October 19,2017
Politicians know that the key to winning elections is to discredit the opposing sides and to make promises to the people. They also know, all too well, that the failure to honor those promises carries a serious political backlash, unless they have a pocketful of excuses which they can sell with equal aplomb as they did their promises.
How does one explain this proclivity of political parties to make promises to the electorate which they invariably end up honoring in the breach? What is the reason behind what the population often views as the duplicity of politicians in not honouring their promises? What is behind the practice of what the Mighty Rebel once labeled as “Political lies”?
Surely, it cannot be that our political leaders are devious and dishonest to the extent whereby they know they are making a promise which they have no intention to keep. All politicians have an interest in keeping their political promises because their re-election is dependent on them retaining the confidence of the people.
Any politician who deliberately fails to keep his or her promises to the people is not going to enjoy their confidence, except in countries like Guyana where ethnic insecurity often forces voters to overlook the faults and betrayals of those whom they support.
If, it is in the interest of politicians to be seen as reliable; then why this disconnection between their promises to the electorate before they were elected, and their actions when in office – there are a number of factors. One of which is only now being discovered by the ruling APNU+AFC government.
First, it is easy for parties when in opposition to stay on the sidelines and criticise the incumbent government. But assembling the skills necessary to successfully navigate the ship of state is a formidable challenge, particularly for a party which has been out of power for 23 years and which has lost most of its personnel who are experienced in government administration.
The APNU+AFC has found itself out of its depth in managing the economy. It has failed to execute a simple capital programme because, even though it does not wish to admit it, it does not have the skills necessary to efficiently manage all the various Ministries, departments and agencies of the State. It has tried to being new personnel to take over critical responsibilities and quite honestly many of these persons are too old, too tired and unfamiliar with the demands of modern administration.
Second, the nature of public administration has changed. The old bureaucratic skills are no longer effective for modern governments. What is needed are persons with private sector management skills which emphasize getting things done, in the fastest possible time and at the cheapest cost as against a public bureaucrat who is required to follow archaic and inflexible rules.
Third, the APNU +AFC coalition has tried to ensure that the top administrative positions in the government are manned by its supporters. In the process it pushed out persons with the experience and wherewithal. The government is now paying a high price for that mistake. The APNU+AFC coalition moved with haste, for example, in shaking up the Central Tender Board. This was a costly mistake. They have also shaken up the permanent secretaries and REO’s and are now paying the price for those moves.
The government has shown a preference for party hacks rather than competence. Ironically, it has neglected some of its own skilled persons. Can you imagine a person like Anand Goolsarran, who has international experience in accounting and auditing, is not being utilised by the APNU+AFC administration? The PNC/R obviously prefers to put incompetents in positions of authority rather than utilising Goolsarran’s ability and integrity within the government.
If you look at the mess which the President has made with the process of finding a Chairperson for GECOM; one has to question, “How it is that out of the eighteen names submitted so far he cannot find one that is suitable?” The President would be better advised to put all the names in a bag and pull one. This has a higher probability of yielding a fit and proper person than having the President adjudicate on a list of names.
The APNU when it was in opposition promised that it would establish a stakeholder forum which will draw up a national plan with role for different bodies. It said that it favored civil society involvement in governance. Many people question the extent to which this promise has been honoured. They point to someone like Anand Goolsarran and ask, “If Goolsarran cannot find a place within the present system, then how can the government be trusted to have the best persons in the best positions?