Signs of the times!

The past week has seen a dramatic shift away from the customary news of violence, disaster and tragedy which dominate media headlines, to juicy reports of a scandal concerning the French head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Mr. Kahn was, last weekend, taken off a plane, arrested and then given seven charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a maid, from Africa, at a prestigious New York hotel.{{more}} The incident has created an international storm and has eventually led to the IMF Head having to give up his post in the face of loud clamours for him to do so.

The furore around Kahn’s behaviour reveals a lot of the hypocrisy so common in western society. It is a well-established fact that many of the “Dons” of modern capitalist society are far from being paragons of virtue. In fact, after the story broke, all kinds of stories began to surface in the media about previous “indiscretions” in his social behaviour. Our societies are renowned for turning the proverbial ‘blind eye’ to such behaviour and only raising the “holier-than thou” banner when disclosures become public knowledge. Until then….

In fact, one irony of the whole situation is that just as the international media, at the instigation of US official sources, were expending efforts trying to denigrate the slain terrorist Osama bin Laden, by implicating him in allegedly viewing pornographic videos, (the relevance beats me), the Head of one of the West’s most prestigious financial institutions was being arraigned for sexual misdemeanours with a lowly maid from Guinea.

Two issues surrounding Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, stand out to the ordinary Vincentian. First, is the fact that no matter what his status, he was not above and beyond the law. Strauss-Kahn was taken from his comfortable first-class seat on the plane, arrested and sent to prison until bail was granted. That is difficult to imagine in societies like ours in the Caribbean, unless political issues are involved. It is hard to imagine that happening on the basis of allegations of a maid in any Caribbean society.

The second, related point is that even though like all accused, a person is innocent until proven guilty, Mr. Strauss-Kahn has had to resign from his post. Whether he is eventually cleared of charges or not, his leadership of such an institution is considered untenable in the circumstances, and unbecoming of the image of the IMF. Guilty or not, he had to relinquish his hold. Would this have obtained in Caribbean society of today? Is it fair to Strauss-Kahn or good for the reputation of the Fund?

One other point that is striking, is the tendency on the part of many of our people to apportion blame or throw doubt on the words of any woman who makes such an accusation. That is especially so when the accused happens to be rich and powerful. I have heard several persons casting aspersions on the accusations of the maid and imputing all kinds of malicious intent to her. My mind went back to cases involving former US President Bill Clinton and even when Mike Tyson was first accused of rape. The pressures brought to bear on such women who come out and make accusations are tremendous and one of the reasons why many women are reluctant to come forward.

The most interesting scenario in all this is about to be played out on the world stage. The sexual details may be titillating to some, but much more important is the power game over who will replace Strauss-Kahn. Traditionally, the United States of America and Europe have carved up leadership of the most important global institutions, the World Bank and the IMF between them. So up until last week, the USA held the top job at the World Bank, while the European Union had the IMF chieftancy. Europe has already said publicly that it wishes to so continue.

But we live in a different world from that of the infamous Papal Bull of 1493, when the world was divided between Spain and Portugal by a decree of the Pope or indeed of 1882, when Africa was carved up at the Berlin conference. This is a world where developing countries and such powerful ones as Brazil, Russia, India and China are demanding more equity in global affairs. Australia and South Africa have issued a joint release stating that the award of the IMF’s top job must be based on merit, not nationality, and qualified nationals of India, Egypt, Turkey, Mexico and South Africa are vying with the European choice for the post. This is a sign of the times, the changing times that we are experiencing.

Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.