Delroy ChuckAT LAST, I hope, the country is waking up to the frightening spectre of corruption. Indiscipline, criminality, corruption and crassness have become so embedded in our social fabric and political culture that only a national effort can successfully eschew them. We must summon the courage and the will, and find the mechanisms, to fight and curb these social cancers; otherwise, we would have failed in our duty to ourselves, to one another, to our country and future generations.
Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson, in his address to Parliament on November 7, focused on steps the government intends to take to stamp out corruption. Leader of the Opposition, Edward Seaga, in his address to the public session of the 57th Annual JLP Conference, dealt with the indiscipline and criminality overtaking the country, and pledged to fight corruption and join a crusade with well-thinking people to clean-up Jamaica.
Danny Melville, in a powerful political statement, resigned from Parliament and condemned the political system that defined his parliamentary role merely as an "attender of funerals, a co-ordinator of patronage and a symbol of tribalism." The 17 Cabinet Ministers found it necessary to release a statement on Monday to declare: "we are not corrupt".
The political culture that breeds patronage, tribalism, corruption, indiscipline and divisiveness cannot take our country forward. It may help to win elections but in the long run it creates the environment for crookedness and criminality. The electoral process that facilitates irregularity, malpractice and corruption sets the stage for corrupt government and this is why, in spite of doubts to the contrary, a clean electoral process is so vital. In fact, soon after the General Election of March 30, 1993, certainly the most corrupt ever, I wrote in the Sunday Gleaner, April 11, that unless we have clean elections then we cannot expect the government to act cleanly. It is worth quoting a passage of what I said then:
"What moral authority do our political leaders have when they speak out against thuggery and indiscipline after the charade of the recent election? Why should the rest of society take our politicians seriously if and when they initiate and promote the fight against crime and indiscipline when their very political authority has its genesis and foundation in dishonesty, thuggery and corruption? The whole electoral process seems to be tainted with every conceivable banditry, deception and crookedness."
Two and a half years later, I entered the political fray and found corruption and indiscipline were ingrained. I determined that I would not be a part of any corrupt practice. I had to fight and threaten my electoral agents to ensure that they refrain from violence, crookedness and indiscipline. In fact, in the pockets of inner-city communities in Grants Pen and Barbican, the turn out averaged less than 40 per cent and the PNP got most of its votes in those areas. I found it amazing that in other inner-city communities, the turnout was closer to 100 per cent and the communities were either totally PNP or JLP, and soon realise that most of these votes were fraudulent. In truth, the relentless call for an electronic system to curb electoral corruption and malpractice must not be ignored.
Moreover, the present political culture that awards the victors the spoils of office to the exclusion of all others, breeds the type of tribalism that divides communities, makes electoral victory a matter of life and death, inculcates false values and unrealistic hopes, and ultimately surrenders the institutions of state to the dictates of the party machinery. This is a political culture that needs to be exposed and excised. It arises when men and women use politics to determine who gets what, when and how and mistakenly believe politics can solve the nation's problems.
It is interesting that Danny Melville confesses what I have argued repeatedly in these columns, that any political system that puts politics above other considerations can only encourage corruption and cannot bring excellence, prosperity and progress. The primacy of politics, especially partisan politics, is at the genesis of our economic stagnation, social decay, institutionalised corruption and imminent drift to chaos and anarchy. It doesn't have to be this way. Political consideration does not have to play such a large role in the decision-making process of government. Partisan politics does not have to interfere and take over the churches, the schools, the media, the business and commercial sectors and various social agencies.
Open and
transparent
Our political culture can be more even-handed, open and transparent. No one should have to depend on politics for survival.
To be sure, the political system is at fault, as it has failed to stop the abuse of power, the corruption, the injustice and the undermining of the rule of law. Our present political system concentrates too much power at the centre, which is a system that was meant for a kinder and gentler society.
In our crass political culture, what is urgently needed is a greater balance of power between the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, the executive and the legislature, the legislature and the people, and it can be achieved within our Parliamentary system of government.
I do not accept that the whole system needs changing. Those who tout and peddle the Presidential system of government or the separation of powers model have nothing to cheer about or to promote. Countries with the Presidential system of government are among the most corrupt see the list published by Transparency International. Indeed, in Brazil, in spite of its separation of powers, the country is afflicted with corruption and presently engaged in a massive clean-up drive see 'Cleaning up City Hall', Time magazine, November 13, page 31. In the Philippines, which adopted the American Constitution to the letter, fraud and corruption are endemic, and this week the impeachment of their President for bribery and corruption got underway. Corruption is a governmental problem. It manifests itself primarily in the corridors of power and the entangled bureaucracy of government. The real issue is whether we merely pay lip service to this cancer or whether we have the courage and will to undertake a national crusade to fight it to the bitter end.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at delchuck@hotmail.com.
