The good or bad fortune of a country is said to depend on its constitution and the way it works.
At least that was the view of one of Europe’s famous politicians while commenting on the political upheavals in his native France.
He was right, but only partly so, if he thought that the dry lifeless words of a constitution were enough.
We suspect that he was using the expression in a global sense and that when he referred to the constitution, he was speaking to the whole framework of government and the way the system was managed.
An impartial justice system, the administration of the civil service and the good sense and integrity of the political directorate are all very important components of the constitutional system.
And we owe our good fortune as a country to the wholesome and faithful execution of their duties by each of these functionaries in our system of governance.
Of this group, only the politicians have by and large garnered a bad name for themselves. Yet these brave men and women have from time immemorial banded themselves together in common cause with the singular aim of bettering life for their countrymen. It is and ought to be regarded as a noble profession, for they can be no higher service than to offer one’s talents in the service of one’s country.
Some citizens offer their services on the military battlefield, but the high importance of the civilian administration lies in the fact that those who wield the power of the gun and the might of the sword may only legitimately do so with the authority of the self same politicians whom we elect and very often characterize as a group less than honourable.
Whatever else happens, they do not all deserve to be tainted by the same dishonest and corrupt brush.
We owe our freedoms the world over to these same very people and their forebears who, once seized of the power to legislate, have enacted the very laws and constitutions that limit and proscribe their power and also give ordinary citizens the right to throw them out of office whenever they determine that the national interest is not being served by their retention of power and office.
Now recent developments in both our major political parties have commanded our attention and have perhaps focused our minds in ways that we do not often exercise them, because we have been confronted with situations in both parties which have given the perception that disunity has reared or is rearing its ugly head.
We have no doubt that these matters will be resolved one way or the other by the politicians themselves and that in due course the public will determine their opinion on these issues.
Our greater concern as the Fourth Estate is the impact which these matters may have on the body politic, for our political parties have an immense responsibility to themselves, to the people and ultimately to generations unborn. The good work of our two major political parties starting from 1946 to the present was achieved by a united approach to getting the job done, whether in Government or in Opposition.
They both gave the electorate the choice to decide the future of their country, and by example have taught our youth and others that politics remains an honourable and inspiring way of changing the situation in their country for the better.
As we have said, we leave it to both parties to resolve such issues as exist within their ranks. That is their province, but we must remind them on behalf of the country that their every action, whether good or bad, matters to the public interest, and that they must always so conduct themselves that sacred trust is never compromised.
Our freedom and economic station were beaten out on an anvil by the efforts of politicians past; and the present crop are therefore heirs to an honourable legacy which they must now hold in trust for future leaders and the eternal well-being of our country.
