The recent news from Trinidad and Tobago illustrates the power and responsibility of a Prime Minister in our system of government and the demands which a democracy places on ministers of government to police themselves and adhere to the rules against conflict of interest.
The dismissal of Mary King, who was the Minister of Planning Economic and Social Restructuring and Gender Affairs, should be a lesson in governance not only to politicians in Trinidad and Tobago but also to every Caribbean politician since avoidance of conflicts on interest concerns each of our democracies.
Events developing prior to this exercise of prime ministerial power relate to a newspaper article alleging the award of a contract to a company owned by a company of which the minister is listed as corporate secretary.
It appears that no mention was made of this connection by the minister at the time of the award and, given the new theology of transparency, a hands-off, arms-length approach was absolutely necessary.
In fact the award of any contract to a family firm or family member invites enquiry, especially when the contract emanates from the ministry in which the minister is related to the recipient. The demands of trust, responsibility and transparency go hand in hand with the power, prestige and prominence of the office of a minister, and the public interest must be always protected.
In all modern democracies, the politicians hold power at the behest of the people, who periodically grant such limited and accountable power within the various electoral laws that are in place.
And it is the prime minister (or president) who has the power immediately to do what is right when breaches are alleged of those transparency rules that seek to reinforce the protection of the public interest.
Whatever else may be done, there is reposed in a prime minister an undoubted confidence flowing from the voters that actions of a government minister that grievously offend the public weal should be visited with swift punishment and prime ministerial disapproval.
More, the prime minister need not await any deliberation of any public body. Even if there is an Integrity Commission, as in Trinidad and Tobago, or some other public institution to which these matters can be referred, we support the view that the prime minister has a responsibility and a duty to deal expeditiously with such incidents as he or she sees fit.
The power of dismissal from the ministry and the revocation of a senatorial appointment as in the instant case should always remain untrammelled weapons available to the prime minister, given the power to appoint and disappoint and, most of all, the power to discipline ministers.
Given the information in the public domain, it would be difficult to fault the exercise of the power of dismissal and, as the Prime Minister said, this should be a wake-up call to all her other ministers. We differ. We think it is a teachable moment for all Caribbean ministers about the need to be scrupulous in observing the rules concerning and protecting the public interest!