Opposition leader Ralph Gonsalves on Monday introduced this concept as a “corollary” to the famous adage that “power corrupts”. While the traditional saying warns of the dangers of having too much authority, Gonsalves argues that “powerlessness corrupts and absolute powerlessness corrupts absolutely”.
Gonsalves used the phrase to critique the behavior of the newly elected NDP government and its representatives.
He cited an example of an unelected NDP politician who allegedly attempted to stop BRAGSA (the Bridges, Roads and General Services Global Authority) from cleaning a river in Byera. Gonsalves said the politician reportedly demanded to know who authorized the work and insisted that nothing could happen in the constituency without his personal approval.
Gonsalves views this as a sign of unstructured and unorganized government and said that in a proper system, state agencies act on their own initiative and are managed by permanent secretaries and boards according to the law, not by the permission of individual politicians.
He suggests that this corruption of powerlessness manifests as politicians “having mouth” for local laborers and minor domestic projects because they lack the capacity or “mouth” to provide leadership on significant international issues, such as the situation in Venezuela or the “Trump factor”.
For Gonsalves, the “absolute powerlessness” of these individuals leads them to seek control over trivial matters—like the clearing of a drain or river—as a way to mask their inability to influence the broader strategic direction of the country or the region.
Gonsalves summarized the current state of governance under the NDP as being at a “standstill” because of this tendency to prioritize personal political approval over legal, structured administrative processes.
