Gombey Liberation Party
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| Bermuda |
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| Gombey Liberation Movement | |
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| Leader | Gavin "Djata" Smith |
| Deputy Leader | Duvall "Dagga" Spencer |
| Chairperson | C. Sterlin Smith |
| Founded | July 3, 2003 |
| Headquarters | The Symmetron, 63 King Street, Hamilton, Bermuda |
| Website | http://gombey-liberation.wikispaces.com |
The Gombey Liberation Party (GLP) is a grassroots political party in Bermuda. Founded on the 3rd of July, 2003, shortly before that year's general election, the GLP has yet to attain a seat in the Bermuda Parliament.
24 year old artist and musician Gavin Sundjata Smith created the GLP with the assistance of his brother Corin, a supporter of the United Bermuda Party and former member of the youth wing of the Progressive Labour Party, and used the name of a type of local dancer, the Gombey, to attract interest in the party.
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[edit] Platform
Under the slogan, "The Power of One", the GLP's political platform — directed towards the Bermudian youth — revolved around removing the remnants of colonialism and British influence from Bermuda. Much of this influence comes in the form of the Governor of Bermuda, whom Smith claimed was consolidating his power — backed by a conservative neo-colonial movement — over the Bermuda Police Service, the Bermuda Regiment and the legal and banking systems.
GLP intended to use "therapeutic" instead of "adversarial" measures to attain its goals, including civic engagement and a balance between "grassroots values" and "establishment priorities":
Grassroots values
- Faith
- Family
- Fulfillment
- Fairness
- Freedom
- Fun
- Flexibility
- Unity
Establishment priorities
- Ideology
- Bureaucracy
- Necessity
- Force
- Control
- Protocol
- Efficiency
- Order
Other goals included the rejuvenation of local culture through the establishment of "culture centres" on several derelict site.[1] More ambitious proposals included relocating the Bermuda International Airport and redeveloping St. George's historic forts for a variety of purposes, as well as initiating truth and reconciliation.[2]
[edit] Public response
Though many individuals found Smith and the GLP an entertaining concept, few took him seriously. Of those that did was a section who responded with great hostility, including threats to Smith's family. The origin of this hostility is attributed by some to the use of the phrase "Gombey" and the fact that the GLP was running against then-Premier Jennifer Smith.[3]
[edit] 2003 Election
During the 2003 General Election, founder Gavin Smith was the party's only candidate and ran for the St. George's North constituency, against the PLP's then-Premier Jennifer Smith and the UBP's Kenneth Bascome. He received 16 votes, or about 0.02% of the ballots cast, compared to J. Smith's 423 and Bascome's 415.
G. Smith's final count was the lowest of the Election, followed by 41 votes for the National Liberal Party's lone candidate Graeme Outerbridge, and 51 votes for the lone independent candidate Stuart Hayward, both of whom were more publicly known than Smith. In fact, these three, and one each from the two main parties, were the only candidates to receive fewer than a hundred votes.
[edit] The Aftermath
While many mistook the GLP campaign as a political distraction, the strategy placed an uncompromising spotlight on the leadership prospects of the then incumbent Premier Jennifer Smith who was facing a significant challenge in her political district from dissidents both within her party and the community at large. Exit polls from the canvassing station clearly established that the GLP's protest action took 16 votes away from the UBP, thus saving her from an embarrassing defeat at the polls. Her subsequent attempt to assert leadership over the PLP was nevertheless thwarted by dissident MPs who refused to recognize her as the new leader of government, even though she had lead the party to victory in the 2003 general election campaign. This leadership crisis paralyzed the country for 3 days and threatened to divide the PLP until a compromise was struck at a special delegates conference that resulted in Alex Scott becoming the new PLP leader and Premier. The GLP maintains that its "Power of One" campaign was prompted by a grass roots mandate to expose the underlying deception and contrivance of Bermuda's partisan rivals. This aftermath is perhaps the most enduring legacy of the 2003 General Election. Since that time, the GLP has been rebranded as the "Gombey Liberation Movement" and has entered into a "non-aggression" pact called the "Kwanzaa Accord" with the official opposition party, the UBP to promote reconciliation between grass roots white and black constituencies.
[edit] External links
- Gavin Smith Mini-Biography
- Smith vs. Smith: Gombey candidate likes his chances in St. George's
- Time to let my peers know their power says Gavin
[edit] References
- ^ Johnson, Ayo. "GLP targets destructive policies of the past", The Royal Gazette, July 10, 2003
- ^ Johnson, Ayo. "GLP platform builds on its East End roots", The Royal Gazette, July 18, 2003
- ^ Johnson, Ayo. "Gombey Liberation Party leader feels hard knocks of politics", The Royal Gazette, July 19, 2003
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