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EDITORIAL - Ugly utterances by Minister Smith
published: Saturday | November 17, 2007
The country is rightly concerned about the intolerably high incidence of murder, mayhem and malfeasance that pervades the society. The criminal circumstances, aggravated by the many unresolved transgressions in high places, make it understandable and even excusable when the average citizen demonstrates a measure of impatience in the search for peace and security.
However, the intemperate outburst on Wednesday night of Derrick Smith, the Minister of National Security, is a shocking response that must be frowned upon by all well-thinking observers.
The Government of the day is doing no more or less than its duty when it aggressively unearths facts and provides the justice system with whatever evidence it believes will help to identify wrongdoers. But having done so it has a further obligation, which is to leave judgement and possible conviction to the police, the DPP and the courts.
It is, therefore, highly improper for Minister Smith to publicly prejudge the results of criminal investigations being carried out by the police. Moreover, it is reprehensible that he went on to announce that he, and presumably the Government, already has plans to imprison persons who up to now have not been accused of any crime. He proposes to do so "when the investigations going on now confirm that dem was a thief". Such a statement is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler who is said to have remarked that he would give his enemies a fair trial and then hang them.
Mr. Smith is usually regarded as soft-spoken and urbane. However, on this occasion he compounded the ugliness of his utterances by hurling what must be regarded as a wild charge of criminality against some unnamed PNP councillor. He made it known that in this matter he had used the privilege of his position to become privy to information from the police.
This suggests that he, a political functionary, is not above becoming involved in police investigations. Such an intervention could be interpreted as a form of interference and is indeed cause for apprehension. What if the so-called suspect had happened to be a supporter of his own party? Would the influence of his office been brought to bear on the situation? Maybe not, but the inclination will be to judge his actions by the stridency of his words. And his outburst cannot be excused because it happened during a JLP rally in Tivoli Gardens; it is bad example of behaviour that should be discouraged at such gatherings of the party faithful.
We hope that the minister upon sober reflection will consider the damage he may have done to his party, himself and the Government. We trust that he will find it prudent to retract his uncharacteristic remarks and by so doing, redeem public confidence in the handling of his portfolio. Failure to do so, should at the very least attract a stern rebuke from a Prime Minister who has been at pains to encourage equity and good order in the government over which he presides.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
published: Saturday | November 17, 2007
The country is rightly concerned about the intolerably high incidence of murder, mayhem and malfeasance that pervades the society. The criminal circumstances, aggravated by the many unresolved transgressions in high places, make it understandable and even excusable when the average citizen demonstrates a measure of impatience in the search for peace and security.
However, the intemperate outburst on Wednesday night of Derrick Smith, the Minister of National Security, is a shocking response that must be frowned upon by all well-thinking observers.
The Government of the day is doing no more or less than its duty when it aggressively unearths facts and provides the justice system with whatever evidence it believes will help to identify wrongdoers. But having done so it has a further obligation, which is to leave judgement and possible conviction to the police, the DPP and the courts.
It is, therefore, highly improper for Minister Smith to publicly prejudge the results of criminal investigations being carried out by the police. Moreover, it is reprehensible that he went on to announce that he, and presumably the Government, already has plans to imprison persons who up to now have not been accused of any crime. He proposes to do so "when the investigations going on now confirm that dem was a thief". Such a statement is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler who is said to have remarked that he would give his enemies a fair trial and then hang them.
Mr. Smith is usually regarded as soft-spoken and urbane. However, on this occasion he compounded the ugliness of his utterances by hurling what must be regarded as a wild charge of criminality against some unnamed PNP councillor. He made it known that in this matter he had used the privilege of his position to become privy to information from the police.
This suggests that he, a political functionary, is not above becoming involved in police investigations. Such an intervention could be interpreted as a form of interference and is indeed cause for apprehension. What if the so-called suspect had happened to be a supporter of his own party? Would the influence of his office been brought to bear on the situation? Maybe not, but the inclination will be to judge his actions by the stridency of his words. And his outburst cannot be excused because it happened during a JLP rally in Tivoli Gardens; it is bad example of behaviour that should be discouraged at such gatherings of the party faithful.
We hope that the minister upon sober reflection will consider the damage he may have done to his party, himself and the Government. We trust that he will find it prudent to retract his uncharacteristic remarks and by so doing, redeem public confidence in the handling of his portfolio. Failure to do so, should at the very least attract a stern rebuke from a Prime Minister who has been at pains to encourage equity and good order in the government over which he presides.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.
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