Ian Boyne

Bruce Golding succeeded in diverting attention from the censure motion against his point man Karl Samuda and kept the General Secretary off the front pages, but at a very high cost.

Speaking in sonorous tones, with his brow appropriately knitted and his nose upturned from the apparently stifling scent of corruption, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, surrounded by a grim-looking cast, could well have been nominated for the Oscars. But Golding had more in mind than play-acting.

His call was for nothing less than the resignation of the entire Government: "Madam Prime Minister, it is necessary now for you to advise the Governor-General," he instructed, "to issue a proclamation to dissolve this Parliament so that elections can be held forthwith and so that the people of Jamaica can elect a Government that is worthy of their trust." He was not over.

IMMUNITY TO SCANDALS

"This Government has acquired immunity to scandals, but there comes a time when enough is enough. That time has come! It is time for this wretched Government to go". Who said Golding was irredeemably boring and had no flair for the dramatic?

By the next morning it had become abundantly clear that the Jamaica Labour Party did not really have the Mother of all Scandals to force Sista P to call the elections, for which the JLP has already been heavily campaigning, and which it has been hungering for the way jihadists hunger for virgins in Allah's paradise.

Not only is there nothing illegal or provably untoward about the contribution of J$31 million from Trafigura Beheer, the Dutch trading firm, but not an iota of evidence has been provided by Mr. Golding to show any kickback arrangement.

RUNNING FOR COVER

At the end of the week Golding was virtually running for cover, having misfired badly and miscalculated horrendously on the propaganda value of this 'revelation'. But I am not going to 'kill' Golding over this. I leave that to the angry PNP supporters.

I believe Golding has inadvertently handed us a gift more favourable than the one given by Trafigura to the PNP.He has forced a national discussion on campaign financing and if we could just go a little further to the whole issue of money, politics and ethics, that would be grand. Though I fear that this myopic and tribalised society, with its undereducated chattering classes, will have neither the interest nor inclination for a serious philosophical discussion of some broader issues.

JLP apologists in the media say a discussion of the issue of public financing of political parties is merely diversionary and we should really concentrate on the appropriateness of the huge gift(in Jamaican dollar terms at least) from the Dutch company. But it is puerile propaganda and dishonesty to ignore the issue of campaign financing and to concentrate on this contribution to the PNP, for if there is no set of agreed guidelines on accepting contributions, on what grounds is the mere receipt of contributions from abroad sleazy and slimy? That's arrant nonsense.

It is a given that Tafigura was not merely being altruistic when it gave the PNP the $31 million. It did not give the PNP that money just because the company, like the PNP Party President, loves poor people and believes, like Portia, that the PNP is the best hope for Jamaica's poor. Trafigura gave the money to have some influence over the Government and to buy favour and goodwill. Let us not deny that and if the PNP propagandists believe they can spin it otherwise, they have little respect for the intelligence of the Jamaican people.

But Trafigura's motive is no different from the motives of the local companies which contribute to political parties. They are buying influence, too. That is what the members of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica are doing when they contribute. This is why I want the discussion to go further than on campaign financing. I want us to look at the issue that the Marxists have long raised and that is the influence of class and economic power on democracy. This is an issue we don't want to face in our self-delusion of living in a society inspired by Christian morality and goodwill to all men. This "out of many one people", "all a wi a one" and classless society myth which we have nurtured over the years needs to be exposed and blown up, and Golding's Chicken Little act gives us an excellent opportunity to do so.

But it is not in the interest of the two main political parties to discuss this and their supporters in the media have little interest in the subject so it so it not likely to get any traction. Apart from Ronnie Thwaites and John Maxwell, there is not likely to be any interest in pursuing a really serious discussion on the issue of money, morality and class.

The PNP cannot be accused of any impropriety, bad judgment or even any "appearance of evil" just by its acceptance of a contribution from a foreign firm. For we have no agreed stipulation that no Jamaican political party should receive contributions from foreign companies.(By the way, what do you think American "democracy promotion" and USAID support is apart from influence-buying and goodwill-generating?) And the PNP has thrown down the right challenge to the JLP: If you are willing to show us your books as to where you are getting contributions from, we will show you ours.

By the way, the JLP diehards in the media and outside conveniently forget that the first suggestion from Golding was that the money from Trafigura was really state funds diverted. That would have been criminal and, indeed, would warrant the government's resignation. No such thing has been established.

If we had clear guidelines and laws on campaign financing we would not have to be sorting out the mischief and propaganda from the truth, for it would be clear if the guidelines were violated or not. When we have no clear guidelines and laws, then we are left to debate what is appropriate and, of course, that is sometimes subjective and subjected to one's political biases.

I am glad this issue is on the table for there is a whole set of related matters which should be explored while we are at it. To the same media practitioners who are waxing self-righteous on this issue, I would lie to ask, what is the relationship between the increased blurring of the lines between news, public affairs and advertorials?

There is the increased encroachment of advertisers and corporate sponsors on editorial decisions, particularly in the electronic media.

Many public affairs programmes are now virtually taken over by corporate sponsors who use the credibility of those programmes and the journalists' credibility to sell their products. The interviews, and how they are slanted, and the comments are all skewed to big up and promote the sponsoring entities, and the unsuspecting public is duped thinking they are getting objective, fair and balanced analysis.

He who pays the piper calls the tune, except where there is a deliberate and courageous attempt to keep journalistic matters clear of public relations. We must keep public relations clear from journalism. As a communications consultant, I sell my services to the Government and corporate clients, but that does not buy them any influence over my columns and television programmes. That would be corruption.

I see people using their power in the media to push private interests and to curry-favour with clients and potential clients. So it is not just political parties which companies try to influence by sponsoring. They try it with the media, too.

We need to start looking more seriously at ethical issues but in this materialistic, hedonistic society in which money is the final arbiter of the Good, corruption is always lurking near. Neither the PNP nor the JLP really wants to take the ethical discourse where it should, for it is not in their Machiavellian interest.

Remember it was former Opposition Leader Edward Seaga who complained bitterly about tainted money being used against him and his faction in the party by the so-called reformers who supported Golding. It is an open secret that Seaga was abandoned by the moneyed class who saw him as a liability to the JLP's ousting the PNP from power and so they turned to Golding whom they saw as their hope to see the back of the PNP.No one doubts the rhetorical force and diligence of Audley Shaw and he has both the platform skills and dramatics to appeal to the masses. But Audley is not the pick of the moneyed class and the big boys in Jamaica. Golding is. And that is why Audley had no chance against Golding and why Seaga was pushed out ahead of his timetable.

The issue of money and its influence is very critical and it is ironic that Golding himself should be raising this issue. But I am glad he has. He has given us a golden gift if we could only grasp it, rather than allowing it to slip from our hands in the propaganda war.

The JLP will now learn that if you cry "wolf, wolf" and you end up with oil on your face, the people will be skeptical when you come with genuine scandals. The JLP's credibility is not helped by empty or dishonest scare tactics. That only helps the PNP. Many Jamaicans are already skeptical of the PNP and are willing to believe the worst, but the JLP must learn not to take these people's gullibility for granted. I know the people are manipulable and if you have the right propagandists in the media you can spin things your way and fool many people, but you still have to do your homework in the propaganda war.

I would tell the Opposition to do its homework more carefully so that when you call a Press conference next time, we will implicitly trust that you have your facts.

Ian Boyne is veteran journalist. Email him at ianboyne1@yahoo.com