NOW THAT the gate fly and the election date is set for Wednesday, October 16, it is even more critical to focus on the fundamental issues of governance for development. There is no issue more basic than the obligation of the state "to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and freedom" both by itself and by citizens.

The scholarship of political economy over more than 200 years and the practical experiments for human development by various means have led to the very simple but profound conclusion that human development depends on, and enlarges, human rights and freedoms. Rights and freedoms are ends in themselves based on the 'inherent dignity' of persons from the endowment of their Creator. But as the UNDP Human Development Report has been hammering home year after year since 1990, the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms are essential for both economic and social development. Economic and political freedoms cannot be separated.

The Prime Minister and president of the PNP "fly the gate" on Sunday night in Half-Way Tree at the largest roadblock political meeting in the political history of Jamaica. The next night, the JLP was to have mounted their own roadblock.

The brute numbers blocking the road matter more than the issues. Both major political parties think nothing of denying citizens their freedom of movement by blocking off roads for mass meetings, and placing citizens at risk from the recklessness and hooliganism associated with motorcades and the bussing of supporters to these meetings. Businesses and schools must close as people's property rights and education rights are invaded.

And we are surprised that in Government neither the PNP nor the JLP has consistently acted as if the protection and advancement of human rights is the most fundamental and sacred obligation of the state. We have virtually limited rights and freedoms issues in public discussion to matters of police excesses, and justice through the courts. I am seeking to broaden that discussion as an election issue. We have a right to go where we please along public thoroughfares in Jamaica. We have a right to enjoy peace and quiet in our homes. We have a right to a sound currency as a reliable store of our wealth. We have a right to information about the operations of our Government.

As reported by this newspaper last week (Sept 19), a youth caucus in Western Jamaica called YARD ­ Youth for Active Reformation and Development -- is calling for the parties and candidates to "debate the issues now." They are not just calling but have generated their agenda of concerns at a conference on "Politics and Governance in Jamaica: A Youth Perspective." YARD, and youth in general like those in G2K and the Patriots, should be careful not to frame the issues predominantly in economic terms as the entire population has been trained to do by too many years of political propagandising for economic growth by political means.

Jamaica is the world's best case study that growth will not take place and cannot be sustained, if it briefly shows up, without a secure foundation of law and order and the general protection of rights and freedoms. The politics of seeking, promising and trying to deliver youth benefits and other factional benefits has been clearly shown not to work. The call for "urgent changes to the existing system of governance" must seek the health of the general polity under the rule of law with full respect for rights and freedoms so that people can seek and build wealth for themselves and the nation in peace and security.

The Sunday Gleaner of Sept 21, re-ran Carl Stone's 1988 column on the importance of the youth vote. The passage of 14 years has seen the growth of apathy among young voters, not the promised growth of the economy or of jobs for youths including university graduates. We have witnessed the growth of murders in which youth predominate as both victims and perpetrators, not the growth of educational performance to a significant degree or of social well-being.

Those who "disproportionately determine who sits in Jamaica House" should take the trouble to frame the election issues in terms of the long-term prospects of the country, that is in terms of rights and freedoms under the democratic rule of law for development.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms says, "all persons in Jamaica are entitled to preserve for themselves and future generations the fundamental rights and freedoms to which they are entitled." How are those rights and freedoms to be preserved? We are witnessing a progressive erosion of the rule of law as the great guarantor of rights and freedoms.

The erosion is manifested in many very visible ways: The exercise of community justice in out-of-bounds sub-states, the murder rate which places Jamaica third or fourth in the world with very few perpetrators being ever brought to justice, the use of terrorist murders to silence witnesses and pervert the course of justice in the courts, the routine occurrence of extra-judicial killings by the security arm of the state, the development of a 'fortress democracy' replete with garrisons and guns, voter fraud and calls for electronic voting.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

The rules and regulations for social and economic well-being are widely disregarded both by the agencies of the state and by citizens: zoning, vending, squatting, road use, noise, litter and dumping and breaching other environmental laws, roadblocks, extortion, praedial larceny. The list is long.

If the progressive erosion of the rule of law in practice is such a threat to our rights and freedoms and prospects of development, then the progressive erosion of our economic rights is no less a threat. Nowhere is this erosion more evident than in the debt burden, one of the highest in the world as a proportion of GDP, and growing. The Budget for yet another fiscal year is running a significant deficit. And the Government is relying on 'deferred financing' to push through pre-election 'development' projects. That is, revenue not yet collected is being spent and the treasury is empty. What is this but the fraudulent misappropriation of future resources?

These strategies of short-term gain for long-term pain have been used by both traditional political parties in power. Coupled with the debasement of the currency and the abject failure of Government to protect property rights by law enforcement, debt is destroying our economic rights and freedoms. Economic and political rights and freedoms are inextricably bound together.

With 20 days to go, let us make the primary issues of rights and freedoms in a free democratic society under the rule of law the cornerstone of the election agenda and insistently follow the winners into the House with these same very basic concerns.

Martin Henry is a communications consultant.