COMMENTARY

Law and Politics: They cannot send me back anywhere!

by Lloyd Noel

Thursday, January 13, 2005

A very famous English Judge, Lord Mansfield, once said, “We must not regard political consequences; however formidable they might be: If rebellion was the certain consequence, we are bound to say “Fiat Justitia, ruat caelum”. Translated, the last four Latin words mean Let Justice be done, though the heavens fall.

It is significant how very often that the law, as related to human beings in their daily lives, is quoted and or applied in the context of heavenly and spiritually oriented situations. And I suppose that relationship is not very surprising, if it all, since the very foundation of justice, and mercy, and moral behaviour all stem from the very oldest book that lays down right from wrong -- the Bible.

What is surprising, and never ceases to amaze and confuse my understanding of certain individuals, is the complete about turn, or reversal of long-standing positions of principle, those individuals undergo no sooner they attain positions of authority.

In my humble way of thinking about human behaviour, and the simplicity involved in seeing and doing what is right -- rather than what is obviously wrong -- I find it utterly repugnant, that individuals who formerly appeared to stand for morality and transparency in public dealings, can be subjected to such drastic changes once they become… “The Ruler”.

Against that background, I was very surprised to be confronted with the disturbing news about the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Sen. Ann David-Antoine, and her face to face with the R.C. Priest at Grand Anse Church, Fr. Charles Dominic, two Sundays ago.

From my very reliable information, the priest had based his sermons on the duties and responsibilities of politicians, as servants of the people who had elected them to serve the community for which they were elected; and by extension, if their party formed the government of the day and they hold any national office, their duties are to the nation as a whole -- regardless of who voted for whom.

That democratic political philosophy is in keeping with the teaching and examples from the said Bible mentioned earlier -- where it is very well documented that the very Jesus Christ from whom we obtained our Christian principles, although He was the greatest in human form to walk on this earth, because He came to serve and save mankind, he stooped as low as to go down on His knees to wash his disciples feet, and as High as to raise the dead, heal the sick, and set the down trodden free. And he never once had to boast about it; He was doing His father’s business.

Fr. Charles’s sermon was in keeping with his own duties to spread the good news, and in trying to bring his flock closer to the perfection that Christ laid down for us all to try and follow.

It seems that from the above generalized position, the Minister got the totally wrong impression, and at the end of the Mass enquired of the priest whether he was preaching against her NNP Government administration.

Had it been me the question was addressed to, my reply would have been “If the cap fits, put it on.” But Fr. Charles apparently merely responded that he was simply referring to politicians in general, and saying it as it should be said, in the context of everyone whose duty it is to serve their fellow men/women.

Whether that response satisfied the Minister or not, I am not sure --although it is doubtful, because from the reports I have received it seems that was not the first time she has taken umbrage with that priest and his very forthright and down to earth sermons.

And my further unconfirmed information was that statements were made to the effect, that Fr. Charles is not Grenadian (he is Bajan) and could be sent back home.

Whether that statement was made in fact, from a serious standpoint or merely in jest, it would not be at all new to our political pettiness and immaturity -- even though thirty years have gone by since our so-called independence.

In the bad old days of one-manism under Eric Gairy, another Catholic Priest in the person of Fr. Austen Milner, had to pack up hurriedly and walk out, because he was suspected of having too close ties with our then fledgling opposition (NJM) New Jewel Movement, led at the time by our late joint leaders of Maurice Bishop and Unison Whiteman.

And later on, when the very said joint leaders in opposition were then the Rulers of the (PRG) People’s Revolutionary Government -- Fr. Mc Cann, an R.C. Priest from Trinidad & Tobago, had to pack his bags and his cassock and move out quickly – because his address at a rally in Queens Park at the time, was considered by “The Rulers” as in opposition to the socialist regime.

Not at all surprising, therefore, that now the new “Rulers” are courting Red China -- the most openly anti-freedom, anti-Religion, and anti-human rights regime since the Soviet Union -- their face-saving Minister, purportedly responsible for religious matters and interfacing with Ministers of Religion, should be taking offence at comments from a priest, that are so true and relevant they actually hurt -- and in so doing confirming the truism, that the truth very often offends.

