InterAction Council looks at the European crisis and the future
Sir James Mitchell says that he has a wealth of knowledge that he would like to share.{{more}}
Speaking to SEARCHLIGHT on his return from the 30th plenary meeting of the InterAction Council, held in Tianjin, China, from May 10 to 12, Sir James said that he is willing to share this knowledge with whomever wants to listen.
âWhatâs the point of having the knowledge and not share it?â he said.
The InterAction Council of Former Heads of State or Government is an independent, international organization, designed to bring together former world leaders to mobilize their energy, experience and international contacts in an effort to develop recommendations and foster cooperation and positive action around the world.
The organization was formed in 1983 and includes an elite group of former world leaders including Jean Chretien – former Prime Minister of Canada, Helmut Schmidt – former Chancellor of Germany, Goh Chok Tong – former Prime Minister of Singapore and Yasuo Fukuda – former Prime Minister of Japan.
The delegation heard presentations and deliberated on four main topics: the present state of the world, which was delivered by Goh Chok Tong and another on âGreece, the European crisis and the future of the European Unionâ, which was delivered by the former Prime Minister of Greece, Costas Simitis.
The first presentation, according to Sir James, dealt with issues including the financial crisis, the balance between the United States and China and the crisis in Syria.
On the global financial crisis, he said that there was a general consensus that there was sufficient experience to find solutions and that they expected that it would eventually weather itself out.
In relation to the situation in Greece, Sir James said that that country suffered from the same thing that his government had to endure during the last few days while he was in office.
âBureaucrats blackmailing the government with salary increases,â he told SEARCHLIGHT.
The former Vincentian leader said that at the end of his time, just over 50 per cent of recurrent expenditure went to civil servants and they wanted a 30 per cent increase.
âThat would have carried us to 58 percent of expenditureâ¦I said no way, I canât run a country so and they ainât get it up to now,â Sir James explained.
The situation in Greece, he further explained, was that the social security system burdened the country and the further burdening of an increase in salaries influenced the private sector.
âSo, it had to be working at a level that wasnât productive,â he contended.
Sir James told SEARCHLIGHT that this prompted him to say that he could not understand the mismanagement of the government finances in Europe and the U.S., saying that while he was prime minister, all the advisors were after him to reorganize the government and put his house in order.
âI did it, but you all put pressure on me at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Americans, the Europeans supported me with the banana industry and we have the financial crisis affecting our tourism.
âI am happy that all the discussion so far, not one of you have mentioned the Caribbean. I interpret that to mean that we are a zone of peace and we are therefore the right spot for all this money that donât know where to go and we are willing to have it,â he said.
This was the former prime ministerâs fourth meeting of the InterAction Council, having attended meetings in Saudi Arabia, Japan, Quebec (Canada) and China.
Sir James says that he intends to attend next yearâs meeting, once he is in good health.
In the meantime, he said that a report of the deliberations and recommendations coming out of this yearâs meeting will be put together and a copy will be sent to him, which he intends to share with current Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves.
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