In a democracy, the people are free to speak as they see fit, but they are restrained principally by the laws of defamation and by those tenets of self-censorship that remind every one of us planning to speak publicly that the power of life and death is in the tongue and that it is impossible to unspeak words that have already escaped and done their damage.
Leaders in the society should be especially careful about their utterances because so many members of the society hang on their very word and are inclined to shape their behaviour in many instances by reference to the guidance given by such leaders.
Now the Minister of Education and Human Resources Mr Ronald Jones fits our description as a leader in the society and he seems to be doing an excellent job of saying the wrong things in the wrong manner and at the wrong times.
A few weeks ago in the House of Assembly, of all places, he delivered himself of language which conjured up the image of Barbadians suffering the possible indignity of cracked heads in circumstances where the authorities might have to consider restoring law and order.
Surprisingly, he painted this gruesome picture against the background of Opposition members rubbing shoulders with some of our citizens who are being affected by the current economic situation.
To be fair to him, his remarks were also aimed at what he called persons not accepting democracy and wanting to get into power in spite of the decision of the people.
He was lucky to escape the full political consequences of that outburst, but probably recognized that a careful and thinking Prime Minister might not rush to judgement, and the furore subsided.
Nevertheless, his most recent descent into outrageous bluster must not be dealt with so lightly. Attacks on the Press are never acceptable when the Press is doing its legitimate best to keep the people informed and to moderate the news fairly and constructively. Such attacks combined with his recent “skull cracking” speech are bound to raise much more than the proverbial eyebrows.
But when these two comments are mere forerunners to an insidious attack upon unions as workers’ representatives and when the invocation by the Honourable Minister is that trade union leaders should not be permitted on schools’ premises and should stay out in the road, then the minister is treading on dangerous ground.
The Constitution of this country permits the Press and the unions, in particular, certain status in this country because historical evidence has shown that the roles of these two institutions are important aspects of the constructive enquiry of the country.
Neither the Press nor unions can properly perform their roles if they are poodles to the administration that happens at any particular moment to be in power and possessing authority. If the minister’s statements are intended to cause the Press to cower, then he must know that he cannot succeed.
If, on the other hand, he is annoyed because of the criticism of his ministry and is simply saying the first thing that comes into his head, then he should keep his mouth shut and stop giving the Prime Minister good and solid reasons to reshuffle him out of the Cabinet.