Of course, no one should be surprised really, because those who congregate together very often imbibe each other’s good and bad qualities.

Well they cannot send me back anywhere, so I can say openly and frankly the comments by Fr. Charles were very opportune, and not only needed to be said but to be repeated as often as possible, regardless of who happens to be “The Rulers”-- be they NNP, NDC, GULP or PLM -- the same standards must be applied across the board.

Talking of sending back, or calling back of the Taiwanese Ambassador in protest of our Prime Minister and his Government’s shocking display of bad manners and low class ungratefulness, I am getting the big-time grapevine news, that feeling the “Bone” is about to disappear, in their indecent attempt to grab at the “Shadow”, the weather-bitten “Dog” is soliciting outside diplomatic intervention, to get Taiwan to pretend that it was all a bad dream and resume business as usual.

Well the unruly dog could shamelessly try to return to its vomit, as often and as insincerely as it likes, but if the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan, ever condescend to fall for that nasty brand of the most hypocritical form of “apology and diplomatic error”, and agree to overlook the deplorable behaviour -- without a very fundamental condition, firmly and irretrievably annexed thereto -- I will be lambasting them as strongly and unconditionally as I supported them.

Standards, once set, must be maintained, and principles must not be compromised, regardless of the consequences.

And as we are reviewing all the ole talk and broken promises, and assessing the condition of the road ahead, an article on Caribbean Net News, by Sir Ronald Sanders on the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) caught my attention because of its revelations.

Readers may have seen or heard that the starting date by only three countries -- Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago -- has again been postponed to February 19, to co-incide with the opening of a new Headquarters for the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown Guyana.

But there are so many very important parts that are critical for completing the whole process, still outstanding and hanging in mid-stream that it leaves even the casual observer wondering about the motives and intentions of the main players.

To begin with, although the inauguration is taking place in Guyana where the Secretariat is based, that country is not yet ready to come on board; and as for the other States in CARICOM -- Bahamas and Haiti are definitely out of the running, and the others are a long way off from being ready -- if they will ever be ready at all.

But even more revealing, from the said article, are the following. Only the single market is coming on stream in February, but the single economy is a very long way off from reality.

And that is so, because the single economy must include a common currency amongst other things, and these are not even on the table for discussion, never mind common agreement.

The other major short-coming is the absence of agreement on free movement of Labour. Governments have only agreed on the free movement of special categories of labour within the region. And Sir Ronald considered that as perhaps the biggest flaw in the Single Market.

Another aspect that is not receiving the required attention is the free movement of capital and investment. Obviously the larger and more developed states can readily take full advantage of that aspect -- but how can the smaller poorer ones ever be able to compete?

A Regional Development Fund (RDF) was envisaged in the planning stages, but that has taken, or being relegated to a back seat and, without such a fund, those smaller states will be in very serious economic and financial straits that are untenable.

The intention and motivation for the CSME were to combat globalisation, but those pushing the changes had better be very careful that we are not creating our own brand of unfair trading and injustices in our own backyard.

As for the CCJ in either Jurisdiction -- original or appellate -- that aspect is riddled with inconsistencies which seem insoluble at this stage, and I have not seen nor heard of any magical solution for the near future, so we in the waiting to see game as always.

Who can deny that we in these parts are past masters at creating our own man-made disasters?

Be it in wanting to get rid of the mother country and true democracy; or castigating one group as Communists in one breath, and in the next breath throwing out genuine progressive democrats and importing even more hardline Red Chinese; or threatening to silence the voice of the Almighty even from the pulpit, and in so doing mashing up the CSME before it even gets started. 

I could go on and on about our man-made disasters being repeated year after year to our people’s detriment -- yet the solutions are nowhere in sight as things stand. If anything, the pressure is mounting.

Lloyd Noel is a former Attorney General of Grenada, prominent attorney at law and political commentator.

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