Dear Editor,
Some contend it is $3,000,000 per month or $36,000,000 per year, while others argue that it will be $1,000,000 per month, or $12,000,000 per year. The actual figure of President Bharrat Jagdeo’s pension as a former president is still a conundrum for most Guyanese, and while we all deserve to know the truth, we can in the meantime examine the legislation which is at the centre of this debate – the Former Presidents (Benefits and Other Facilities) Act 2009 (FPA).
On the matter of medical treatment, if President Jagdeo opts for medical treatment overseas, he can certainly exercise that right with all expenses paid by the people of Guyana. He can also extend his medical benefits to “dependants” who are not defined in the FPA 2009 and who, like the former president will receive lifelong medical attention. It is worth noting that in the US a former president’s children cannot not access such care for life. Since President Jagdeo currently has neither children nor spouse, can Guyanese be told if “dependants” encompasses siblings or relatives?
If President Jagdeo utilizes his personal funds for such treatment, he will be reimbursed in full, whereas a former president of the US will be reimbursed at an “interagency reimbursement rate.” Is there a reason why the architects of the FPA 2009 did not introduce a similar limitation? After all, are checks and balances not necessary for burgeoning and mature democracies alike?
Such specifications might have been particularly useful in the clerical and personal staffing arrangements for our former presidents here. The FPA 2009 does not detail how many personal and household staff former presidents may hire, nor does it prescribe criteria for clerical and technical staff which the former head of state might need. The latter benefit is entirely at the behest of the former president, but what if that president requires consultants from overseas? What rules circumscribe the hiring of technical personnel and for what periods? Or is it expected that Guyanese will incur the expenses whatever those are?
If President Jagdeo continues working on the platform of climate change and privatization, he may need technical assistance, which no doubt will come at a significant price to Guyanese taxpayers. Additionally, the FPA 2009 exempts former presidents from expenses for all utilities. This might seem a reasonable concession for a former president of any country, but should Guyanese be burdened with expenses attaching to the personal enjoyment of former presidents? Or is not more responsible for such expenses to be paid only in relation to the conduct of professional duties by a former president? After all, a former president will be earning much more than ordinary citizens with additional multiple avenues of earning an income, so why, from both a moral and economic standpoint, should that individual not at least pay utilities for personal convenience?
The FPA 2009 grants an allowance which is “equivalent to the cost of two first class return airfares” as similarly provided to members of the judiciary. Once again, the architects of the FPA 2009 do not distinguish between financial entitlements for the conduct of professional duties and allowances for personal relaxation by former presidents. Shall President Jagdeo, for instance, be required to use his travel allowance to travel overseas on business engagements?
And, if the President opts to use his allowance only for personal relaxation, then who pays for his official travel? Further, how will such allowance be calculated when destinations change? I think here of a first class airfare to China versus a first class airfare to Trinidad and Tobago as an example.
The issue of security for former presidents is perhaps the least generalized of the benefits in the FPA 2009, but there are still looming questions. As an example, once again, President Jagdeo will have “full time personal security and services of the Presidential Guard Services at the place of residence.” In the US former presidents receive only 10 years of protection from the Secret Service.
The FPA 2009 does not offer any indication as to how the pension is computed, since the Pensions (President, Parliamentary and Special Offices) Act does so stating that “The President’s pension and Prime Minister’s pension shall be seven eighths of the highest annual rate of salary paid to such person.” Since I do not know either the Chancellor’s or President’s salary, both of which are the same, I cannot deduce the seven-eighths spoken about.
If we accept that according to the Office of the President, President Jagdeo will earn $1,000,000 per month or $12,000,000 per annum, then we will see U$5000 per month or US$60,000 per annum possibly as reasonable, if not negligible.
However, even at US$5000 per month, the former president’s pension can be deemed extravagant if such benefits are to be decided within the context of a country’s nominal GDP, as I think they should. According to the World Bank, Guyana’s nominal GDP was US$ 2.2 billion in 2010 compared to US$2.246 trillion in the United Kingdom and US$14. 582 trillion in the United States for the same year. There is hardly a doubt as to the economic chasm which exists between our country and those developed nations. Yet, in terms of nominal GDP, former leaders in those countries hardly receive a super inflated pension. George Bush’s pension is approximately $3,000,000 per month and it is taxable. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair earns roughly $4,439,000 per month, which includes both pension and office allowances. And here in Guyana, even accepting the figure is $1,000,000 per month, we can see the disregard for GDP as a necessary context for deciding a pension. Granted that Tony Blair and George Bush receive emoluments from sources such as guest lectures and memoirs, President Jagdeo’s pension is almost 1/3 that of these two former leaders of two highly developed nations.
Further, even if we choose not to compare pensions received by other leaders, but choose instead to aggregate the current President’s expected earnings based on a life expectancy of at least 80 years, then it will be shown that in the next 33 years, President Jagdeo, will receive a total of $396,000,000!
Those figures precipitate a kind of dizziness especially the prospect of a former president earning half of the current GPD in 33 years. The debates will no doubt continue onward to elections, and it is, as always, the ordinary Guyanese, the empowered voter, who can, by exercise of common sense effect positive, all- inheriting change. One such change has to be an urgent amendment of the Former Presidents Act 2009. No other Bill in this country has so many generalities and so much non-specificity.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
