It ought to be clear to everyone – other than perhaps a visitor from Mars who may have just dropped in on us – that this country of ours is in election mode. The body language, the speeches and the presentations of the political parties tell their own story.
And, of course, there is the constitutional time limit on the life of Parliament, which comes to an end in another nine months.
Equally clear is that the state and management of the economy will continue to be a major talking point, and that the international recession and Barbados’ response to it will rank high in the divide between the political parties.
It will be a crucial election campaign, with grave and weighty issues at its core, and must not slink into mudslinging nor become mired in trivia.
Barbados has long been said to be capable of punching above its weight. That statement is a truth demonstrated by the Charter Of Oistins that led the British colonies, which then included the United States, in demanding from the British rulers specific rights of representation before the imposition of taxation.
But punching above its weight has been possible through the large investment in the education of its people, and through the creation of health care and other social systems that have allowed for the rapid escape of our citizens from the debilitating afterwash of the end of British rule.
We have done well as a small economy and the quality of life here has been good. This election will therefore be about the changes in the international arrangements, which have hitherto been the order of the day, and keen judgements will be demanded of voters on the policies and strategies proposed for the better management of the economy in the new conditions.
Hard questions will have to be asked about the level and nature of the social services and programmes which we have hitherto taken for granted, and which some people have regarded as entitlements.
With a population in which many more of our citizens are enjoying longer lives, the issue of the retirement age and catering for pensions becomes a matter of urgency in the economic agenda.
But growing the economy by higher rates than we have recently had is a pressing issue. All political parties should lay out their plans for growing the economy now, so they may be debated and thrashed out in the public sphere before the bell is rung.
Hurried debate from the public platform during the heat and bustle of the campaign is not the most propitious manner for discussing competing proposals for the future management of our island’s economy.
Nor can we any longer afford to have the learned economists in our midst remain silent on these issues. Barbados was a more enquiring society when the late Wendell McClean led and stimulated public debate on the economy.
One did not have to agree with his every point, but the public discussion was enhanced when he made point and counterpoint in the media about the economy and the alternative paths along which we could choose to travel.
We are now some nine months at most away from the polls and we await stepped up debate between the politicians. The economy is not owned by any particular political entity; all Barbadians, especially those learned in economics and business, must let their voices be heard on the kind of development they prefer.
The stakes are high and the time to join the debate is now. It is, after all, our economy – and our society!
