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Op-Ed Commentary

Trinidad Express:
PM's ethical stocks on the rise

Editorial

As we have noted in this space before, Prime Minister Patrick Manning once pointed out that no leader of government in the world could ever assure the electorate that none of his colleagues would ever give way to temptation. The only way a government leader could deal with the problem before the fact was to leave his colleagues in no doubt that, having acted corruptly, they would not receive his protection and, after the fact, by putting allegations of corruption in the hands to the relevant authority for further investigation.

With respect to the allegations of ministerial corruption that have come to public attention, Mr Manning has been more chaste than Caesar's wife in that he has put these accusations in the hands of the Integrity Commission which, in its wisdom, passed their findings on to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who has determined, in his own wisdom, that former works minister, Franklin Khan, and former energy minister, Eric Williams, both have cases to answer.

This still leaves their guilt to be established or, failing that, their innocence to be proclaimed, but the process adopted by the Prime Minister has been so above board that the Opposition United National Congress's charges of bias on the part of both the Integrity Commission and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions continue to ring more and more hollow.

Indeed the political strategy behind these accusations could not be more transparent. The UNC had been hoping to hang the PNM politically-at least, in part-on the very corruption petard on which it hanged itself, but the party has been outmanoeuvred by Mr Manning's tactic of which he is sure to make great play during the election campaign, whenever that may be.

This is not to say that the UNC is not without issues to put on the election agenda. The issue of crime is sure to be one although to make the most of it, the party in opposition should have to demonstrate what their approach will be when, once again, they become the party in government.

Another issue is the containment, first, and then the reduction of poverty, the gap between rich and poor continuing to rise, even the latest tax breaks, welcome as they are, likely to be more of a boon for the rich. But all this in the fullness of time. For the moment, Mr Manning's ethical stocks-and, therefore, the PNM's-are on the high.

The Trinidad Express is one of Trinidad most important newspaper. etroleumworld not necessarily share these views.

Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published by Trinidad Express, January 12, 2006. Petroleumworld reprint this article in the interest of our readers.

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