The Dookeran Initiative

Submitted by Christian Khabay on Sun, 06/13/2010 - 12:57
 
One must commend the Honorable Winston Dookeran for his continued visionary thinking in treating with the new political construct that has become Trinidad and Tobago. Widely and for a long time considered part of the national intelligentsia, his latest initiative seeks to deliver unto the Republic a true governance of / by the people. By announcing his intention to design a “dialogue process” for all stakeholders to voice their opinions on the Republic’s budget, he leads a process (if genuine) of true participatory / contributory governance.
 
If successful, the inputs of not only the governmental technocrats but also the general public can find its way into the Appropriations Bill.
 
According to Mr. Dookeran:
                       
 
 
True leaders automatically lay groundwork for others to follow and this initiative promises to be a modus operandi for other ministries to assimilate into their processes.
 
According to Dr. Selwyn Ryan:
 
 
 
 
                                                                       
In demonstrating humility and risking all Mr. Dookeran’s dividends are beginning to pay off. By endearing himself to the citizenry he promises to be one of the shining stars in Mrs. Persad-Bissessar’s cabinet. As a preeminent economic thinker / practitioner, by tapping into the unrealized potential of Mr. And Mrs. Jon Q. Public he can in one fell swoop; achieve his Prime Minister’s mandate: “Serve the people”, marry the wants of the people with the needs of the Republic, and construct an economy of growth and sustainability.
 
Whilst writing this commentary I’m listening to one of my intellectual mentors, Dr. Morgan Job editorializing this very same topic and I’m prompted here to mention his take on the initiative. In embarking on an initiative such as this the obvious conclusion is that populist agendas and wish lists are sure to be the predominant themes. Amongst the many supplications to be made there must be those that hold merit. It must be expected that in constructing an appropriations bill many parameters are considered and all demands of the public purse cannot be catered to. He also suggested that hiring of purpose driven, competent, public technocrats to continually engage with the public service and the public to collect, collate and analyse data and translate it to prudent fiscal management policies.
 
As a cautionary note the idea of participatory / contributory governance must consider the collective rather than the singular as the point of focus. By initiating a national education drive that would facilitate the population’s understanding of the macro / micro economic machinations of our economy a progressive evolution of the process can be achieved. In expanding the process to other ministries, true government of and by the people is achievable. As a coming together of many different thrusts of the new philosophy of governance a better-informed populace is a worst-case scenario.

 

Blog: 
Winston Dookeran
serve the people
Dr. Selwyn Ryan
dialogue process
Dr. Morgan Job
participatory / contributory governance

Comments

Submitted by Taran Rampersad on Sun, 06/13/2010 - 14:59.

If the KPB cabinet will listen to him as much as they should. Hopefully...

Submitted by Bertrand Bhikarry on Sun, 06/13/2010 - 16:44.

 actually I know many in civicus were preparing and passing material to the COP and the UNC in pre-coalition times - on all aspects of good governance. I have seen that material regurgitated repeatedly -even with conviction.

Its only time will tell whether money from party backers or fear of the electorate will sway the balances as we've come to know them. I have watched this last Act with interest, but fear the situation may settle into the familiar morass we know.       

Its a time for for more creeds, more codes and less cult. We in T&T may know only the last.

I'll clarify by telling in turn what I understand of those; A creed is a general statement about mans beliefs about the nature of this world as a whole. (God or Gaia?) A code is a system of morality with rules laid out for man's behavior according to the/his creed. A cult is a body of ritual practice that man thinks he needs to communicate with God/Gaia.
Its an oversimplification, but this is just a comment (and I'm watching Germany trounce Oz)          

 

 

Submitted by Global Voices i... (not verified) on Mon, 06/14/2010 - 15:12.

[...] KnowTnT.com applauds the new Finance Minister's initiative “to design a ‘dialogue process' for all stakeholders to voice their opinions on the Republic’s budget”, saying: “He leads a process (if genuine) of true participatory/contributory governance.” [...]