Actions speak louder than words. This is a basic truth we learnt at Sunday school. Given this basic truth, the focus of any analysis of a person’s commitment, competence, character, or trustworthiness should not be on what the person says, but what the person does.

Most people will agree that Prime Minister Andrew Holness is a nice person, and no one should begrudge the support he evokes from those who admire and adulate him. But there is a pattern of behaviour that can be objectively seen which, in my opinion, raises troubling questions.

Given the kinds of questions which this pattern of behaviour raises, I believe we are at tipping point. For those who do not hold the view that the pattern of behaviour by our Government and prime minister signals troubling questions and requires that we stand up and say, “Enough is enough,” my question to you is: What will be the tipping point?

Features of dictatorships

There are some who have suggested that some of the actions of the Government smack of dictatorship. Let us examine some of the features of dictatorships and then see whether, and to what extent, actions of our Government are similar to these characteristics.

Some of the salient features of political dictatorships are:

(a) Control of law enforcement agencies, particularly the justice system and the police: Many people in and outside of America see Donald Trump as a dictator. They point to Trump’s lament that he cannot direct the US Department of Justice, which Trump has said he finds “very frustrating”. The control of, or attempts to influence or intimidate the judiciary is a classic feature in countries such as Algeria, Angola, Burma, Chad, and Sudan.

(b) Subverting the electoral system: In most countries that are controlled by dictatorships Opposition parties are destroyed and elections are rigged as the electoral system is subject to executive influence, so the governing party always ‘wins’ the elections. There are countless examples of this in Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, Russia under Vladimir Putin.

(c) Decimation of unions: Unions normally represent a block of militant, anti-government voices, so unless those unions are pro-government they are usually undermined or banned. A 2013 report entitled Countries at Risk, published by the International Trade Union Congress, names countries that have violated trade union rights; most of which are dictatorships. These include Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, and Tanzania. Saudi Arabia is not included in that report, but it too has banned trade unions.

(d) Undermining institutions, norms, and conventions: Perhaps President Trump is the best example of this.

Characteristics of dictatorial personalities

Psychologists suggest that leaders with dictatorial tendencies seek to exploit people’s hopes and vulnerabilities and impose their will on them by using two major tactics:

(a) instil fear; and

(b) divide and control/rule

The Jonestown massacre under Jim Jones was a classic example of how a dictator exploits people’s hopes as well as their ignorance. Fears were purveyed, and people were placed into two camps — ‘for’ and ‘against’ Jones.

The key used by the dictator is to pull those who comply into a relationship of patronage. In this relationship they are constantly reminded, even subtly, that if they secede from the relationship there could be grave consequences. The prospect of consequences is a way to instil fear. The ‘backra massa’ of colonial Jamaica used that strategy to great effect. Some slaves would be elevated to less arduous work and placed to supervise their erstwhile peers, based on explicit or implicit pledges of allegiance. And those who failed to demonstrate loyalty would be left to suffer in the heat.

Jamaica’s troubling signs of dictatorship

Based on the arguments above, let us now examine some of the actions of the Andrew Holness-led Administration.

Most recently, the Government attempted to impose a wage increase on teachers in the midst of wage negotiations, despite the fact that teachers had voted to reject the offer. The Government only backed down after much pushback from teachers and other sectors of the society. Left to its wishes, the Government would have undertaken a most improper, unethical and probably illegal act.

But why would the Government attempt this? The Government is well aware that with one year’s retroactive money at stake, some teachers who would rather “tek di likkle money now” and forego long negotiations, than wait for the retroactive money which may not come with any better offer than what is on the table. In this regard the Government was both exploiting teachers’ vulnerabilities and employing the divide-and-rule tactic used by dictators.

I mentioned the tactic of dictators of undermining institutions and conventions. If the Government had succeeded in enforcing its will on the teachers that would be the end of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) as an effective union, as the Government would have gelded the JTA’s negotiation machinery. This action would also violate Section three, Subsection (e) of the Charter of Rights, which protects freedom of association. For, by weakening the union, the government would be assaulting the value of the union , and thereby making the exercise of freedom to associate meaningless.

