My Advice To The Prime Minister Act Now

and fulfill the campaign promises which were made to the people...

By Jack Warner

FLASHBACK: PM Dr. KEITH ROWLEY during The People’s National Movement (PNM) Manifesto launch in 2015

No political party should want to return to the polls not having fulfilled the major promises made during the last General Election campaign. And if one were to peruse the PNM’s 2015 manifesto, you will see a host of campaign promises, which, after four years in office, remain untouched and unfulfilled, and, in many cases, possibly even forgotten. That is not good for any party’s Political Leader neither is it good for any party especially when the promises made created the platform upon which victory was secured. When situations of this nature arise, it erodes the trust of the electorate, does not instill the confidence of the voters who sit on the fence to cast their vote in favor of such a leader or such a party and it threatens the possibility of any Government’s chance to secure a second term in office. In 2015 the people believed the Prime Minister In the case of the People’s National Movement, the political party in power, the person who is held responsible for the fulfillment of promises and the achievement of goals is the Leader of the party, the Prime Minister, in this case, Dr Keith Rowley; and if he fails to deliver, his failure has a multiplier effect in that other Members of Parliament suffer because the electorate will not vote for a Leader who cannot keep the promises he has made. During the last General Election in 2015, the people voted for the PNM because they believed the Prime Minister when he said that he would turn the economy around, that the path would be slow and at times painful but at the end of the day, we would arrest the decline and turn the economy around. In his manifesto message the Prime Minister in his capacity as Political Leader of the PNM said, “When in Opposition, we have spent the last five years developing the necessary policies and programmes to rebuild our country and our economy, restore confidence, equity and social justice and enhance and improve every area of national life.” Wow! Wow! I again repeat.

The country waits with bated breath

The closure of Petrotrin is indicative of the government’s failure. Mass retrenchment in the Communications industry is a clear indicator of the extent this promise has failed. Sandals pull out is the manifestation of the lack of trust multinationals repose in our economy and the current state of our sea and air bridge which has ruined business in Tobago speaks for itself. Our Prime Minister promised to turn this economy around but, in this regard, he is an ignominious failure. During the last election, the people voted for Dr Keith Rowley because he promised to deal with the corruption, which plagued the country during the term of the People’s Partnership government of which I was a member. As Leader of the Opposition, he knew then all who were corrupt; he knew the villains of Life sport, the villains of Section 34, the villains of email gate, prison gate and all the gates allegedly left open by the last administration and he had promised to bring all to justice and to take them before the Courts in Trinidad and Tobago. With bated breath, the country still awaits that day wondering when this promise will be fulfilled because it was based on this promise, especially this promise, that Rowley secured the votes of many. Crime is no better today and the people feel no safer in spite of the fact that there is now a Commissioner of Police who seems to be working in the interest of our people. The year 2018 is one the nation would wish to forget and 2019 has begun and continues along the same vein of more than one murder per day. In spite of the Anti-Gang Act, gangs continue to rule the roost and hold sway in communities across our country. In spite of SORT, an intelligence-based initiative that is the brainchild of our Commissioner, one Mr Big is still to be arrested.

The Procurement Act

In spite of all the promises to make T&T safe again, the ones who wreak havoc on our people still roam our country free and continue to inflict pain with impunity. This is a promise we hoped that the Prime Minister would have fulfilled but for some reason or the other, again he has failed. The population awaits anxiously hoping that the Prime Minister could still succeed and many are still praying that before 2020, he does. This is a promise upon which he will be judged and it is critical for him to make some kind of dent, achieve at least one objective and pull the crime back and demonstrate to our people that we are closer now to an environment of peace that when he took over in 2015 and promised to rescue us. But the promise of promises that the Prime Minister has made that has failed us was the promise to review the Procurement Act and implement it and stop the corruption that we know takes place when Ministers and Ministries unbridled, can select who they want to do a contract without official rules and regulations to guide them. It is reported that the Regulations are not in sync with the Act itself. If true, Mr PM, then correct it!! But no! It seems that the government has deliberately delayed the implementation of the Act until its term in office has ended. In the meantime, the government sells everything, does all procurement and gets rid of CL assets while the Procurement Regulator remains a toothless bulldog without staff and without power. In the global village, Trinidad and Tobago are perceived to be more corrupt than Cuba and Jamaica; and the Corruption Perceptions Index prepared by Transparency International has indicated that we are among the most corrupt nations in the world with a ranking score of 41.

Corruption seems to have gotten worse under the Rowley government

We have deteriorated since 2012 and when we thought that, the Procurement Legislation would have been enacted to stem the tide of corruption that is sweeping the nation, after almost four years the Government cannot get it right and corruption seems to have gotten worse than better under the Keith Rowley administration. Read what the Rowley manifesto had to say about Procurement Reform. “The UNC-Government has spent 5 years avoiding the implementation of a modern, transparent, fair and equitable public procurement system. In its dying days, merely as a public relations exercise, it has partially proclaimed certain sections of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, which is just symbolic in nature and of no real effect. The PNM will waste no time addressing this very important issue. We will move swiftly to make the necessary improvements to the Public Procurement Act, in order to remove loopholes, limitations and weakness that are currently existing in the legislation, and, in consultation with all stakeholders, establish and implement a realistic timetable for the full implementation of the Act.” Yet, apart from the appointment of a Procurement Regulator, the Act is still languishing in the office of the Minister of Finance as the government continues to spend millions upon millions in various projects and initiatives and the principles of good governance - transparency, accountability, integrity and value for money - are still lacking. It does not take a rocket scientist to know why this situation still exists today. This promise is important to the nation because centrist to the procurement process is the control and accountability of public money, even public money that is used by non-profit organisations. Therefore, the challenge that Keith Rowley will face come in 2020 is why the Procurement Legislation was not implemented as a safeguard for tax-payers’ money. I understand that my advice is scoffed and scorned at among the arrogant minions who currently hold office but even if all were to dismiss it, there are more than forty-one persons who hope that the Government would take notice so that they could have an option of voting when 2020 comes. But it seems as though the broken promises will deny them such an opportunity as this Government, which promised to fix campaign financing will once again be facing the polls with this problem still hanging over our heads. On the campaign platform this government said, “as an urgent priority, and to put an end to the precious scourge of “political investors”, once and for all, the PNM will draft, enact and implement appropriate campaign legislation, drawing on the experience of models successfully in use in developed countries such as the UK and the USA, before the next General Election.” With just about one year to go before the next General Election, many are of the view that this is another promise that will not be fulfilled.

The nation feels the pain

As a nation, we feel the pain when Governments are forced to pamper and fall in line with the Piper who played their tune. It is poor people who suffer and those who depended on the State for assistance during the period 2015 – 2019 can testify of the pain. Campaign financing really is to abort the control of democratically elected Governments by a handful of people, by that one per cent that seems to control the lives of citizens and even though Dr Rowley in 2015 promised Election Campaign Reform, the nation is still awaiting an attempt to do so by the goodly doctor. My advice to the Prime Minister is to fix the problems he identified in 2015 and fulfill the promises he made especially the critical ones. Time is of the essence. Among the ones mentioned are low-hanging fruits which can be easily attained but the reality is that if fulfillment does not serve the interests of the financiers and those who have influence over the public purse nothing will be done. The corollary to such thought is that an opportunity for a second term will be weighed in the balances and if found wanting many will live to regret the opportunities squandered. My advice to the Prime Minister, therefore, that is if his Government wants a second chance, act now and fulfill the promises which were made to the people on the campaign trail.