For the last month or so, I have been telling my friends that it was my view that T&T's political system was in danger of being totally corrupted by the circularity of money between the country's contractors (also known as Trinidad's political investors) and its politicians.
By that is meant that in this country, political parties get elected based on the money that they receive from the political investors.
Having been elected by donations made by political investors, the party in power then ensures that a significant percentage (perhaps the majority) of the contracts awarded by the T&T Government and the state enterprises are received by those investors.
The investors view the money they provide to run election campaigns and "enhance" the lives of politicians as true investments: They make judgments on the cost of their capital, the length of time it would take for their initial investment to be returned to them and the amount of profit they would derive from the transaction.
In other words, the investor has worked out in his mind that if he gives Party A $10 million and that party wins the general election, that he needs to receive contracts worth at least $100 million during the five year election cycle of which at least $20 million would be "profit" for the investor. By this calculation, the investor would have made doubled his money in the period from one election to the next.
This should not be construed as being an attack on any political grouping in particular as it is clear that both sides have indulged in this practise to the point of the corruption becoming almost systemic and engrained.
Money is the umbilical cord that connects the investors with the parties.
While it is true that every government in every democratic country finds ways to reward their friends, there are not many democracies in which the understanding between the parties and the investors is as clear as it is here.
If I am correct, this explains why during every election cycle since independence, every party in opposition demands that the Government introduce procurement reform and make the required adjustments to the country's campaign financing laws.
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