Competent leaders

Saying that the country had tried many different things to solve its social problems, Mr Manning said, “There is one thing we haven’t tried. I will share with you a secret this evening: righteous leader, prosperous nation.” He went on to assure his converted audience that “If that has not been tried before, let me assure you that it is being tried now.” And all this was linked to Mr Manning reporting how he and his wife, Education Minister Hazel Manning, had become born-again Christians.

So here we have the spectacle of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, in one fell swoop, sidelining the other Christian denominations, the Hindus, the Muslims, the Orisha’s, the New Age followers, and the non-believers who all make up this plural society. That would be bad enough. What is far worse, however, is that Mr Manning’s perspective contains not a whit of validity.

Take his aphorism: “Righteous leader, prosperous nation.” This statement was made in the context of the country’s growing Gross Domestic Product. However, since this growth has come about largely because of increased oil and gas prices, there seems to be little substantive difference between Mr Manning’s statement and that of the bright light from Lawyers for Jesus who, some months ago, declared that implementing the Draft Gender Policy would result in Trinidad and Tobago running out of oil and gas reserves.

Additionally, Mr Manning’s aphorism is contradicted by political realities. No theocracy has ever provided prosperity to its people. Instead, theocracies have been oppressive, unprogressive, and unenlightened. In the modern world, the only remaining theocratic nations are Islamic ones, and all of them score very low on the Human Development Index. The most prosperous nations in the world are secular ones, whose leaders do not let religious beliefs intrude on public policy. (The sole exception is US President George W Bush, a born-again Christian who has continually lied to his people and who has spearheaded an invasion now almost universally condemned.) Mr Manning, however, is on record as saying that he has blocked the Draft Gender policy because some of its recommendations go against his religious beliefs.

Finally, there is the question of whether Mr Manning is indeed, as he implies, a “righteous leader.” Such a leader, we assume, would adhere at all times to the highest ethical standards. Yet one of Mr Manning’s first actions on assuming office was to appoint his born-again wife to the post of Education Minister. This, despite Section 29 (1) of the Integrity Act, which states: “a conflict of interest is deemed to arise if a person in public life or any person exercising a public function were to make or participate in the making of a decision in the execution of his office and at the same time knows or ought reasonably to have known that, in the making of the decision, there is an opportunity either directly or indirectly to further his private interests or that of a member of his family or any other person.”

What Trinidad and Tobago needs is not righteous leaders, but competent ones. And there is no evidence that righteous leaders are competent leaders — indeed, history suggests that the opposite is the case. All of which is not to say that Mr Manning does not want the best for the country. But he would do well to remember that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.