The entry of Natalie, a self-confessed former prostitute, into the political arena has created a lot of discussion. I say the lady has guts. Certainly more than I have.
To make that confession and hold your head high requires a courage that is rare. Hats off to her! Now, (if I lived in the city) would I vote for her? Probably not. But not for the reasons you assume. Sure, I’d be a bit hesitant, given her past.
But the main reason for my decision is based on a wider narrative that relates not only to Natalie, but to many others offering themselves to the Barbadian public, one not adequately ventilated.It’s a narrative on competence.
Experience
If you were to apply for a job at the Barbados Light & Power Co., you would be expected to have experience in engineering, power distribution, management or customer relations, whatever your past. For a job at the Barbados Water Authority, you’d require knowledge of hydrology, sewage management. Even for a simple typing post in the public service, you’d have to be able to type at 60 words a minute.
Politics is managing the affairs of a country. This implies handling billions of dollars and thousands of employees. It requires intimate knowledge of world affairs, trade issues, financial matters.
It demands careful thought of demographic movements, educational trends and social patterns. It also requires the kind of moral maturity to resist the temptations that such massive power exposes you to – corruption, chicanery, bribery and graft.
In short, government of a country is the most demanding job there is, requiring persons of the highest calibre to make it work. At this level of management, incompetence carries horrendous consequences for an entire nation. Bad financial planning can sink a previously prosperous country for decades.Bad water and sewage management can result in devastating epidemics.Bad infrastructure planning can frustrate productivity.
The problem we have in Barbados, and this affects all political parties, is that people “offer themselves” with insipid statements like “I want to help the poor”. They parade about the community with photoshopped smiles shaking hands with all and sundry. They spout hot air from political platforms.
But what about real competence for the job? The next Minister of Finance may be a former prostitute or calypsonian. Possibly a surgeon. Maybe a lawyer. But what does he/she know about finance?
Until the system makes it possible to demand more from candidates and politicians, we’re likely to stumble from one political mess to another, ad nauseam.
– Trevor R. Shepherd
