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JosÉ I. Duarte Economist, macau BusinEss sEnior analyst - jid@macaubusiness.com
addressing paralysis
thE govErnmEnt will soon go to thE lEgislativE assEmBly to prEsEnt its policy
addrEss. notE, to start with, thE uncommon situation crEatEd By thE transition of
powEr from thE prEvious administration. as a rEsult of this, EithEr thE nEw policy
oBjEctivEs will havE to fit a BudgEt approvEd thrEE months ago, or thE BudgEt will
havE to BE changEd to fit thE proposals that will BE put forward now.
ith a government that has barely changed and without life of residents? Let the first man or woman raise their hand!
any serious challenge coming from any social sector on are most people against having a bigger say in the decisions
the visible horizon, this situation is peculiar, to say the that affect their lives? That would be surprising. how many are
least. But let us leave aside this issue and focus on some of the against the idea of progress? Not many, certainly.
expectations concerning the Pa presentation. This state of affairs would be likely to change if we started to
Many expect to get a sense of the aims and direction of look into the specifics. Then, many might disagree on matters
the new government. and, moreover, some also expect it will of style, timing and substance. But that’s what politics is or
touch on the issue of the evolution of the political system and should be about: competing visions, diverse approaches, and
the representation of the interests of broader sections of the alternative solutions.
population.
It would be a positive and welcome development if these
issues were touched on and, in particular, if some kind of
calendar for their discussion was put forward. I will certainly
not belittle the importance of these issues, in abstract, nor their
relevance to giving life back to a political system that appears
crystallized. This is a discussion that requires time to mature
socially and to develop in practice. It is never too early to start.
In that context, I would like to call attention to an often-
undervalued element of political accountability: the policy
address itself and the assessment that can be made from it
about how much the government achieved of its own stated
objectives. The reason for that undervaluation stems from the
perception that, in a way, whether the government as a whole
or its individual members fulfill their policy objectives or not,
nothing really threatens their continued position in power.
This is certainly the case. But there is, nonetheless, a
political judgment that can and, probably should, be made on the
a system based on platitudes, or professing intentions so
basis of such an assessment.
benign that no one can or will, in good reason, oppose them,
In such a case, the lack of interest from the public in
can only result in two outcomes: either paralysis or concealed
evaluating the government’s performance, both from our media
protection of the interests of the few able to influence the
and our research and public policy institutions, (a few rare
decision makers.
exemptions granted), is regrettable.
But the policy address could, conceivably, be something
as a result, more often than not, the statements in the policy
else. The document should accomplish two major goals. First,
address are general declarations of intention, when not trivial
it should provide a clear view of the government’s vision for the
declarations of principles that nobody disagrees with.
future, the expected obstacles and the general principles of
and this explains the second reason for such neglect.
policy that will inform the government’s actions.
A few examples will suffice to illustrate this. Imagine
This would increase the stability and predictability of the
you were asked: should we strive for development that is
behavior of the administration, for the benefit of businesses and
sustainable? Of course we should. leave aside the fact that
common citizens alike.
unsustainable development seems an oxymoron. The issue
Secondly, it should identify specific, concrete goals that
is what do we mean by this? What are the specific goals that
put flesh on the general principles and objectives guiding the
we expect to achieve? how do we measure and verify their
government’s actions. Without any of these it is difficult to know
attainment? Which monitoring and correcting mechanisms are
if the administration means what it says. lacking a clearly
put in place and how effective are they? The list could go on
defined strategy – I tried to avoid this over-used and abused
and similar comments could be made about many common
word, but it proved impossible – and without distinctly defined
statements that pepper the previous policy addresses.
actions and specifically enunciated goals, a government can be
Is there anyone against the improvement of the quality of
made accountable for what, exactly?
March 2010
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