Punish them at the polls
SADLY, WE Jamaicans do not have a lot of choice in the upcoming local government elections. Both major parties on offer have a robust track record of corruption in office, and neither has even made an election promise to put the necessary legislation in place to bring transparency and accountability to the political process. Nepotism, cronyism and undeclared conflicts of interest are not illegal in Jamaica, and neither party shows any interest it criminalising these most obvious forms of corruption.
Not even the electoral process is free from the taint of votebuying, influence-peddling, kickbacks in the award of government contracts, and the use of public funds to sponsor political advertising. Campaign finance legislation is extremely loopholy, and is designed to allow billions of dollars of anonymous undeclared and unreported donations to flow to the parties and candidates. The loopholes could be easily plugged, requiring all donations – large and small – to be declared and published; shady characters and persons seeking to buy influence would be deterred, and political donations would therefore decrease. Decent, honest persons will not be deterred from making political donations.
But Jamaica’s corrupt system thrives on secrecy, and politicians on both sides support secrecy in integrity matters for fear of exposure.
There is no enforcement of even the feeble legislation that exists. Whatever declarations are made under the law are not verified, and failure to make a declaration – on time or not at all – goes unpunished.
Both parties believe that issues of corruption do not matter to Jamaican voters, despite the fact that a sizeable majority of Jamaicans have chosen to opt out of the system. Politicians prefer to think of it as apathy – a“doan cyah” attitude – rather than a choice by decent people to inflict “a pox on both their houses”. And so both parties choose to remain mired in their corruption.
LITTLE TO CHOOSE
In truth, there is little to choose between the two major parties on offer.
But there is a good reason for the disaffected to turn out to vote this time – for the lesser of two evils. What little democracy we have is at risk!
Democracy is not the same thing as dictatorship of the majority in parliament. Jamaican parliamentarians and parish councillors govern for and on behalf of the people of Jamaica, and when they become arrogant, self-serving and drunk with power, it is time for a change.
Twice now in the last few months the ruling party has brought a bill to parliament where the other side is seeing the actual text for the first time, and then they use their simple majority to ram it through on the same day, in the face of disapproval from the parliamentary opposition and important elements in civil society. This is anti-democratic behaviour.
Since the establishment of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ), all matters to do with constituency boundaries have been handled by that body to avoid accusations of gerrymandering. The ruling party’s attempt to set the boundaries for the proposed new parish of Portmore, without involving the ECJ, is a threat to Jamaica’s democracy.
Add to that the unilateral decision of the ruling party to change the convention of immediately tabling in parliament the reports of the Integrity Commission which name politicians suspected of malfeasance. How does this help transparency and democracy?
The political ombudsman has no power to enforce the Political Code of Conduct, but has to rely on “persuasion” and “naming and shaming”. Intimidating green and orange flags staking out political territory go up, whatever the sympathies of residents, trespassing on utility poles and in breach of the Anti-Litter Act. Persons hang out of the windows of buses hired by political parties, and ride on the roofs, all in violation of the Road Traffic Act. “Keep it clean” admonish the politicians as they hand out party paraphernalia with a little sweetness included. All these activities breach the Political Code of Conduct, but the political ombudsman is powerless to stop it or punish it.
Instead of strengthening the hand of the political ombudsman, the ruling party is seeking to merge those inadequate and impotent functions into the responsibilities of the ECJ, which seems to me to set up a profound conflict of interest. Surely, commenting on the actions of the ECJ is part of the remit of the political ombudsman. That is now out the window.
NO PUBLIC CONSULTATION
And all this with no public consultation, despite loud objections from responsible civil society, like the churches and the anti-corruption NGOs.
Add to that, the charade of a constitutional reform process, where the government begins with what they call a “consensus” (so what is going to happen is already decided); they then appoint an unrepresentative Constitutional Reform Committee that meets in secret. The draft bill was soon to have been tabled, with no public consultation, or any public education on the available options.
After widespread public protest, they held a few public relations meetings, and are spending money on a jungle campaign, but there is no real public consultation or public education taking place.
Does the ruling party believe that genuine public consultation is essential to genuine democracy? Do they even know what genuine public consultation is?
In 2018, the government announced its plans to demolish Allman Town, Woodford Park, and Kingston Gardens to create a “Government Oval” with housing for government employees. There was no consultation with residents in any of those longstanding communities. Why is this governing party so averse to consulting with the people?
Add to that the debacle of the “take it or leave it” attitude to small public sector wage increases, and the removal of allowances and concessions, while proposing and approving 200-plus-per cent pay increase for themselves.
Earlier this week the prime minister (PM) declared open the still unfinished highway between Harbour View and the Yallahs Bridge. In his speech the PM took to task those of us who have criticised the slow progress of this project, originally scheduled for completion in August 2022, then rescheduled to August 2023, and it still remains unfinished six months after the revised deadline. Either there has been poor project management in forecasting and scheduling the work (one kind of incompetence), or there has been poor execution of the project (another kind of incompetence). The government cannot escape responsibility.
If the ruling party wins the popular vote in the local government elections coming in 20 days time, they will feel that the voters support their actions, and we can expect more of the same, or worse.
I propose that the voters of Jamaica punish the ruling party for their excesses, and send a clear message that we want an end to arrogance and corruption.