The imposition of a rejected wage offer would have violated Clause 98 of the International Labour Organization Convention, as well as Part I, Section one, Subsection (i) of the Labour Relations Code of Jamaica, which provides for collective bargaining conducted on behalf of workers. More perversely, the action would have breached Part II, Section five, Subsection (iii) of the code, viz:

“Employers shall ensure that…they respect their workers’ rights to belong to a trade union and to take part in the union’s activities, which include seeking recognition for negotiation purposes and that they are not averse to negotiating in good faith with such trade union.”

There are two key words/phrases in this subsection: respect and good faith. If a leader respects those whom he or she leads then that leader will not trample of their lawful wishes. Negotiation means that parties, with equal standing in the context of the negotiations, are involved in discussions with a view to arriving at a common position. When those negotiations are based on respect there is simply no way one party would seek to impose its will on the other. If that were permissible the engagement could not be described as “negotiations”.

Push and interference

So Orrette Fisher, has resigned from his post as director of elections, after a year of legal battles, citing political interference as the reason. This is not only a serious allegation, it is deeply troubling and represents yet another piece in an emerging montage. An investigation is warranted. That the media, traditional and social, as well as civil society and the Church, are not all over this story is even more alarming and suggests that as a society we are becoming numb to serious allegations and damning findings made against our Government.

Coincidentally, the resignation and allegations of Fisher come a few days after the prime minister announced the names of the members of the Integrity Commission. The prime minister’s mandate to them is that they should make Jamaica the least-corrupt country on Earth. The prime minister will be well aware that they cannot do it by themselves, and that those of us who lead must lead by example. It is curious that list of commissioners does not include the Contractor General Dirk Harrison, whose July 2017 report on corrupt practices in the 2016 Local Government Elections is yet to be addressed by the prime minister. Given the cold silence of the prime minister on the blatant acts of corruption cited by the contractor general, how can the he have the stomach to ask others to eliminate corruption?

While one hopes that the Integrity Commission will inquire into the allegations of political interference in the Electoral Office of Jamaica, one would have hoped that by now the prime minister would be frothing at the mouth with anger over the allegations by Fisher and vowing to get to the bottom of it. For if Fisher is being mischievous, the prime minister should be concerned, and if he is being sincere the prime minister should be even more concerned. I hope Fisher will tell all!

Need for consciousness

(among the middle class)

Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) contended that the end of the system of exploitation which characterised 19th societies would only come when the working class acquired the consciousness to move from being merely a class in itself to become a class for itself.

The middle class in Jamaica (defined as educated professionals — intelligentsia — who are employed by government and the private sector, and paid wages above the minimum wage) may be generally described as lazy, selfish, detached, and indifferent when it comes to issues of national concern. As long as the members of the middle class get what they want, and their safety and way of life are not threatened, “di place cudda bun dung…dem don’t bizniz”. It is the apathy and indifference and lack of involvement by the middle class in the country’s affairs that have contributed, to a significant degree, to the audacity of political parties and governments to sometimes make reckless promises and implement questionable policies. This indifference is probably a contributor to the recent behaviours of trampling on sacred conventions, laws, and the constitution.

It is heartening to see that the attempt by the Government to impose a rejected wage offer on teachers has galvanised the members of the JTA. It is relieving to know that the union was able to foil the divide-and-rule tactic. But the rest of the public sector and other members of the intelligentsia need to speak up. I hope that the model of activism seen among youth across the United States, in the wake of the latest school massacre, will provide a template for the conscious people of Jamaica. In the same way judges rose up and said enough was enough; and in the same way the Jamaican Bar Association told the prime minister they would take him to court unless he corrected the unconstitutional breach and appoint the chief justice permanently, so must other members of society speak up and show that they see the potential dangers.

We had better become conscious!

Dr Canute Thompson is head of the Caribbean Centre for Educational Planning, lecturer in the School of Education, and co-founder and chief consultant for the Caribbean Leadership Re-Imagination Initiative, at The University of the West Indies, Mona. He is also author of three books and several articles on leadership. Send comments to the Observer or canutethompson1@gmail.com.