EDITORIAL: Take part in your own democracy

Within six months of the last poll, actions by two of the major parties who participated in it, seem to indicate what may be called a “continuous campaign” as they have both announced that public meetings will be held and that public consultations will take place in the immediate future.
We welcome this development, though not necessarily for the reasons given. It seems to us that circumstances really do alter cases and that the closeness of the division of seats in the House of Assembly has told the politicians that the people have not totally accepted the cases put by either side. Consequently, that tight result in an atmosphere of economic austerity has forced the hands of the parties.
At the same time, we are firmly of the opinion that any election campaign represents not an end but a new beginning. For as one campaign closes, the election results are announced and the Throne Speech delivered, there ought to be a new debate, initiated by interested persons and parties, on the policies announced in the Throne Speech.
The public meeting, town hall meeting and the call-in programmes should all be used as the two major parties and others in the society embark on public information campaigns on the proposals put forward for implementation by the Government. That is what democracy in action is all about.
A two- or three-week campaign of meetings at which scandal, rumour, suggestions and sometimes downright lies may entertain the crowd, will often trump attempts at serious debate and analysis of the issues. If democracy is to mean more than a five-minute exercise every five years, then engaging the public on serious issues between elections is absolutely necessary.
The political parties may be engaging on these campaigns to hold their base vote together, and perhaps to garner new support. That is their business. We support the idea because in a serious democracy, the public has a right to be constantly informed about actions being taken or contemplated in their names. Issues such as the level of public debt as well as discussions on the merits of  privatization, not to mention the ideal size of the deficit for example, would lend themselves to deeper debate than is possible during hectic and sometimes trivial campaigns; and the public interest has long demanded such discussion before, during and after election campaigns.
Necessity is said to be the mother of invention, and obviously the close result and the existing economic situation has generated this paradigm shift. It will enure to the public benefit, and if it is true that the voice of the people is the voice of God, then the last election result may have been a blessing in disguise in that it has forced greater participation and engagement between the people and those who may temporarily govern them.
Two further things may enhance these current efforts. One is the opening up of the airwaves at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation in order to equalize the opportunity for all major parties to receive adequate coverage of their views. The other is a public education programme aimed specifically at informing the people not only about policy differences, but also about how the system should work, and about the checks and balances designed to enhance the people’s right to participate in their democracy.