PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

By Marie-Noelle Patterson

PORT VILA, Vanuatu (Vanuatu Daily Post, May 23) – We have become accustomed to endless reports from around the world detailing the consequences resulting from individuals and companies abusing their positions or privileged knowledge. Many are so notorious that their names alone are all we need to be reminded of these shameful incidents. Marcos. Watergate. Mobuto. Enron. Arthur Anderson. Halliburton. Abramoff. Oil for Food. Cash For Comment. Australian Wheat Board.

We are no longer shocked by such revelations. We now almost expect our political and business leaders to behave in this way. We doubt their integrity. We suspect them before we tend to believe them.

I can tell you one thing for certain: it doesn’t make it any easier to fight corruption in the developing, poorer countries when we are faced with such glaring examples of misconduct and illegalities in the first world, in those countries that are the source of most of the foreign aid, most of the education and training opportunities, the very countries that should be setting a good example to be followed.

Vanuatu’s small population and strong "Custom" background that involves gifts and paybacks almost guarantees that conflicts of interest will arise and find fertile ground for widespread corruption to flourish. Personal and political loyalty is often seen as more important than abiding by the law of the land. The law is distant and rarely enforced. It need not be feared. Friends and relatives must be lived with every day.

It is tragic to think that, as with so many African countries, the generation of politicians which brought the Pacific countries their independence is the same group which has stunted these nations economically, socially and educationally with their blatant corruption and self serving behavior, all at the cost of the future welfare of the next generations they have sworn to protect and serve. Because of strong tribal allegiances, and a superstitious fear of "payback" a leader is unlikely to be condemned in any significant way; not by his close or "wantok" group, not by the public, and rarely by the regulatory authorities.

It is easy to blame the exposed politicians and discredited public servants for misconduct, but what about the public who meekly stand by accepting such things? They too play a part in the decline. I know numerous people who welcome elections as the only real opportunity they have to receive things from their leaders. They have no interest in manifestos or economic policies for the nation. They expect to be paid and to receive favours. In other words, elections are as much about self-interest for the voters as they are for the candidates. People know that politicians are willing the buy their votes, and the people in turn are happy to sell their votes.

What, I wonder, will it take to reverse that trend? In a traditional society with low literacy rates, changes of any sort are difficult to instigate. The present generation is pulled between the new world that lies ahead of them and the traditional world they grew up in. Without foreign aid and foreign investment most developing countries in the Third World could not function, their education and health systems would be crippled, and what economic activity they do have would be much less. More than AU$2 billion [US$1.5 billion] of aid has poured into Vanuatu in the 25 years since Independence, however - unfortunately - it has for many people become "normal" to live with declining education and health standards, and lowering overall expectations of the type of lives they can have. What if anything can be done to change people’s mentality and to help ensure that the current self-serving attitudes do not become permanently ingrained in our society, condemning institutions and families to years in the wilderness?

In the end it boils down, as it does so often, to people power. What people are willing to accept and at what point does their patience with corrupt officials run out. More and more statistics show that the more corrupt a country is the less it attracts foreign investment and the poorer it becomes. However, the wider, grass roots population in countries with low literacy rates doesn’t always grasp this.

It is often very difficult to get people to understand that their lack of action today helps ensure a lower standard and quality of life for their children tomorrow. It may be beyond us to change human nature, but it is certainly within our control to change how our countries are governed and how our leaders behave, by demanding more of them, and refusing to be bought off by short term favors. This can only happen once the public become aware enough and angry enough that they clearly see the connection between political corruption and their own declining standard of living. As the old cliché says, countries get the governments they deserve, and as long as people continue to accept to be treated in this disdainful way by their leaders, things will not change.

Until ordinary people realize and understand that their lack of opposition to all forms of corruption is actually contributing directly to reduced educational and economic opportunities for their own children – there is probably little chance of real and effective change.

[The preceding is a speech made by Marie-Noelle Patterson, the President of Transparency International Vanuatu and former Vanuatu Ombudsman.]

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