The current economic problems facing this country have spawned a major debate on what should be done to pull this country out of the quicksand into which it has been taken.
The proposals or decisions about sending home workers are rooted in the economics of the problem. The fact is that we are spending money that we have not got and we must therefore cut spending. Â
The issue is simple to state, and in the non-political world of business, such decisions though tough, would have been taken long ago.
In such a difficult financial situation someone with enough voting power would have called a meeting of the shareholders or the board and the necessary decisions would have been history. That is the way of private enterprise.
Public sector problems are not dealt with in such ruthlessly efficient ways because even though problems may be rooted in bad economic and managerial decisions of a government; the solutions in the public sector are seriously affected by the political environment.
Elections are popularity contests, and many political decisions are very often the result of such influences rather than grounded in reason. And that is a leadership issue, since leaders must know when in the national interest that they need to stand against the popular tide.
Opposition Leader Mia Mottley has suggested the formation of an eminent persons group to advise the Government on all necessary actions to be taken to truly stabilize the economy and return it to growth.
Such suggestions gain traction most often when the country is fighting a war or is faced with some other crisis on which there is no division of opinion along political lines. And there are some who will oppose the suggestion on the grounds that Prime Minister Sandiford did not resort to such a device in the early 1990s. And yet, that is not the only problem with the idea.
Wouldn’t the establishment of such an advisory group be an admission of failure, or worse, of the present Government, given that earlier this year, its ministers repeatedly assured the voters that the economy had already been stabilized?
We operate a democracy in which after a hard-fought campaign the people entrusted the Democratic Labour Party with the management of the affairs of this country for five years.
And so, there is a fundamental linkage between those who are governed and those who govern them. That link is provided through the ballot box and the manifesto; and it is a very serious thing given that background to ask any government to cede some of its sovereignty on policy to a non-elected group, however eminent.
How would such a group be accountable for the policy initiatives put forward; and what guarantee would there be that the group’s suggestions are acted upon?
We are not convinced that formation of the group will lead to a solution to our problem. Economics apart, the solution requires a major dose of political will and leadership of a high order.
But such decisive clear leadership must be in the vanguard of the right mix of corrective policies, designed to rebuild confidence and to generate growth.
The DLP Government owes it to the people of this country to provide such leadership, and to show it now.Â
