Under what circumstances, Prime Minister?
By Winford James
If I were the Prime Minister and I learnt that a son of my National Security Minister had agreed to assist the FBI in investigations about certain FIFA matters, I would not only be concerned, I would be worried. Indeed, extremely worried. So many things had been giving the Government black eyes and body blows. Was this another one? I would find a quiet corner and a peaceful stretch of time and commune with myself.
I would think: "This is a serious development. Whenever the FBI enters the picture, it always is. What are those investigations about? Fraud? Misuse of FIFA funds? Money laundering? Do those investigations involve him? Does Daryan have compromising information on some of his father's financial dealings, and will he tell on his father? Jack resigned from FIFA following allegations of US$40,000 in bribes to Concacaf officials to win their support for the Qatari Bin Hamman's bid for the FIFA presidency. Is the FBI investigating that? And the newspaper reports speak of some repayment of debts to former Concacaf secretary Chuck Blazer. What's that about? The stakes are high here. Jack is chairman of the party, he is a leading financier, and he holds the very sensitive portfolio of National Security. A lot of things are at stake here: the country's interests, its international image, the Government's credibility, the party's political fortunes. I have got to talk to him. And I have to talk to the American authorities as well.''
Now, the Prime Minister has a way of procrastinating and prevaricating on important issues and, while she may have quickly enough asked Jack to explain his son's involvement with the FBI, she certainly took her sweet time seeking information from the American authorities. But she tells us that when she asked Jack he denied any involvement in any funny business, and when she sought clarifying information from the American authorities she was turned down. And so, thinking that newspaper reports are not a sufficient basis for her to take action against someone so important to her government and her party, and being clearly snubbed by the Americans, she has decided to let Jack hang on.
Indeed, Jack pre-empted her by declaring that he was going nowhere and... she took her cue from him.
But she has left many people frustrated. They see a minister who has brought little or no value to the country—in any of his portfolios. They see a man who felt there was no necessary conflict of interests between his vice presidency of FIFA and his ministerial role. They see a minister who prefers the autocratic way of prosecuting his functions and who is entirely lacking in the sensitivity needed for solving problems in a democracy.
They see a blusterer who does not understand the need for intelligent, respectful, and patient dialogue on difficult issues. They see a minister who attracts controversy like a night light attracts moths. And now they see his older son assisting the FBI in the investigation of matters involving financial misconduct in FIFA, an organisation in which he was a vice-president and from which he resigned ignominiously, and him denying being a subject of those investigations.
It is not that they believe he is lying, but that they are wearied by the relentlessness with which he troubles their spirit. If he is lying, sooner or later we will know, and then there will be no escape for him and our procrastinating Prime Minister. Why is the Prime Minister allowing one man to aggrieve our spirit like that?
I would think that this unending burden on our spirit is good enough reason for her to invite President Carmona to revoke his appointment, especially if she also takes into consideration the fact that he has not really added value—not yet anyway—to her government in the area that needs it the most: crime reduction. But if she is not persuaded by this perspective, she should give us a sense of the circumstances under which she would get rid of him.
Under what circumstances, Prime Minister?
• Winford James is a UWI
lecturer and political analyst