have some mere?

Editorials

Please sir, can we have some mere?

There

is a really simple way to tell when an election is looming the politicians start to clean up their acts.

In Fiji, this has

become almost painfully obvious.

The minister of finance, from whom it is almost impossible to get answers, is now regularly giving his two-cents-worth on any

subject in his portfolio.

He has even spoken out about why a hard line should be taken against people who abuse public posts.

The foreign minister, who is the former finance minister, has criticised the courts for being too soft on people charged in rela tion to the National Bank of Fiji fiasco.

This is the same person who called the NBF fiasco “water under the bridge” when details of abuse were leaked to the media several years ago.

There is a pattern to all this madness.

Politicians generally begin to talk about things like account ability and unity in the months preceding an election.

In fact, it is probably the only time that politicians start doing things they were supposed to be doing throughout their whole term.

During their term, they tend to shy away from their con stituencies and the media.

Then as the election looms, the people become, once more,

their biggest con cern.

Anyone who does not start to improve his or her public image in the year before an election is either very cocky or very stupid.

In Samoa though, those in power seem

to be both these things.

A politician who approves a USSSOO,OOO prayer temple when people are begging on the streets, deficits are climbing, and the cost of living is rocketing has to be very confident of their hold on power. Or rather dumb.

Then again, this could be explained by the fact that the next Samoan elections are not next year but the year after.

Perhaps they too will change their tune in the year before the election. This is when even Tofilau Eti Alesana may start commu nity projects, worry about the state of the children, and even think about the state of the economy.

What is really frustrating is that for the period after any elec tion the public complains about the commitment of some politi cians, yet every election, the same sort of people get back into power.

It seems the public keeps going back to them for more.

It will be interesting though to hear what the Samoan govern ment says to the ADB or the IMF when they next have to ask for more time to pay off their off-shore loans.

"Sorry, we used our next 200 instalments to build a prayer house. But please sir, can we have some more?” ■