In what could turn out to be the irony of ironies, Integrity Commission Chairman Kenneth Gordon, may very well be the first casualty in the ongoing e-mail imbroglio involving leading government officials and opposition leader Keith Rowley.It was not my intention to comment on this extremely serious issue which I have said before, strikes at the very root of our democratic system of governance, this week.If and when, I more believe when, the truth comes out the offending party or parties must be made to pay the full price of such a major transgression if only to send a message that playing politics is one thing, but attempting to ruin the reputation of a country and its people with a proud history of democratic governance is strictly off limits.I am still going to comment on my original topic–election campaign finance–but not at the length I wanted to.However, this secret meeting, which is exactly what it was between Dr Keith Rowley the leader of the loyal opposition and the IC chairman was, sad to say, totally and absolutely wrong, and this is putting it mildly.
I don't have the space to rehash the facts leading to the session held at Mr Gordon's home at the request of Rowley, since these have been in the public domain and still fresh in the minds of citizens.I have had the highest regards for Mr Gordon who has always come across to me as being above reproach except for the few occasions when he made some missteps with respect to certain issues at the IC as is the case at this time.How could a gentleman like Mr Gordon allow himself to be put in such an embarrassing position at the behest of Rowley, one of the main figures in this e-mail scandal which quite rightly has triggered investigations which has already involved foreign inputs?This is beyond my comprehension and in the absence of concrete evidence I would not say like some government spokespersons, that there was a collusion to bring down the government by person or persons unknown.And I am being charitable.Assuming that Rowley in his haste to embarrass the PP administration at the very least, and add to the administration's well known missteps over the last three years, was set up and fell for the bait?
But these we shall have to wait and see before passing judgment on any of the principal players in this unseemly political saga of dubious sorts.Rowley has said we should not attack Mr Gordon for this development and that the blame should rest with him. But is that sufficient for us to continue to repose confidence in the IC under the helm of Mr Gordon?Mr Gordon has found himself in a very uncomfortable corner and I would not be surprised if by the time this column has appeared he has done the right thing.On to my original topic. For years this has always cropped up particularly by parties in opposition and to be honest I find this all so hypocritical.Why?I don't think we would ever see progressive legislation put on the statute books compelling companies or private citizens to disclose their contributions to political parties especially at election time–financially and otherwise.Let's face one incontrovertible fact; politics is big business not only here but around the democratic world, where the only people who really win a general election are the big time donors, corporate and others.
In T&T, the only businessman to declare he was the first political investor is business magnate Gerry Hadeed, who of course never revealed how much he has donated to political parties over the years.Of course donors expect to be rewarded with favours and invariably they emerge winners because most of them support the major parties, guaranteeing hefty returns based on the size of their "investment."It is not in the interest of these donors to have laws governing campaign contributions because it would be easy for the media to reveal their identity and corresponding rewards from the party in office.I was among some people recently discussing this matter when an activist of the People's National Movement called me aside and contrary to my view, confirmed that he had personally given hard cash to people to vote for the party's candidate in his constituency.It brought to my mind something I saw with my own eyes–a UNC candidate who was on a walkabout, with a large bundle of blue notes eager to hand out discreetly to those in need of financial help whatever the actual need, during the exercise.No amount of cake sales could generate that kind of money and I want to see which party would be that bold to take such a courageous step to deal with campaign financing.