ETHICS, POLITICS AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

Jun 05, 2018 Editorial

The public should not expect senior public officials to resign that easily in Guyana, even when there is an abundance of evidence that they have made grave errors, committed wrongdoing, were involved in illegal practices or have flagrantly violated the rule of law.
Presently, such a culture of ethics does not exist in this country, especially among members of the cabinet of every political party in power.
The Opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has called for the resignation of some APNU+AFC ministers for a number of reasons, but they were rejected as just sound and fury.
Unfortunately, such calls from the PPP would never gain much traction because when in power, that party was accused of committing all sorts of unlawful activities and atrocities against the people and bluntly ignored calls from the opposition for its ministers to resign.
Let’s face it, neither the ruling APNU+AFC nor the PPP when in government, is likely to take such calls seriously, unless civil society and influential interest groups features prominently among those concerned. Many have dismissed such calls from the PPP as merely political mischief or one-upmanship or as propaganda stunts to score cheap political points.
But it is reasonable and fair to give the PPP credit, because part of its role as opposition is to hold the government accountable for its actions.
But rather than just calling for the resignation of some ministers, the PPP should use its national reach to establish an ethics awareness campaign.
One of the reasons why the PPP’s call has not garnered overwhelming support is because people are fed-up with the amount of hypocrisy from both sides. Now the shoe is on the other foot, the dice is rolling differently. But what is good for the goose should also be good for the gander.
Both the PNC and the PPP when in opposition have traditionally used their position to expose and embarrass their opponents in government, but history has shown that when the dust settles it is business as usual for them. Maybe some public officials may capitulate under pressure and resign, but it will not be the PPP’s call that would make them do it.
It would more than likely be a judgement call or a decision taken by the President, based on the exigencies of the situation and the possible political fallout in the court of public opinion.
Resigning from office is a critical ethical decision for politicians.
The option to resign reinforces integrity, buttresses responsibility and supports accountability. It is not an act of weakness, but an ethical action which manifests the nature of public servants in inglorious events while governing.
The reasons for public officials to resign flow from the moral dimensions of the integrity of officials who have failed to live up to the obligation of the office, the lack of capacity to make good decisions, incompetency, and the inability to be effective.
Resignation or not, is a defining moment for public servants, but it should be woven into a fabric of ethics and professional judgements. It is time for the nation to start an ethical campaign in order to force our politicians to embrace ethics if they are to gain the trust and respect of the populace.
In the wake of the allegations of massive corruption under the last government, we need more than ever, public servants who are ethical, competent and have good character. It is said that one of the greatest threats to any democracy is leadership that shuns ethics and puts personal aggrandizement and party interests before the country. Too much of this practice is rooted in Guyana’s body politic.

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