After four years in office, there is a wide range of views on the performance of the PNM Government. Professor John La Guerre has identified many deficiencies in the Government’s performance but has given it a generous grade 6 out of 10 (Guardian 7/9/19). Winford James has noted some disaffection over the past four years but was of the view that it handled the economy well, restricted corruption and did not make any serious mistakes. A recent poll conducted by Nigel Henry found Prime Minister Rowley’s job approval rating was a comfortable 50 per cent this year. Nevertheless, the pollster made the debatable comparative statement that “among those who perceive the economic crisis as ongoing, 75 per cent gave the Prime Minister a failing grade overall. This compares with just 53 per cent of those who believe crime is a national crisis gave Dr Rowley a failing grade.” To what extent these figures correspond to the perception of the PNM Government’s performance as a whole is a matter of speculation.
However, the man in the street seems to hold a less favourable opinion of the Government’s conduct of national affairs. In interviews with seven respondents (Sunday Guardian 8/9/19), five of them gave the Government the following grades - 0, 1, 2, 4 and 4. In the district of Sangre Grande, of the six persons interviewed, five assigned grades of 0, 1, 1, 2 and 3. The Express newspaper (7/9/19) interviewed 10 persons and 7 of them expressed gross dissatisfaction with the Government’s performance, ranging from “bad” to “mediocre” to “total failure.”
If the PNM Government’s performance is judged by the promises made in its election manifesto of 2015, it is difficult to identify any area of improvement or success in its mode of governance and positive impact on the character and functioning of the society. The manifesto (Page 3) had promised to “put Trinidad and Tobago on the path to growth, development, social peace, economic stability and transformation ... and (citizens to) receive good, honest, equitable and transparent Government.” Clearly, after four years, the economy overall has registered neither confirmed growth, development nor transformation. It remains overwhelmingly dependent on the fortunes of the energy sector. As far as social peace is concerned, the Government ought not to take credit. Trinidadians and Tobagonians have not displayed any propensity to riotous behaviour whatever the social conditions experienced. Only on two occasions in its modern history and in special circumstances (1970 and 1990) have there been a violent disturbance of the social peace.
Honesty and transparency in Government have been demonstrably absent, for example, the processes, financial outlay by the Treasury and restitution of funds in the bail-out of CL Financial by the government, or the lease and purchase of vessels for the seabridge, or the Government’s agreement with the Sandals Resort Group, or the decision to close rather than restructure Petrotrin, or the Government’s contracts with various Chinese construction companies, or the agreement with Venezuela on the terms of gas to be delivered from the Dragon Field. There are many other transactions shrouded in secrecy. As regards the equitable distribution of public resources and opportunities, the consistent focus on projects in marginal seats to the exclusion of other areas in need is too obvious to be overlooked.
The PNM manifesto of 2015 (p.13) also promised to restore a system of good values and faith in public institutions. It is an enormous challenge to identify where this restoration has taken place. There have been questionable practices by PNM members of Government, clear conflicts of interest and obvious cases of nepotism. Prime Minister Rowley himself and his ministers have lamented the absence of commitment to work and duty in the public service and the Local Government corporations. Faith in public institutions has further diminished in the last four years. In the Parliament, the tone and content of debate has deteriorated, not least through the vitriolic and acerbic contributions of the Prime Minister himself. Bedevilled by internal conflict, serious allegations against the Chief Justice and inaction by the Prime Minister, trust and confidence in the Judiciary has declined. The general public also continues to hold the Police Service in low regard (notwithstanding the polls), as there is a perceived inability to deal with corruption, malpractices, unresponsiveness and incompetence.
Perhaps one of the most violated avowals of the manifesto (p.13) is its promise that the Government will act with sincerity and humility. In fact, the opposite has been the experience with a surfeit of arrogance, aggression, vehemence, threats and combativeness.