There is an American joke about lawyers which asks, "How do you know when a lawyer is telling a lie?" The answer given is: "when he opens his mouth." Now I am tempted to ask, when is a resignation, not a resignation. The obvious answer seems to be: when the Government tells you so.

On October 30, the Government announced that the governor of the Bank of Jamaica and leader of the country's team negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had suddenly resigned. This came as a big shock to Jamaicans, the credit agencies and investors worldwide. The Government, only a few weeks before, had named Derick Latibeaudierre to play the lead role in the critical negotiations to secure a US$1.2 billion loan from the IMF. In fact, this appointment was a major about-face by the minister of finance and the prime minister, who had bypassed the governor when the first negotiation team, led by former Minister Don Wehby and Financial Secretary Sharon Crooks, was established.

Questions were asked then as to why the governor had not been included in the first team of negotiators. Satisfactory answers were not forthcoming from the Government. For some people, those questions are now being answered. It seems the Government had a plan to dump the governor.

an untruth

Unfortunately, the plan was not properly choreographed and the country was to be sold an untruth: that the governor had resigned. No conference call was made to the 'market' and the key players in the international financial communities to brief them on the breaking news and to seek to calm the inevitable jitters, which were bound to follow. This was one of the methods Omar Davies used to soothe market fears in the past. Inexperience would lead the Government to rely on political spin to take care of the market. This proved to be an act of 'rank stupidity'. Standard and Poor's downgraded our bonds within hours. A search of the Internet reveals that there are numerous articles heralding the resignation of Latibeaudiere. All over the world, the news had gone out about the resignation of the BOJ's governor, which took place only a few hours after he had held a negotiation meeting with the visiting IMF team. It took the Government four days before an official explanation would be given to the nation and the international community.

Expecting our leaders to be truthful with the population is the fundamental quid pro quo of the trust and confidence that citizens must repose in our leaders. We have already seen the tremendous damage done to our society by the loss of trust between the people and large sections of our constabulary force. The base of our garrison politics, with its cover for lawlessness and the proliferation of illegal firearms, lies in the mistrust among members of neighbouring communities.

The loss of trust between the governed and the governors can and will do irreparable harm to our society, destroying our young democracy and the security of our people. This is the reason why leaders must endeavour to be honest, truthful and transparent with their citizens. Great leaders place this premium on truth in good times because in bad times, it will be essential that there be no moments of doubt or distrust when unity is needed to overcome adversity facing a nation.

There can be absolutely no doubt that Jamaica is facing a serious crisis in our economy. Two budgets in less than six months of the fiscal year. Twenty-four million dollars in new taxes, and still showing a fiscal deficit of at least 8.7 per cent of GDP is 'a chronic'. Add to that the fact that revenue for the first six months has fallen lower than expected for the full year, and that the fiscal deficit for the first six months is now at the level that was projected for the entire year, should tell us that we are drowning in an economic cesspool. At the same time as we are faced with this terrible economic reality, we are also confronted with the killing of an average of four citizens daily by criminals who in the main, are able to elude the men and women we pay in the security forces to capture and secure their convictions. In times like this, we need statesmen and women who will tell us the truth and put partisan politics aside. So, when the prime minister, on Tuesday last, came to address the Parliament not only on the governor's resignation, but also that of the police commissioner, I expected to hear the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Disappointment is an understatement of how many Jamaicans felt after listening to the address in Parliament. The scores of articles on the Internet saying that the governor had resigned were now all lies. The announcement of the governor demitting office by mutual agreement was a hoax. The PM told us "the minister of finance terminated the services of the governor of the Bank of Jamaica". Fired, we are further told, because his contract was found unacceptable, embarrassing and repugnant to the Government. Why was the double-speak necessary? Why the subterfuge by the Government over how the governor demitted office?

questions raised

These are some questions which must boggle the mind of an intelligent and discerning populace. Hiding the truth from the people fosters the distrust between leaders and followers. That is why some are asking, did the Government know about Latibeaudiere's contract before it appointed him to chair the special committee to monitor the impact of the global recession on our financial system? Did the Government know about the contract when it appointed the governor to head the IMF negotiations?

Given prior knowledge of the details of the governor's contract before appointing Latibeaudiere to the key task mentioned above, the prime minister's theatrics in Parliament exposed the insincere and contrived explanation proffered by the Government for firing the governor. A ruse by any other name is still a ruse.

Truth suffered, trust was damaged and the nation's best interest was injured by the impetuous and juvenile handling of the BOJ governor's dismissal by the Government. Jamaica will for a long time be paying for the ineptitude and incompetence which characterised the Government's handling of this matter. Where statesmanship was required, we got partisan political diatribe. The country deserved better.

Lambert Brown is president of the University and Allied Workers' Union and may be contacted at labpoyh@yahoo.com or feedback sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.