Lambert Brown

Twenty years ago, while running for president of the United States, a candidate named George H.W. Bush was trailing his democratic rival in the polls. One memorable speech was very instrumental in making the father of the current president surge past his rival in the polls and become the victor. In that speech, he said in part: "... I'm the one who will not raise taxes ... The Congress will push me to raise taxes and I will say no. And they will push and I will say no, and they will push again, I will say no to them. Read my lips: no new taxes."

These six little words at the end of the quotation were taken very seriously by the American people. They would be the litmus test by which the Bush presidency would be judged. For the American voters, promises are not comfort for fools. Neither are they mere words spoken during an election campaign designed to be forgotten after the elections are over. The failure to abide by those six words was used as evidence of Bush's untrustworthiness, and significantly contributed to his losing to Bill Clinton in 1992. In Jamaica, some would want us to believe that promises made during election campaigns should not be taken seriously. For them, promises should be seen as comic relief in a contest of political jokers. With this view, I differ.

Path to power

For many politicians, the path to power is propelled by promises. The more promises made, no matter how unrealistic, the more support one is likely to garner in that quest for control of the levers of power. The very people who were foolish enough to buy, hook, line and sinker, into the grandiosity of our 'promising politicians' are the ones against whom the power will most likely be used. In an atmosphere where major sections of the media are insufficiently probing, promising politicians thrive best and airy-fairy schemes and ideas triumph in political debates, speeches and campaigns.

The plethora of promises made in the last general election and the ease with which they were passed on to a gullible public - without rigorous scrutiny by the media on a whole - is cogent evidence to this belief held by several of our political leaders that the Jamaican people are easily satisfied with words of comfort. Fortunately, reality has a profound way of inserting itself over fantasy into the life of a people. In such situations, the people soon discover that they were tricked by consummate spin doctors with a penchant for power and personal aggrandisement, rather than genuine concern for national unity and sustainable development.

Performance is life's measurement of promises. In Jamaica, five months is a reasonable time to assess the performance of our new government against some of the promises so glibly made during the last election campaign. Our people were promised a new bill within the first 100 days for a 'fixed election date' Oops! 'Period'. This promise was described by expert constitutional lawyer Dr Lloyd Barnett as "not well thought out". Even Edward Seaga opposed this vague plan. Reality seems to have checkmated this stillborn National Democratic Movement (NDM) fantasy. Irony of ironies is that it is likely that this same flexible election date will be called on to save this government from the vicissitudes of certain actions in court against some sitting members of Parliament.

Another of the NDM promises trampled by reality is the five per cent of the budget to be allocated to members of Parliament as a 'constituency development fund'. Even the compromised 2.5 per cent in the JLP manifesto will not see the light of day anytime soon, despite the pre-election bragging and boasting of how easily this could be done.

We were told that in the first 100 days, the new government would roll back the pension of former prime ministers. This would affect widows of at least two former prime ministers as well. Some people felt that this promise was motivated more by vindictiveness and shallow thinking than any real desire for correcting inequality. Happily, it now appears that reality has set in and the prime minister can cut only his own pension. What cruel irony it is to cut off one's own nose to spite the face of political opportunism.

The nurses of Jamaica were promised at least a 100 per cent increase in salary. They, according to the NAJ president, "enrolled" in that promise. The nurses still expect the fulfilment of at least the 'full one hundred'. Not so, though the people of Portmore; they did not expect any 100 per cent increase in toll charges. The promises were to lower the toll rates and to review the contract to make life easier for the residents of the Sunshine City.

All indications of the last five months point to a government unable or unwilling to make its word become its bond with respect to these and other promises. From the Government, the message seems to be: promise made, promise broken.

Culture of silence

There is developing in Jamaica, a culture of silence where we acquiesce or excuse broken promises, rather than hold our politicians accountable for their covenants with the people. This is emboldening the Government to embark on a new round of promises without fear that we will one day 'read their lips'. The announcement first by a junior minister and then the prime minister of a new airport near Portland has passed without any questions being raised about the previous promise to improve the Ken Jones aerodrome to accommodate the same types of aircraft that the new airport is supposed to receive. Was the Ken Jones aerodrome improvement plan another fly-by-night promise to gain votes? Is the announcement of a new airport - for which no feasibility study has yet been done, and coming at a time when the parliamentary seat of the junior minister who made the announcement is being seriously challenged in the Supreme Court - any different?

Rigorous probing by the media and the Opposition is the surest guarantee of maintaining trust among our people and the stability of the democratic system. When it comes to analysing promises made, this rigour is lacking. Like the elder George Bush, untrustworthiness is likely to haunt the current government in the coming months and could very well undermine any longevity in Jamaica House. I sense the people are beginning to 'read the lips' of our politicians.

Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers' Union, and can be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com.