Parliamentary oversight and corruption in the Caribbean: comparing Trinidad & Tobago and Grenada

ABSTRACT

Parliamentary oversight is a key determinant of corruption levels. This article presents research findings on parliamentary oversight in two Caribbean countries: Trinidad & Tobago and Grenada. Our results cast doubt on the results of previous research and also indicate that certain facets of ‘the Westminster’ system need to be relaxed, to reflect contextual reality in smaller island economies. Political will to adopt our recommended reforms is critical, but, as in other countries, inertia often dominates the political environment. Until citizens demand that their elected representatives establish various oversight and anti-corruption mechanisms and ensure these mechanisms are free of political influence, the institutions will be ‘window dressing’ and corrupt actions will go undeterred and unpunished.

KEYWORDS:

• Corruption
• parliaments
• oversight
• political will
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Grenada
• the Caribbean

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 While the eight countries reported by Transparency International to have the lowest levels of corruption globally – namely Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, and the Netherlands – are all ‘small’, the dispersion of ‘very small’ countries is greater, with Luxembourg ranking 11th, Iceland 14th, Bahamas 24th, and Bhutan 27th.

2 A short-lived federation comprising Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands

3 Although they argue that larger numbers of political parties hamper effective accountability and give greater scope for corruption.

4 A proposal to amend the Constitution to ensure that there will always be a Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives was defeated in a referendum in November 2015.

5 The People’s Partnership in Trinidad is a political coalition comprising four political parties: the United National Congress, the Congress of the People, the Tobago Organization of the People, and the National Joint Action Committee.

6 The loyalty that legislators have for the institution is quite clear in the case of PACs, whose success has been credited, above all, to parliamentarians’ ability to work in a non-partisan fashion (McGee, 2002; Stapenhurst, Sahgal, Woodley, & Pelizzo, 2005; Stapenhurst et al., 2014).

7 Most Commonwealth countries, with the notable exceptions of Nigeria and Guyana.

8 In Grenada, by the leader of the Opposition in the Senate.

9 Respondents noted that, even where the Auditor may be doing good work in ensuring financial probity and in uncovering cases of fraud and corruption, unless the PAC and the Government have the political will to correct the problems found, the impact will be limited.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the British Academy [AC150011].