Ronald Thwaites | The cruel use of power

I think it was the philosopher Bertrand Russell who described the core principles of his life as the longing for love, the endless thirst for knowledge and the hatred of cruelty. We should all be repelled by the evil of cruelty – especially when wreaked by a person with power against another in a weaker position. To be a bully is detestable, whatever your title or wealth. Political power especially, to be legitimate, should be exercised to unite and uplift rather than to deride and disparage. Pulling rank, absent respect and regard for others, is plain ugly.

AN ABUSE OF POWER

For the almost two decades I served in Parliament, I observed the mild and helpful Ms. Valrie Curtis. Never officious nor seeking the limelight, she showed care and respect in responding to the fractious personalities of many Members. She would do nothing to bring the Parliament into disrepute. Her gentleness is not weakness. Stubbornness, tribalism and advantage-taking are.

Last week, the design was to make the Clerk of the House of Representatives the fall-guy to distract from the obvious lurch into mean-spirited authoritarianism and cover-up which is more and more demeaning the Peoples Chamber.

Philip Paulwell and Edmund Bartlett, men who have known suffering in their lives, ought to have been much stronger in their response to the unfairness of a damaging letter of accusation released to the public before, if Ms. Curtis is to be believed, she was aware of it. If this is so, it adds bad-mindedness to cruelty and forfeits the respect upon which the author’s office depends.

WHAT CHARGE?

What is the specific charge which is being levied against the clerk? Don’t look for it in the angry tirade of the correspondence. Which lawyer could have helped to draft that screed?

The only “discussions” to be entertained are for withdrawal of the writing, the terms of a public apology and agreement of the quantum of compensation required to repair the unfair damage done, as it turns out without authority, to the clerk’s personal and professional reputation. “Don’t touch the Clerk” should have been the unanimous refrain of all MPs.

NOW WE KNOW

Now we begin to know what was being hidden all along. The Auditor General has found irregularities and massive waste in two departments under the control of the Minister of Finance. It matters not under which section of what law, Mrs Monroe-Ellis reported to Parliament. The public has a right to know immediately the content of any and every report from the Auditor General and the Integrity Commission.

If concealing the corruption and waste was to give a Minister time to evade or respond and correct, the ruse has backfired. Tax Administration for one, offers the lame, pathetic excuse about procurement complexity to justify wasting millions. The public suspect otherwise. No one will be held to account.

INEPT

Beyond the moral issues, the political ineptness is amazing. It is clear that if the Attorney General’s opinion supported the concealment of reports from the anti-corruption agencies, it would have been shared long ago. Take the issue to court and face another NIDS humiliation. Every new survey confirms the sentiment of the majority of the populace that politicians are corrupt. Last week’s events reinforce that perception and again damages the whole political culture. Who benefits from that?

ACCOUNTABILITY?

I was taught that under our system a minister is responsible (and Cabinet jointly accountable) for anything and everything which happens within your portfolio. So minister of finance, we await your response. What’s the point of macro-economic brilliance if the delivery of services which the plenty money affords is so wasteful and prone to cronyism as the reports confirm?

As it is, the walk-out, the cruel assault on Ms Curtis and the profligacy of the government agencies have eclipsed and upstaged the substance of the Budget Debate and distracted from serious discourse about the nation’s condition. This, while the main actors live high on their 200-per-cent wage increase while the majority hug up the $15,000 and are supposed to give thanks for the scraps of $20,000 promised only to the few. Now Nigel, that’s “red card” behaviour!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE

Contrast all that with the kindness and compassion of the Mustard Seed Community in accepting the most vulnerable of Haitians – disabled orphan children – to come and live with us in Jamaica. Compare this Christ-inspired, open-heartedness to the callousness of the Honourables and Most Honourables who do not blush to turn back every refugee even without due process. Bertrand Russell correctly identified “fear as the parent of cruelty”.

THERE ARE MORE

Please, please let us repent our fear-driven cruelty and hasten to accept the remainder of children from that particular orphanage who are yet to be saved from the savages who would want them to die so that their organs can be sold.

There need be no concern about these children or indeed any refugees becoming a charge on the State. And what better expenditure of money than to protect the most vulnerable anyway. The good people of Jamaica and friends from foreign, less fearful and more compassionate that some who govern us , will ensure that food, shelter and love will be forthcoming for these exiles who have come among us.

A NEW LIFE

Generosity of spirit, care for life and for creation are the virtues which will carry us over the Red Sea of our scepticism and despair. Those characteristics alone can unite us, inform humane public policy and offer engagement and happiness to all – not hedonism, debauchery and tribalism. And are not those values, indelibly riveted in our history and constitution, the essence of the timeless message of the Easter events?

Rev Ronald G. Thwaites is an attorney-at-law. He is former member of parliament for Kingston Central and was the minister of education. He is the principal of St Michael’s College at The WI. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.