Two general elections have been held recently in the Caribbean and in both cases the ruling parties lost to their main challengers.
Although the specific circumstances were different in both St Lucia and Jamaica, there was, nonetheless a common thread: weak economies and serious concerns in relation to the management of the countries’ financial affairs.
What was particularly interesting to me was the rejection by the electorate in both countries of the “blame game” that has permeated every street and valley in most countries throughout the region for the past three years. No reasonable analyst could deny the terrible effects the global financial and economic crisis of 2007/2008 had on Caribbean economies.
But, for us as a people to continue to point our fingers at the global meltdown as the main cause of our economic woes is to bury our heads in the sand like the proverbial ostrich.
The management of an economy, irrespective of its physical dimensions or resource endowments, is a difficult task especially when times are tough.
And when that scenario is coupled with a hostile external environment, the difficulties are simply compounded. But it is in precisely this kind of situation that the management skills of those in authority have to be displayed to convince all and sundry that they are indeed up to the task.
More importantly, as effective managers of the peoples’ business, it should come natural to all of us that when the domestic economic environment is placed under tremendous stress by exogenous factors, our socioeconomic and development policies have to be adjusted to accommodate the additional pressures being brought upon an already constrained and fragile system.
Failure to do so will only lead to massive disruptions within the domestic environment and subsequently to economic challenges that may appear insurmountable to overcome.
In short, the Government becomes weak and ineffective and peoples’ confidence and hope in the Government and economy quickly fade. Judging from the outcome of the elections in St Lucia and Jamaica, can anyone argue differently?
Going forward, therefore, should other countries be guided by the lessons that emerged out of the experiences in our two neighbouring islands? Is it possible that other Governments in the region could suffer similar fates?
Sceptics may wish to differ, but facts are facts. No one can seriously deny that economic considerations played a huge role in the demise of both ruling parties in St Lucia and Jamaica.
Through a process of extrapolation, I would predict boldly that other incumbents may very well suffer similar tragedies if they continue to assign top marks to the global recession when evaluating their own internal economic circumstances.
It is high time we begin to accept full responsibility for our economic failures and begin to put mechanisms in place to deal effectively with our most challenging issues.
To simply continue to say that “no one else could do better” because our weak economy is only a reflection of a global reality is to remain in a state of naivety that can only spell doom for the country.
And anytime one’s mind begins to stray from this reality, a quick recall of the elections’ outcomes in St. Lucia and Jamaica is all that would be required to restore a superior sense of reasoning and dose of economic and inancial veracity!