When Portia speaks today…
WITH Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller dithering over whether to separate North-West Clarendon member of parliament Richard Azan from his junior ministerial post, concerns are again being raised about the seriousness of stated commitments to good governance and zero tolerance for corruption.
“I don’t know what is going to happen to Mr Azan. The matter has been referred to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions), so let us wait and see what happens,” the prime minister responded briefly to CVM-TV Tuesday night on the margins of a function celebrating the 75th anniversary of the governing People’s National Party (PNP).
In effect, the prime minister was saying she would delay action pending the resolution of any criminal case against the embattled junior minister of transport, works and housing for his admitted role in the illegal construction and rental of shops at the Spalding Market in Clarendon.
In a report to Parliament last week, Contractor General Dirk Harrison described the minister’s actions as “politically corrupt” and asked the DPP to decide whether the junior minister and others should be prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud the Clarendon Parish Council of revenue.
According to some media reports, DPP Paula Llewellyn is expected to respond to the OCG’s request this week.
In the meantime, Peter Bunting, the PNP general secretary, said Thursday that the minister would make a statement over the weekend.
Hopefully, he will offer his resignation. This would save a reluctant prime minister from having to make a decision, even though Mr Azan’s public utterances last week indicate that he remained of the view that he had done nothing wrong and would do it all over again, given the opportunity.
Regardless of what Mr Azan says about his future as a government minister, the prime minister must clear the air on the issue as well as a second report tabled by the OCG alleging wrongdoing by Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell and the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) for aspects of the process of selecting a preferred bidder for the construction of a 360-megawatt energy plant.
The contractor general concluded that Mr Paulwell and the OUR acted improperly in allowing a Hong Kong-based company, Energy World International Ltd (EWI), to enter the bidding process late in the day. They also ignored the CG’s request to remove EWI from consideration.
EWI emerged as the second-ranked bidder and will therefore get the nod automatically if the declared preferred bidder, the US-based Azurest Cambridge Group, fails to meet certain obligations within a specified timeframe. Could the hasty action prove problematic down the road? For the sake of consumers hoping for a break in high electricity bills, I hope not.
WHAT PORTIA MUST SAY TODAY
When Mrs Simpson Miller speaks as party leader at the 75th anniversary conference of the PNP at the National Arena today, she needs to go beyond rallying the base and address the unease in the OCG reports and elsewhere in the society about governance, accountability, development and ministerial authority.
Clarity is especially urgent in these times of grave economic uncertainty, demanding political leadership capable of bringing together all the disparate elements that make up this wonderfully cantankerous nation.
Among other things, she has to move beyond the criminal law view of corruption as “innocent until proven guilty” implied in the comment to CVM-TV and the earlier position of the Cabinet when Mr Azan’s role in the matter was first exposed in April.
By his own admission, Mr Azan used authority that he does not legally possess to direct a private contractor to build and rent several small shops at the Spalding Market on lands owned by the Clarendon Parish Council. His constituency office, with his full knowledge, acted as the rent-collection agency.
The calls for Mr Azan’s separation from his ministerial duties have never been based on criminal liability or personal enrichment. They were about poor judgement and misuse of power, that is, arbitrary exercise of authority. Neither an intention to do good nor a demonstration that there was no personal financial gain can justify such unlawful action.
If a minister is allowed to arbitrarily ignore the rules for a desired result, what would prevent him/her from doing it for an undesirable result? If the lawmakers are not seen to be law-abiding, then on what basis would they insist that the rest of the citizenry obey the laws?
The message from arbitrary ministerial action, however well-intentioned, is that there is no constraint on ministerial action. The danger is that it opens the door to corruption.
An over-abundance of bureaucratic red tape and the fierce urgency to get on with investment, job creation and the provision of badly needed public goods have often been raised as argument in aid of cutting ministers a little slack so they can get on with their jobs.
It’s a seductive argument, especially as Jamaica ranks at the wrong end of the global ease-of-doing business. It’s much too difficult to start a business, secure necessary permits, transfer property and so on and so forth.
But the argument is flawed. First, arbitrariness opens the door to corrupt use of public resources, illicit enrichment, unaccounted cost over-runs and other financial costs that directly hurt the poorest members of the society, the ones most in need of help.
Second, we live in a country where what I have been calling in this space, normalisation of dysfunction, has taken hold over wide areas of social life. In this context, we run the risk of accepting ministerial arbitrariness in awarding contracts and handing out patronage as normal. What message would that send to potential investors?
At her swearing-in, following the sweeping victory of the PNP at the polls in December 2011, Mrs Simpson Miller struck the right tone for the occasion and the times.
“On my watch, I pledge that the rule of law will be paramount; and we will serve with humility. On my watch, I pledge that we will honour the faith and trust of the Jamaican people. On my watch, I pledge that we will reject governmental extravagance and be vigilant in eliminating corruption,” the prime minister said.
She plans to lead, she said, an administration characterised by “respect, responsibility and trustworthiness”.
As part of a demonstration of leadership, Mrs Simpson Miller must convince a sceptical populace that these are not just words.
Addressing an event on the Mona Campus of the UWI last Tuesday to mark the Jamaican launch of his recent book, Turnaround: Third World Lessons for First World Growth, by Jamaican-born economist Peter Blair Henry spoke about leadership in a way that I think is relevant to our present discussion.
Henry, dean of the prestigious Stern Business School at New York University, suggested that the good leader (in politics, business or elsewhere) must demonstrate the ability to “define reality and deliver hope”.
Therein lies a conundrum: Painting the reality picture may produce the opposite of hope and dissipate the very energy needed to resolve the crisis. That’s why leadership is not easy.
It’s about “discipline, clarity and trust”. The leader must be disciplined to stay the course once s/he is convinced that it will lead to the desired end; must articulate clearly the ways and means to achieve the desired results. Trust will come with the demonstration of discipline and clarity.
When Mrs Simpson Miller speaks today, she must be clear about the road ahead and she must give us reasons to hope for a future better than the present or the recent past. The trustworthiness she spoke about at the swearing-in must be earned; it cannot be demanded.
kcr@cwjamaica.com