Helping themselves

EVEN before nomination papers were filed, as they will be today, it seemed some candidates had already got a head start in the race to August 10.

How else are we to view the recurring evidence that when it comes to refraining from the use of public resources for private political gain, our public officials have a long way to go?

And that’s being generous.

Blatant giveaways, the promise of favours, threats to non-supporters, the involvement of candidates in distributing grants, the finalisation of major policy on the eve of the poll, the delay of campaign finance and public procurement reform, the undisguised courting of religious voting blocs – no one is even bothering to disguise these transparent entreaties.

Where will the line be drawn?

The PNM regularly accuses the UNC of bribery.

But what is the cumulative effect of these activities?

There is a distinction to be made between dangling election goodies and actually using the offices of state in a way that unfairly gives matters of national interest a partisan complexion. A good example is the furore over the National Commission for Self Help.

We endorse the concerns and warnings raised by political analysts Dr Winford James, Dr Indira Mohammed and Dr Bishnu Ragoonath over the commission’s grant distribution in San Fernando on Tuesday.

Dr Ragoonath, who is also chairman of the Council for Responsible Political Behaviour, noted the event was a cause for concern. It saw a total of 500 people from central and south Trinidad receive approximately $2.5 million worth in grants, under unclear criteria and apparently without opposition involvement.

“That is reason to suggest there is something untoward and the Government is using its resources and institutions to campaign for an election,” Dr Ragoonath said.

Dr Ragoonath would know a thing or two about this. The council he chairs also had cause to express concern under the UNC/PP.

We grant many of the ribbon-cuttings, sod-turnings, and distribution ceremonies may well have been in the works long before now.

These events, though, must be seen in the context of the secrecy over the election date, the failure to enact campaign finance reform, the lack of effective public procurement oversight and the resource-poor nature of some independent watchdogs,

The coincidental timing turns all this frenetic activity into something beyond service to the people. Like the decades-old ritual of pre-election road-paving, it takes on a crass dimension.

What’s different now, however, is we are in a guava season. Should that not be a reason for restraint?

To break this cycle we need stronger independent institutions. Otherwise, every election cycle will continue to be the same, no matter who is in power.

Politicians will continue to refine the art of self-help.