Many people say they are unhappy with the performance of the People's Partnership Government. The economy has not picked up as quickly as was expected. Boards are taking too long to be appointed. Strikes and industrial unrest are creating a climate of uncertainty. Of course, crime is still too high and people still feel unsafe. Add to that, some unforced errors and the Government's detractors and even some people who are generally considered independent give the People's Partnership a poor rating.
The Government's supporters on the other hand, rubbish these criticisms and focus instead on what the Government has done so far as evidence of its good performance.
The distribution of laptops, police figures which show a drop in serious crimes, relative economic stability and the scrapping of many projects considered to be wasteful are often at the top of the list. How are these legitimate issues to be analysed in a manner that leads an objective observer to a fair conclusion on the performance of the Government to date? A starting point could be to compare the current Cabinet to the previous one in terms of suitability for the posts held. A sampling of which would look like that shown in Table 1. In all of these cases, which include the critical ministries, it appears that the PP choice is far superior by way of suitability, including qualifications, for the post. By itself though, this may not be enough.
Before May 2010
The general election of 2010 was called in the middle of the normal term of office. In the middle therefore, of what should have been a five-year legislative agenda. In the middle of the rolling out of the strategic plans of Ministries and State Enterprises in the context of government policy of the time (while strategic plans may not have been tied to election cycles, government policy would certainly influence heavily the operations and priorities of state agencies). Equally or even more importantly, the murky nature of transactions under the previous government and the lack of process and systems mean that this Government inherited a supporting infrastructure (the agencies to implement policy) which was deficient. Add to that, the number of political appointees, many of which were unsuitably qualified for the posts which they hold.
All of this in the middle of an economic slowdown bordering on recession, coming immediately after a period of boom in which the last government not only overheated the economy but also piled up mounds of debt, empowered a cadre of criminal gangs by funnelling state spending through them, created an artificial labour shortage, allowed the education system to crumble further, thereby abdicating its responsibility to increase the skills base at all levels of society. And of course, operating in a manner which not only ignored the suggestions and desires of the people but resulted in, at best, tremendous wastage of the resources of the country and, at worst (more likely) the wholescale raiding of the treasury by a politically protected elite.
Due to that past and the promises of competence, transparency and delivery presented by the PP on the campaign trail, the new Government was expected to be fast off the blocks in a race which the population expected to be a sprint, not a marathon. The difficulty is that they are being asked to run while carrying a significant amount of extra weight in the form of having to remedy several problems while at the same time attempting to move ahead.
Expectations
To cut a long story short, the population expects a lot from this Government in a short space of time. In apologising for the Reshmi Ramnarine affair, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the population expects more from her Government than any other government. This is true. The fact is that the population expects little when the PNM is in office. Cronyism, corruption and clientelism feed enough people to keep a good 30 per cent of the population happy enough or dependent enough to want to keep them in office. The expectations for this Government are higher. Having recognised that, every effort should be made not only to deliver on those expectations but also to avoid falling into the traps into which the last government fell and which turned the population against them.
This year, the Government has to pick a few priorities-reducing crime must be among them-and deliver. Suggestions for improvement must also be welcome and not be treated as criticism. It is unrealistic however, for the population to expect drastic change overnight. Overall, if one were to look at the action and activity of the Government-just consider the frequency with which the Parliament is being convened to ensure an effective legislative framework is in place-it is clear that they are doing a better job than the last administration. As citizens our job is to keep them honest and push them to deliver even more.
MINISTRY
CURRENT (PP)
PREVIOUS (PNM)
Prime Minister
Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Patrick Manning
Labour
Errol McCleod
Rennie Dumas
Finance
Winston Dookeran
Karen Tesheira
Legal Affairs
Prakash Ramadhar
Peter Taylor
National Security
Prakash Ramadhar
Martin Joseph
Works and Transport
Jack Warner
Colm Imbert
Attorney General
Anand Ramlogan
John Jeremie
Sport & Youth Affairs
Anil Roberts
Gary Hunt
Housing & Planning
Roodal Moonilal/Mary King
Emily Gaynor Dick-Ford
Energy
Seepersad-Bachan
Conrad Enil