Whether the politics of justice or the justice of politics, the imprisonment of Trinidad & Tobago’s former PM Basdeo Panday is telling. A clear message across the Caribbean to political leaders was sent: the arms of justice are long.

Those who enjoy the privilege of serving country may end up serving justice-time, if they arrogantly ignore the folkloric wisdom that reaping is a direct consequence of sowing. The Almighty eventually deals with the mighty!

Political leaders consumed by the exigencies of the moment and obsessed with the next elections may trade personal integrity for moral indiscretions. Ultimately, they become casualties of their own wrongdoings.

A note from Mr. Panday’s experience suggests that uncurbed ambitions, calculated misdeeds, and good intentions gone sour, equal the demise of public trust, family embarrassment and sometimes, the death of political careers. Politics is more deadly than forgiving.

Those serious about punishing political leaders for ethical atrocities have expressed sentiments that Opposition leader; Mr. Lester Bird should be given a similar fate to Mr. Panday’s. Others secretly render a harsher verdict.

With or without, clear and direct evidence that links Mr. Bird to alleged colossal crimes, he deserves jail time. They reason that the former PM was too smart to get caught. But justice does not work like that. Conversely, many others have accused the UPP administration for campaigning on, the moral high ground, while practicing corruption at the highest level imaginable. They claim that the UPP in two years has used anti-corruption legislations to get political mileage.

These legislations have not had the effect of reducing corruption in government or encouraging adherence to the golden rule. Some have gone as far as to predict that given enough time, the UPP will be as guilty as the ALP in allegations of corruption. Thus they argue that what separates the UPP from the ALP is not moral integrity but limited opportunity.

Worst off, there are rumors floating in the general public that Mr. Bird’s alleged misdeeds are cunningly attached to some high officials in the UPP administration. To touch Lester is to threaten the survival of some prominent leaders of the UPP.

Still there is a national outcry to let the law run its course without political interference. Behind all of the charges and counter charges, rumors and allegations, Antiguans and Barbudans are united against corruption in public office. They want it completely eliminated.

In contrast to our twin island State, what has happened to Mr. Panday in Trinidad & Tobago is unlikely to have the same impact, should the same thing happen in Antigua & Barbuda. There is the Antigua factor. The UNC in Trinidad does not enjoy the longstanding institutional legacy that the ALP has and still does, in Antigua. The ALP is an organisation with considerable disciplines, codes and structures, capable of withstanding leadership upheavals.

Mr. Lester Bird’s standing in Antigua has wider appeal than Mr. Panday’s status in Trinidad. Mr. Panday has always been a leader who enjoyed ethnic support south of the Caroni. Mr. Bird has been a second-generation leader with social and political weight, beyond his party’s base.The jailing of Mr. Panday is threatening to totally demolish the UNC party. Should Mr. Bird be subject to Mr. Panday’s fate, the ALP is likely to sprout a new leader.

In politics, perception is reality. For speculative purposes, should Mr. Bird be stricken with Mr. Panday’s misfortune, there are two possibilities that awaits the nation. First, the UPP government would have to seriously consider whether a similar move against Mr. Lester Bird would be perceived to be a cover for the government’s apparent failures; and whether unintended political backlash could result.

Instead of minimizing Mr. Bird, his imprisonment in some quarters, may produce greater sympathies with favorable political outcomes for the ALP. Second, to some UPP supporters, legal action against Mr. Bird may yield short-term political advantage. The notion that political leaders are not above the law will go a long way in giving credence to the UPP’s anti-corruption campaign rhetoric. And the ALP may not be able to recover in time to seriously challenge the UPP for the 2009 elections.

To permit lawlessness in overt or covert forms is a fatal mistake. I will not support anyone, who accepts corruption of any kind from his or her political leaders. Responsible citizens do not object to the proper workings of the legal system.

Will the UPP now enact the anti-corruption and integrity in public life legislations, as did Mr. Panday in Trinidad? What impact would these laws have on the UPP’s administration and on the Opposition? Introducing legislations without converting them into enforceable laws seems more for the cameras than for the country. On matters pertaining to anti-corruption, words and actions combined with justice yield social transformation.

Mr. Panday enacted anti-corruption laws while in government. These laws have come to haunt him. More importantly, they are saving Trinidad & Tobago, and lifting the standards for good governance, throughout the Caribbean.

(Dr. Isaac Newton is an International Leadership and Change Management Consultant)