United We Stand, Divided You Become

Written by Pio Sioa
Sunday, 09 December 2007
Whatever the final outcome of the Government road switch policy, what is now starting to unravel in this RHD opinion stand off, are signs of true democracy at work. Where the politicians have failed, public opinion has stepped in and taken over. As Toleafoa Solomona To’ailoa, Chairman of the ‘People Against Switching Side,’ (PASS) pointed out, the dissension starting to appear in the HRPP, is a win for democracy not the protest movement. The collective voice of the people is the foundation that gives birth to the freedom that true democracy represents. This is the same collective voice PASS is now harnessing, to bear on the HRPP leadership and its stubborn stance on the RHD policy. The pressure so far appears to have found some success, The swell of public opposition to the policy has obviously given dissenting members of the HRPP caucus, the support and courage needed to come out of their shell of silence. Whether or not more protesting shells in the HRPP will continue to open, is probably going to depend on how the 17 December protest march to Parliament, turns out. Maybe a boosting injection of public reaction will embolden the others to step out; and they probably will What seems to be shaping up now is a public protest that will rival, if not surpass the impact of the 1981 strike by the Public Servants. No other industrial action has threatened to paralyse the public transportation system, or agitate the normally conservative business community to willingly close down, in support of the march. The democracy we all know is BY the people FOR the people. When freedom of public expression kicks in, it usually means not everything is well in the state of Samoa. This is the cornerstone in the system of checks and balances embedded in our democracy, for its own survival. The threat that is now rallying the country to stand united, is a Government that insists on moving forward with the RHD policy, without any legitimate supporting facts and figures to overcome public fears. The Prime Minister has basically based his argument on sweet talk, but you can fool some sometimes, but as in the case of the protest march, not all the time. The Prime Minister continues to deny any hidden reasons for such a radical and unexpected change, even as the pressures on the economy cries out, the same as the business community involved in the motor vehicle industry are doing. Unless a good enough reason is given, this element of doubt and speculations of hidden motives, will follow the PM’s every excuse to switch to the ‘wrong side’ of the road. Maybe he will eventually come around, if this storm of protest will push him far enough to the edge. Unlike past protest marches, the Government is in no position now to play its ace card about public opinion being politically motivated. There are no politics involved. Most of the people supporting the protest, including the Chairman of PASS, are declared HRPP supporters. The Prime Minister has to come clean on this RHD policy, it is probably the one card he has up his sleeve now that can sway people to trust in his leadership again. Tell the country the truth. Tell them now before the damage gets out of control. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Email Title Comment
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 December 2007 )

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