led a large delegation to the official opening which included the Honourable Leader of the Opposition Donaldson Romeo, Acting Governor Her Excellency Sarita Francis, and the Honourable Financial Secretary John Skerritt, along with other members of the Premier’s office and the Cabinet Secretariat.
Montserrat is one of the original members of the Treaty of Basseterre and has participated fully in the OECS since its inception in 1981.
Related articles:
http://www.themontserratreporter.com/inaugural-oecs-assembly-in-antigua-barbuda-marches-the-oecs-on/
http://www.themontserratreporter.com/discussions-education-and-information-will-mark-oecs-success/
