By Lynford Simpson, News EditorAT A time when strong leadership is needed to turn around the country economically and otherwise, both the Government and parliamentary opposition are burdened with financial difficulties at both the party and individual levels.
The current scenario renders them mere spectators while the country sinks deeper into crisis!
A big part of the problem facing both surrounds the financial positions of either the parties themselves, as in the case of the government of the People's National Party (PNP), or individuals, like Opposition Leader Edward Seaga, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) boss.
In the case of Mr. Seaga, who was expected after the October 2002 general election to take charge of a largely inexperienced group of parliamentarians, there is way too much baggage as it relates to his financial situation. It is common knowledge that at least one of Mr. Seaga's companies is in deep financial trouble although the state of his personal finances are not known.
BANKRUPTCY
If he were to declare bankruptcy, he could not, according to the Jamaican constitution, offer himself for leadership. It has also been established that a company of which Mr. Seaga was in charge, failed to pay over General Consumption Tax (GCT) to Government - a major embarrassment. Members of the PNP have been known to, in less than subtle ways, remind Mr. Seaga in the House that his companies owe GCT. I've picked up the sotto voce comments on more than one occasion.
It came as no surprise recently, that there was talk that members of the JLP, no longer tolerant of their leader's embarrassing situation, were moving to oust him. But in the end they once again proved that they have no guts, allowing him to comfortably survive a vote of confidence. The JLP should not be taken as a serious alternative to the Government. After all, its members have told us in no uncertain way that the JLP is but one man.
Following the October 2002 general election which gave the PNP a slim eight-seat majority in the 60-seat Parliament, it was widely felt that the debates in the House would have been more robust. For the most part this is not true. As long as Mr. Seaga's financial situation remains unresolved, he will be regarded as a weak leader. The young opposition MPs who would look to him for guidance are not getting the desired level of leadership from their man at the helm. It's almost as if 'cat got his tongue'.
For example, when Opposition members Delroy Chuck and Abe Dabdoub questioned the independence of the judiciary following
last Monday's meeting between Police Commissioner Francis Forbes and Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe to discuss matters related to the Bail Act, there was not a word out of Mr. Seaga, even after the Prime Minister weighed in on what was shaping up to be a debate which was raised on the motion for adjournment. It took House Speaker Michael Peart nearly 10 minutes to bring the situation under control. During that time, both Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and House Leader Dr. Peter Phillips had a lot to say. Seaga said nothing - certainly not on his feet.
In the case of the PNP, while not admitting in so many words that the country is in a financial crisis, recent moves to have unions representing public sector workers accept a two-year wage freeze speaks to the financial mess that the country is in.
There are now weekly reports that public sector workers are receiving their salaries late and that the stress levels have skyrocketed since workers have come to accept that they could be made redundant at anytime.
When the budget deficit widens and when you are consistently downgraded by international agencies like Standard & Poors, then the country is in crisis. Not to mention an economy that has recorded zero or negligible growth over 10 years largely because of a high interest rate policy pursued by a Government too arrogant to admit its mistakes and which has consequently failed to make adjustments. Add to those an unstable dollar and an inflation rate that is into double digits this year. How then, despite what it would have us believe, can this Government any longer have any confidence in its own ability to govern?
In recent weeks we have been presented with a clearer picture as to the indebtedness of the country. It matters not what spin Dr. Omar Davies, the Minister of Finance and Planning, puts on the situation. The country's debt continues to grow, people are being thrown out of work and the manufacturing sector has remained dormant. What progress can any country make when it uses 65 cents out of every dollar it earns to service debt? What is left to fight crime, to deal with health care and to educate the nation's children?
We reported in this newspaper last week that the police were short of uniforms, in addition to the usual equipment shortage. Earlier we reported that the hospitals were dangerously short of supplies.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee has been told in recent weeks that road contractors are owed hundreds of millions of dollars and Dr. Davies recently admitted that ministries and departments owed suppliers in the region of $4 billion, a conservative figure.
The JLP has consistently said the country is in crisis, but has its members admitted that the JLP is in a mess. A general election is due by 2007. What will be the options facing the country then? A PNP that has mismanaged the country over 15 years, or a JLP with a leader, who despite his tremendous contribution to nation building, is way past his time?
E-mail comments to lynford.simpson@gleanerjm.com
