Flip-flopper-in-chief

Lambert Brown, Contributor

There can be no doubt that our beloved country enters this new year still facing an economic and social crisis. It is a time when national unity is essential if as a people we are to survive and move forward.

National unity requires leadership that the people can trust. Without trust, critical goals are unlikely to be achieved. People will not follow leadership whose words and deeds are in conflict. Trust is eroded every time a leader fails to keep his or her promises, agreements, and commitments. Failure on the part of leaders to tell the truth certainly damages the prospect of such individuals' ability to earn the necessary trust required for leading an organisation or country out of a crisis and into a future of prosperity.

As the great Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi once said, "The moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted." Trust must, therefore, be earned by the consistency in truth-telling, the highest display of integrity, and competence in addressing issues. Flip-flopping from idea to idea and placing partisan concerns over national objectives is inimical to trust-building.

The recent suggestion by Prime Minister Bruce Golding that Jamaica consider having its own final court of appeal, instead of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), raises serious issues of trust. In June 2009, speaking about CARICOM, of which the Caribbean court is an essential element, he had this to say: "I do not believe that any of us can believe that we are going to be better off trying to swim in this Caribbean Sea on our own, but it is time for us to stop playing games, for us to stop mouthing integration and professing our commitment to this process when the pragmatic demonstration is often not being brought to the fore."

Declaration of committment

In July 2009, in a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Golding is quoted as saying, "... CARICOM, it was a family worth fighting for." He went on further to say, "I am very committed to the process, but we have to ensure that there is measurable distance between our declaration of that commitment and the assertion of political will that supports that."

Finally, in the press release from Jamaica House came this admonition to his fellow CARICOM leaders, "Let us not go off each on our own frolic to take independent unilateral positions, a community cannot run that way." Now, Mr Golding wants us to consider going off on "our own frolic to take independent unilateral positions".

Clearly, Prime Minister Golding is not being consistent in his position on CARICOM and the CCJ. It is, therefore, no wonder that other leaders in CARICOM have expressed disappointment with the position recently advan-ced by Mr Golding. Once again, trust is being eroded abroad and Jamaica's once good name is being put to shame and ridicule. The reports by WikiLeaks of cables relating to Jamaica-United States (US) relations, including complaints by the Cuban authorities about our tardiness in anti-narcotics activity, were not only embarrassing to us as a country and to our people, but reflected the lack of trust by the international community in our current political leadership.

The official US government assessment of our political leadership was summed up in the State Department's March 1, 2010, report to Congress in respect of drug trafficking and corruption. This is what the State Department said about us then: "... Pervasive public corruption continues to undermine efforts against drug-related and other crimes and plays a major role in the safe passage of drugs and drugs proceeds through Jamaica.

For the first time, corruption ranked first to crime and violence as the area of greatest concern for Jamaicans. It remains a major barrier to improving counternarcotics efforts. Indeed, Jamaica's delay in processing the US extradition request for a major suspected drug and firearms trafficker with reported ties to the ruling party highlights the potential depth of corruption in the Government."

Counter-narcotics

With the extradition of 'Dudus', the US may change its attitude in the next counternarcotics report. However, trust once broken can never be the same again.

How can we forget Prime Minister Golding's outburst in Parliament on March 16 last year when the issue of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips was first raised by the parliamentary Opposition? Peter Phillips was accused of seeking headlines. Mr Golding led the nation to believe that he knew nothing about the lobbying efforts of Manatt on behalf of the Government. By May, he was publicly flip-flopping and admitting that he had indeed sanctioned the initiative - through Mr Harold Brady.

Soon after vowing that he would be willing to pay a political price to show that "constitutional rights do not begin at Liguanea", Prime Minister Golding abandoned this position, and instead of doing the honourable thing of resigning on principle, he flip-flopped and sanctimoniously came begging the nation for forgiveness.

This flip-flopping on the part of Mr Golding is not of recent vintage. The firing of the Public Service Commission and then settling with them out of court, and the rejection of garrison politics and going back to represent a garrison constituency, are some egregious examples that come to mind. It certainly does not augur well for building trust and uniting our nation to overcome its many problems.

Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers Union. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and Labpoyh@yahoo.com.