Imagine for a minute, a primary care physician deciding to withhold information regarding a medical condition from his patient; not because he feels that if he tells the patient he would drop dead. But the doctor decides not to share the diagnosis because he doesn't feel like it. I don't know about you, but I'd be hopping mad and would fire him for not giving me the option to seek a second opinion or to make lifestyle changes, however limiting. Well, there are striking parallels between the doctor's decision to withhold pertinent information and the actions of the Bruce Golding-led Jamaica Labour Party government.

It wasn't long ago that JLP candidates spent time talking to the country about openness and transparency in government. The party offered itself as the "open-book" alternative the country needed and solemnly pledged, among other things, to tell the Jamaican people the truth, even when it comes in the form of bad news.

Times have changed. For all of a sudden, pre-election promises about openness and transparency have morphed into laughable excuses, while commitments to tackle crime and violence and provide economic solutions have taken on the effervescent reaction of "Andrews Liver Salts" when water is added - brief moments of foamy excitement followed by months of biliousness. Promises to use power wisely have been deleted from the political lexicon and power and prestige now prostitutes the political process. These same guys created the veneer of imminent economic prosperity and spoke copiously about possessing the political will to achieve all things great and small, only to disappoint those who believed.

The disparities between promises made and promises kept are so wide that they are forcing many to ask one question: When will someone tell us something we don't want to hear? The JLP told voters about the intrinsic value of electing a government that is committed to the principles of good governance without understanding any of it. No wonder the administration continues to operate in complete contravention of the very principles it so vigorously campaigned on, and without acknowledging the degree to which it has been violating its own doctrine. They recommended themselves for the job without once sharing perspectives on a working definition for "political will". Now, the chickens have come home to roost and the scene makes for delicious irony, because it was the JLP, while in Opposition, which promised to make heaven on earth.

The country is in the throes of a vicious sociocultural and economic vortex, caused by tough global and domestic challenges, but made worse by an administration which appears clueless about how to leap from its fascination with causations to the creation of bankable solutions. And it is becoming clearer by the day that the JLP came to power without a plan or with the requisite skills set to improve conditions. The lack of policy focus, coupled with ministerial incompetence, has made a mockery of good governance.

As eloquent as Mr Golding sounds and as impressive as he was during the election debate, he has not demonstrated the kind of leadership many expected and buyers' remorse is quickly settling in. There are real concerns about the general direction of the country, about crime and about the obvious crisis of leadership. People want their government to pursue the kind of governance structure that is predicated on honesty, openness and forthrightness, especially in disseminating information. They are fed up with the current leadership that seems unable to get past the antecedents that led to their ascension, and the thinking is that if a minister finds himself in a position, whether by default or by way of the "Peter Principle", and feels he is "in over his head" he ought to resign and make way for competent replacement.

The government's response to the changing economic dynamics has been to immerse itself in a battle of blames. The finance minister seems to be clutching on to the myth that current economic conditions will hold, despite compelling evidence that "things are falling apart and the centre can no longer hold". Perhaps the discrepancies between campaign lullabies and hard-core governance have become so overwhelming that the only rational thing for him to do is to blame the previous government - which, by the way, should not play Pontius Pilate or absolve itself of the current mess.

Even so, the prime minister still has options to achieve greater manoeuvrability and higher levels of productivity. And since the prime minister appears to be adept at micro management, he could cut the size of his Cabinet and still have more time to dedicate towards supervising the smaller executive apparatus. This would also give him an opportunity to level with the country. If, or when he does, he should not obfuscate the fundamental issues by being cute or evasive and should communicate without descending into the kind of sly rhetoric which coloured his recent West Kingston speech.

That speech was patently annoying, because while he gleefully heaped praise on his constituents for a 74 per cent reduction in crime, he did not provide the rest of the country with any specifics for the remarkable success of the West Kingston model. The conclusion being drawn is that he was being imprudently selfish or pretending to be the prime minister of the narrowly defined geopolitical boundaries of West Kingston, with no expanded interests in replicating the success throughout the country.

He needs to tell us something we don't want to hear. It may help us appreciate and trust his honesty and judgement. We need to know that the real problem behind the depreciation of the Jamaican dollar is not so much driven by currency speculators, but by limited supply, due to fall-offs in inflows from exports, tourism and remittances, relative to demand.
We need to know that until we strengthen the economic fundamentals, reduce the current account deficit and increase tradeable goods and services, the Jamaican dollar will continue its slide - even if at a slower pace.

He needs to tell us something we don't want to hear. We need to know that with the current global credit and financial crisis, Jamaica's two major earners of foreign exchange, tourism and bauxite will perform below projections. We need to know that the country's ability to access funding, even with commitments from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank, will be undermined and that a 30 per cent reduction in public sector wage bill along with other cuts on the recurrent side of the budget are inevitable by year end, because the country has no other choice.

Burnscg@aol.com

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