Cardinal Piat’s pastoral letter for 2022 was delayed. But it was worth the wait. The head of the Catholic Church stresses that “social dialogue is too dominated today by bipolarization, by wars of clan leaders who face each other in a form of brutality majority/opposition, State/civil society, private sector/public sector, pro-government media/anti-government media, etc.”.
This polarization, he said, leads to a paralysis of thought and action in public life. Cardinal Maurice Piat added: “It is time to rise above our particular political, economic or cultural interests and give priority to the common good in the reflection on issues such as the revision of the current division of electoral districts, the current electoral system of “first post the post”, the obligation for candidates in an election to declare their membership of one of the four communities, the lack of regulation of financing of political parties. He recalls that “all these questions have remained unanswered under all governments since independence and the people’s expectations have been unfulfilled for years due to a lack of political will”.
Voters also have their responsibility in this dysfunction of our democracy, according to him. He said: “Too many of them seek personal favours and clan privileges from politicians, in defiance of the common good. Some of us are the first to encourage our elected representatives to satisfy our particular interests. It is common to hear a voter ask a candidate during an election: “Ki ou pou fer pou mwa?” The real question, however, is “Ki ou pou fer pou nou pei?”
