At least in retrospect the Haughey era of GUBU governance had a certain measure of baroque absurdity which provided some amount of perverse entertainment. Mind you, that also followed a period of reckless mismanagement of the public finances. I think it was sometimes said on Wall Street that any time there came a cataclysm you could guarantee that Merrill Lynch would be there. So too with the Irish Republic: Fianna Fail is always there.
But not, perhaps, for much longer. The present shambles must be the final unravelling of a once mighty party. Fianna Fail will elect a new leader – for whatever that bauble is worth these days – on Wednesday but Brian Cowen will remain as Taoiseach until the election. Just five days ago that looked as though it would be held on March 11th; now it may be much sooner than that.
To all intents and purposes Ireland no longer has a government. Cowen cannot find enough willing bodies to man the cabinet and nothing will pass through the Dail without the opposition’s approval. That includes the all-important Finance Bill which will, it seems, be rushed through the Oireachtas this week. Only then will an election be called.
There are good reasons – market reasons, that is – for dealing with the Finance Bill first. But morally and in terms of the health of the Irish body politic, the election should surely come first. After all, the provisions in the Finance Bill are largely what the election should be about. Instead, however, all parties except Sinn Fein agree that the bill must be passed come what may and in just about any shape or form. The opening this gives Sinn Fein is as obvious as it is troubling. They will surely argue that Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour are effectively engaged in a parliamentary conspiracy designed to suppress the public’s input. Worse still, it’s difficult not to think this charge has some merit.
One cannot avoid the suspicion that the new government – a Labour-Fine Gael coalition of some sort – is happy enough with this. Better by far to inherit a mess than be responsible for renogotiating the deal or winning an election on the back of promises that will prove especially difficult to meet. Having the election after the Lord Mayor’s Show allows them to pin all blame on Fianna Fail. This may prove sensible politics but that’s not the same as whatever might be best for Irish democracy. How can there be a proper reckoning if most parties are, to one degree or another, complicit in the process?
As for Fianna Fail, nothing confirms their habitual elevation of party above country more than the manner of Cowen’s going. The Taoiseach has decided he is not good enough for his party but the country can lump him until mid-March. To the extent that this helps any of his colleagues save their skins, Cowen will have done one last service for his party. Whether the country gains anything from his crippled “leadership” is a different and apparently unimportant matter.
The difficulties facing the new Irish government are daunting. Aside from political and economic questions – significant as they are – not the least of them is restoring a sense of legitimacy to Irish public life. How that is achieved by making the election campaign a response to the most urgent matters facing the state rather than a debate upon those matters themselves is, like so much else, a matter for another day.
And so, actually, GUBU has been rebooted for the 21st century. Farce repeated as tragedy.
Comments