A powerfully-worded letter by Mr Clairmonte Lye in this past Sunday Stabroek (Aug 21, 2016) motivated my short lead-piece today.
Frankly Speaking, Mr Lye’s correspondence captioned “When you lie to Parliament you lie to the people”, will rankle and intimidate some in the coalition Cabinet of ministers along with some in senior executive power-spaces in the corridors of governmental authority. Ironically, to me Lye’s messages should be studied and acted upon, if not embraced fully, by those same Cabinet personnel. Especially our still lean-and-clean President himself!
I quote from Lye: “Over the years our diminished standards of decency and sensitivity have made us oblivious to the sanctity of Parliament. We forget that when you lie to Parliament, you lie to the people”.
Ouch! Those observations pinch my own old-fashioned sensitivity regarding the status and role of parliament and its law-makers. But Mr Lye is very accurate when I observe even the posture as well the limited oratory of too many assemblymen and women, I mourn the demise of both language and presentation. So-called heckling and parliamentary banter has plunged the assembly close to the most crude stevedores when they are annoyed or overworked. Now an “Honourable” member, a senior Cabinet Minister has given his Party leader a moral bloody nose by deliberately “mis-leading” his fellow MP’s.
Another quote from the letter from Lye: “… on the irony of electing to office, people whom we trust to run the business of Government, when almost all of them have little or no experience in running even a small business successfully.” I can give most of them a pass on this one as they – especially the Ministers and other Executives, should have trained, experienced, professional advisers around them. However I give Mr Lye the last word on this specific point: “These people learn on the job, at our expense! If it were their money they would not be so criminally reckless in their decisions.” No comment necessary here.
Finally from Lye: “But it gets worse. We also elect to office many people who have a personal track record of boorishness and incivility. It is totally unacceptable that this behaviour should be carried over to an institution as venerable as Parliament.” Justifiably he wonders what our youth would think of our elected, representatives when they- the young – view these demeaning displays.
Lye provided his own answer. It is embedded in his first paragraph which speaks about “our diminished standards of decency and sensitivity”. Plain and simple – it is society’s “new normal” of the lack of values and finer cultural virtues, where cuss-down in songs and politics, crooked cocaine barons are role-models of the get-rich quick dot com generation and where even churches are now less spiritual and more “entertainment”. Poor us.
Now hiring: A good-governance guru
There is, of course, distinctions/meanings between “government” and the wider concept of “governance.” The employee I’m advising this President about could straddle both concepts as he/she will be implementer, monitor and standard-bearer to ensure clean, fair transparent behaviour and standards from our Government’s decision-makers.
How hopeful we felt when first we heard of a Code of Conduct for our top-most public servants. Hope now resides, also in both a renewed Integrity commission and the much-touted reform of our constitution.
“Integrity legislation” will delay implementation and constitutional reform seems destined to remain a mystery to be unraveled by an expert favoured few.
Meanwhile, the Granger honeymoon is decidedly over. The Cabinet and the plethora of advisers and CEO’s must no longer be deemed “new”.
Embarrassments are beginning to abound. From the misspeak of Minister Lawrence to questionable public appointments to Norton-gate, the poor President, according to one Stabroek News editorial, is becoming the nation’s “Apologist-in-Chief.” That is so undesirable… and should be unnecessary.
Gail Teixeira was/is competent with matters relating to cultural development, aspects of national security and the workings of Parliament. I always wondered about the what and who she related to as the PPP’s adviser on governance. Principles of good government? Ethical, constitutional behaviour?
Mr Jagdeo? Ramotar? Benn? Bheri? Useless!
But this government now needs such a czarina of governance. Already there are too many blunders and corporate scandals blooming under the Brigadier’s watch: China trips, soft on Baishanlin, parking meters, Broadcast authority imbroglio, etc, etc. Hire a classy, iron-willed lady to pre-empt governmental mischief and ministerial mis-steps. Let her engage the ruling Parties on good governance, using the disgraces of the very recent past as case- studies. Now hiring – with a contract up to June 2020.
“Everybody’s somebody’s friend”
Do I like Spokesman/Minister Joe Harmon for the wrong reasons? I doubt it. Around my drinks table and few buddies I can say things as I see them, speaking frankly. I’m no public leader though I try to be socially upright, honest.
Minister Joe, on the other hand, should be cautious and responsible in his “new” status. For sometimes he is seen to be reflecting the thinking and position of the President himself. But Minister Joe has his own brand, his own military-attorney-part-time-politician style.
Reportedly, when asked about certain dubious appointments at the Water Incorporated back in December last, Joe was frank: “Let me say this… Guyana is a small country… we have to utilize the resources that are available to us… everybody… is somebody’s friend…”
Realistic? Escapist? Dismissively dodgy? Even those retired PPP spokesmen should like Joe’s responses.
`Til next week
(Comments? allanafenty @yahoo.com)
