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CRACK DOWN ON THE FAT CATS

PRESIDENT Kumaratunga's forthright disclosure of the close nexus between politics and business should set the public thinking and, hopefully, bring some blushes of shame to the faces of those who unashamedly abuse their official positions as people's representatives to amass private fortunes.

According to the President, some 90 per cent of MPs use their official positions to rake in the shekels, while only a minuscule 10 per cent of them maintain unimpeachable track records as servants of the public.

Some of these damning facts about their representatives, the public may have already been aware of but this is probably the first time in the history of post independence governance in this country that a Head of State and Government has spoken frankly about them.

We thank the President for this unflinching openness and courage and call on errant politicians to refocus their minds on the oaths taken by them on taking office.

We need hardly say that public service and noting else is the first thing the public expects of their representatives in the country's legislature.

The act of using their official positions to fatten their private businesses is a gross violation of the oath of office of MPs and perverts beyond recognition the code of conduct they are expected to subscribe to.

The unconscionable use of public office for private profit makes a shocking mockery of democratic governance and explains why the latter has been critiqued by some as a mere vehicle that serves only the privileged in society.

In sum, the position of these critics is that parliamentary government is a cover for the perpetuation of the stranglehold the economically powerful have on the State and society.

How true, when it is considered that when once in office, the legislative process and program forgets the needs of the majority of the people, who are poor, but serves the interests of a powerful few.

Government contracts for one's businesses and firms or to those owned by one's kith and kin, coupled with sumptuous kickbacks and commissions for favours granted to those with means, are some of the other avenues through which elected politicians amass their fortunes and strengthen their business empires.

Accordingly, we need laws with sound, sharp teeth which could hold errant politicians in check.

The problem is as old as Political Philosophy itself. This is the reason why political thinkers of the standing of Aristotle - for instance - wanted the Rule of Law to hold sway over society and rein-in man's passions and the evil promptings of his heart. For, the human heart is deceptive and "desperately wicked".

The President has done well to size-up this situation. She now needs to act decisively to get rid of the chaff in our political establishment. If this is not done quickly there will spring into being a new breed of fat cats who thrive on even tsunami aid.

Biological terror

We remember vividly the Anthrax saga in the USA and even locally, the closure of several Western embassies following an Anthrax scare. The threat of bio-terrorism is very real.

Biological agents are feared to be the future weapons of choice for terrorists. It used to be confined to fiction of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton, but the possibility of a group of terrorists releasing a vial of microbes that can annihilate whole city populations is now a reality.

The world is responding, albeit slowly, to this threat. More than 500 police chiefs, doctors and public health officials at an Interpol conference agreed on Wednesday to create a global information centre to fight the threat of bio-terrorism and called for greater cooperation between law enforcement and the scientific community.

As Jean-Michel Louboutin, executive director of Interpol says, "we have to strengthen the cooperation between the different groups, those concerned with law enforcement and those from the world of science, medicine and agriculture".

The conference, sponsored by Interpol, agreed to set up the information center on bio-terrorism at the Lyon headquarters of the world's largest police organisation. This would be available to its 182 members and is a much-needed initiative that will help thwart possible bio-terror attacks.

In a way, bio-terrorism is deadlier than conventional and nuclear warfare. The latter forms of conflict destroy buildings and property but biological weapons have the terrifying prospect of eliminating humans alone. And mounting a biological attack seems to be much simpler than other forms of terrorist acts.

A large-scale biological attack could leave millions dead and millions more wounded. Doctors and public health specialists at the meeting pushed for the need of putting in place alert systems that would lead to the diagnosis and eventual treatment of such victims.

Another positive outcome could be the start of a special anti-bioterror unit. More funding will be required to establish such a global unit with wide powers.

In the meantime, police forces and scientists around the world should cooperate on tackling bio-crime. The recent revelations on the sale of nuclear technology makes it clear that a similar chain of events could take place with regard to the development of biological and chemical weapons.

Bio-terrorism is not going to disappear anytime soon, as terrorists look for novel ways to attack civilian and military targets. As the saying goes, terrorists have to be lucky only once, but Governments have to be lucky all the time. Governments and law enforcement agencies must be one step of the terrorists in order to defeat their abhorrent plans.
 

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