“Democracy, finally, rests on a higher power than Parliament. It rests on an informed and cultivated and alert public opinion. The Members of Parliament are only representatives of the citizens. They cannot represent apathy and indifference. They can play the part allotted to them only if they represent intelligence and public spiritedness.” – Dr Eric Eustace Williams.
With those words, Williams opened the door to Independence for Trinidad and Tobago on August 31, 1962. His reasoning is no less instructive today than it was 53 years ago.
In fact, in 2015 in Barbados, it may be even more pertinent. As a nation we would do well to embrace his advice.
The profound nature of Williams’ words resonates as we observe two recent political events in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Equally profound is the way in which the two Prime Ministers handled wrongdoing in their ranks and how the citizens of their countries have reacted to troubling events.
In our republican neighbour to the south, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar chose the moral high ground in dismissing her Attorney General who is under investigation for attempting to pervert the course of justice. While weaker leaders “on the cusp of a general election” may have been tempted by the legal tenet of innocent until proven guilty, she was having none of it, given Anand Ramlogan’s position as AG and the questions this opened about the administration of justice.
On this same basis, she also booted out Minister of National Security Gary Griffith, who admitted to telephoning the man who had laid the complaint against the AG.
The first female leader of the twin-island republic did not advise her AG to get a lawyer. Nor did she try to excuse his behaviour by drawing any parallels with other professionals. She made it plain that her job as prime minister was a selfless one and that she had a duty to take decisive action for the good of the society.
The view of several commentators in Port of Spain was that the police investigation into Ramlogan had compromised the office of AG and therefore he would have to go. Leading the charge was the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago, the equivalent of our Bar Association. Perhaps this informed public opinion influenced Persad-Bissessar, but what is clear is that she is not afraid to take hard decisions in the interest of the country even when it could affect her weakened coalition government.
In contrast, there was no such skipping along the high road by our own Prime Minister Freundel Stuart. There was no allegation of wrongdoing here. There was a court judgement against Speaker Michael Carrington and an order to hand over to his client John Griffiths a sum in excess of $200 000, the proceeds of the sale of a property owned by Griffiths’ deceased aunt over a decade ago.
Despite a challenge to his occupancy of the Chair by the Opposition Barbados Labour Party and the fleeting discussion this generated on the call-in programmes, there was a curious absence of indignation by the wider society. The Bar Association became more interested in defending its processes and the good name of lawyers. Apart from two editorials, the status quo on the Government benches returned within two sittings of the House.
Ironically, Prime Minister Stuart, supported by Owen Arthur, hinged defence of his colleague on the “ancient rights and privileges” of the House and whether the matter should be engaging the attention of the Committee of Privileges. Not once did he address the central objection of the Opposition that the office of Speaker had been compromised. In the words of Williams, members of parliament must not represent apathy and indifference.
The Opposition has not asked for Carrington’s resignation from Parliament as there is no legal basis on which to lodge a call, but they are calling for his resignation from the Chair on moral grounds.
Several of us have been trying to determine where the moral grounding of the Prime Minister lies in this and other situations affecting friends and colleagues. Legal arguments cannot replace moral leadership. Over and over, we hear lamentations that Barbados and the current generation of young Barbadians have lost the values of their predecessors, but what example are their leaders providing?
But this is Barbados and we are an apathetic lot who believe that all politicians are the same. How therefore can we expect them to play their part as Williams suggests?
• Albert Brandford is an independent political correspondent. Email albertbrandford@nationnews.com
