Lies, lying and liars

Professor Ramesh Deosaran

Hopes rise as a total of 173,600 vaccine doses from three sources – India and China being two – are expected to be finalised for this country.

However, tensions and scars from local controversy linger over this life-and-death matter, especially when we hear how other Caricom countries are getting theirs. Is it government mismanagement, political pettiness or just plain diplomatic faux pas? Thank heavens, relief seems nearby.

However, from published statements on all sides, it seems as if Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, as our front-line agent, failed to capture the early vaccination initiative and then confused negotiations with Ansa McAl and the private sector. As a PNM stalwart asked on a radio call-in: “Did Deyalsingh unwittingly place PM Dr Rowley in an embarrassing situation, leaving Dr Rowley striving to wiggle out?” From brisk social media exchanges and political platforms, it appeared a matter of lies, lying and liars. "Who is lying?" asked Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar last week.

Publicly dissecting the published statements of Deyalsingh, Dr Rowley, Indian High Commissioner Arun Kumar Sanu and Ansa McAl CEO Anthony N Sabga III, Ms Persad-Bissessar questioned Deyalsingh’s credibility.

She added: “Deyalsingh should be fired if he was making deals without informing the Prime Minister.”

He had discussed the vaccine issue with the private sector. The Ansa McAl group said if the private sector paid US$8.4 million for helping to import vaccines, this should be credited against their 2021 taxes, not a write-off of their 2021 tax liability.

Deyalsingh said government did not “request” help, it was the private sector that “volunteered” to pay.

Given that citizens’ lives are involved, what does this or who “begs” whom matter?

From published statements, the Indian High Commissioner, caught in the middle, like Dr Amery Browne continued to help with the savvy of experience and discretion.

This inflated controversy doesn’t reflect well on either Deyalsingh or the government. From the beginning, Deyalsingh should have worked closely with the Minister of Caricom and Foreign Affairs, Dr Browne, to supply the skills that Deyalsingh apparently lacks.

Now, lying in politics is an age-old phenomenon. In parliament, it is a serious breach of privilege. Calypsonian Lord Nelson, noting the cultural relish for it, sang about “King Liar," a contest between three “big liars,” with the moralising chorus: “Teacher Percy say if you tell a lie, you going to hell as soon as you die.”

Joke aside, trust and credibility in public affairs, especially among elected politicians, are a sacred element of a healthy democracy. On lying, St Augustine declared: “When regard for truth has been broken down or even slightly weakened, all things will remain doubtful.”

Quite a high standard, because there is truth and truth, a dilemma invoked by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, who questioned, for example, whether it is okay to lie to get medicine in order to save your mother’s life. In her book, Lying: Moral Choice in Public Life, Sissela Bok noted several contexts in which “lying for survival” may be justified.

In fact, the survival of party politics often depends on lying to “protect the party.” “White lies” are the trade of diplomacy, tolerated and understood. Through fake news, post-truth and lightning-speed misinformation, lying has now become an industry in itself. The anonymity of sources adds danger.

Currently, we are faced with numerous self-serving opinion polls with data that serves propaganda but crashes under close scrutiny. Witnesses lie in court every day. Cross-examination doesn’t always help.

Could remaining silent when questioned be legally right but a devious form of lying? What about false advertising claims? Nazi Josef Goebbels and Machiavelli allowed lying in politics as necessary for maintaining power. Former US president George Bush and British PM Tony Blair justified the Iraq invasion by falsely claiming there were "weapons of mass destruction" there. We also heard that politics has its own morality.

What about using a small lie to uncover a big lie?

Researchers claim several cues to detect when a person is committing “lying and deception.” Among these cues (leakages) are a change in facial expression, swallowing, deep or shallow breath, inflection of voice, long pauses, etc. And of course, there is the lie-detector machine.

Maybe what we witnessed over the covid19 vaccine was just politics as usual. A pity it was about such a life-and-death matter.