| PDM demands elections in August | | Print | |
| Written by Richard Green/richard@fptci.com | |||
| Friday, 02 March 2012 11:26 | |||
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Saying “enough is enough,” Leader Derek Taylor and his People’s Democratic Movement party are demanding elections by August. “It would be a great gesture if it was done on the first of August, Emancipation Day,” Taylor said at a press conference Feb. 24. “We are ready and willing to help make this happen, and I’m positive it can happen.” His Excellency the Gov. Ric Todd and other U.K. officials have said they believe elections can be held before the end of the year, but U.K. ministers have not yet decided when that will happen. The call came after a meeting the same day between PDM party leaders and the governor during which they discussed the milestones for return to elected government, citizenship and taxation, Taylor said. Elected government should make the final decision on a revised pathway to citizenship now being formulated by the appointed Consultative Forum, Taylor said, and an elected government should decide taxation. “I pointed out in no uncertain terms that with an elected government, we would note the whole area of rolling back taxation with review of a Turks and Caicos committee,” Taylor said. “Not a British review, but a Turks and Caicos review.” Over the past year, the interim government has increased all government fees; increased taxes on imports, fuel, tobacco and alcohol; and imposed new taxes on financial transactions and insurance policies other than those for health and life. The governor has said that recent tax and fee increases were necessary measures to improve the country’s financial situation. Achieving a budget without a deficit in the coming fiscal year is a requirement for return of government to elected officials. “There are other ways to raise revenue without taxing our people to death,” Taylor said, claiming that the interim government has not done enough to encourage inward investment. The U.K. suspended elected government in August 2009 after a Commission of Inquiry alleged widespread corruption among former Progressive National Party ministers, including former Premier Michael Misick. The government was also nearly bankrupt at the time. “Since 2004 I pointed out that ‘Mike-enomics’ was not good for Turks and Caicos, that we were going down, that we were on a slippery slope and the behaviour of the other administration would bring the country to its knees,” Taylor said. “The Foreign and Commonwealth Office didn’t listen. The governor at that time didn’t listen. Basically we are in this mess because no one seemed to listen.” Taylor said he agreed that without intervention, things could have gotten worse, but he said the interim government has had no engagement with Turks and Caicos Islanders, using foreign advisors instead. Taylor said the PDM would honestly bring the country back into prosperity. “We are positive we can take this country out of this situation we have found ourselves in,” he said. “We can get out of this, but we can’t price ourselves out of the market by taxing our people to death. The PDM plans to hold public meetings in the near future to prepare for return to elected government.
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