We have never doubted the sensible approach of the people of this country to matters of public concern, and we therefore expected, and saw, decent, responsible behaviour by those responding to the call by veteran activist Robert “Bobby” Clarke to a march to show concern about the responses by the political directorate on both sides of the fence to the current problems of the economy.
The march is a statement by a representative few to the Government that the people are more than ordinarily concerned about where we are, and are wondering where we are headed.
Economic decisions are the ones which often touch the people of a country most directly, since the reality is that children have to be fed, clothed and educated, increasingly up to tertiary level, rents have to be paid and people must have money in their pockets if they are to survive and to do their unconscious but to maintain some stability and promote growth in the economy.
When weekly paid workers go home and the allowances and other aspects of the monthly paid worker’s pay packet is reduced, everyone is affected, since the impact of those reductions are felt in the supermarkets and in the one-door shops and other smaller establishments across the country.
The politicians and the people know that sometimes economic stringency will have to be applied and the innate sense of restraint and decency allows the people to hold on in the hope raised by their leaders that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”. Sometimes that faith in holding on begins to be questioned.
The current economic stringency has descended almost like an avalanche. Thousands have lost their jobs in the private and public sectors; university students now have to pay a part of their fees; a municipal tax has gone into place and the (temporary) VAT rate increase has remained in place.
Governments have a duty to respond to concerns of the people when they are expressed, the more so in so public a fashion. In a democracy people try to convince their fellow citizens of their point of view, and the effectiveness of a march does not always reside in the numbers who show their public concern, even if such concerns are not shared by all the people.
The Prime Minister and his ministers repeatedly put the Government’s case that the problems are being tackled; but while marchers are marching; increasingly other people at panel discussions are also expressing grave concerns about where we are and where we are headed.
At a recent panel discussion on the economy, the point was made of the critical importance of people accepting the assurances of any government in crisis situations. We were told that when governments say one thing and do another, people lose credibility in what is being said.
While we may not have reached that situation in this country, the Government needs to pay close attention to the messages being sent by the marchers and others, and it needs to fully explain why they may have had to change policy. In a democracy that is always the best way, since governments are temporary, but the country is permanent.