SL – A paradise for shameless politicians!

Politics has been an occupation and a lucrative business venture for many. Politicians.They spend a lot of money to get elected. Under the proportional representation system, it could be several millions. Thus, as in any business venture, the main aim after getting elected would be to recover the costs at the earliest. Then they go on to accumulate wealth to last for generations, in the form of real estate or hidden bank accounts here or abroad. These cannot be traced as they are mostly acquired under the names of their kith and kin. There appears to be no legal compulsion for them to declare the assets either. In the few instances when such wealth was revealed, in court cases dealing with divorce in the recent past, no action was taken by the Bribery Commissioner, Inland Revenue Department and the likes, for punitive action against the culprits.

The only public display of their recently acquired filthy lucre is the luxury vehicles they travel in. The governments, while requesting the public to practice austerity to overcome the precarious economic situation facing the country, imposed various restrictions on imports of vehicles and luxury goods. Before coming to power, the leaders promise not to issue duty free car permits to newly elected members. This promise has never been kept. They can sell the permit, with almost no restriction on the value of the vehicle to be imported, for several millions of rupees. Surely the person buying the permit should be liable to pay import duty and other taxes in full. But there is no such legal requirement imposed.

The public suffer from poor transport facilities, traffic jams and the likes. There has been no improvement in these services for a long time. Roads are widened and carpeted, but these are of little benefit to the commuters. It is an open secret that such projects help politians and a few officials line their pockets. They get preference in verything else.

Just imagine the long lines of ultra-luxury vehicles that arrive at the meeting sites of politicians. These are the highest grades of each make ever seen in this country. It is disgusting to see a shameless figure getting out of the vehicle with a beaming smile, in many instances after a hapless security guard has opened the door. As they come out of meetings, the spineless press reporters who dare not ask embarrassing questions, get a chance to talk to the big man inside through a half opened window. Most people can remember that the figure inside, half the present size then, could not afford to buy even a motorcycle just before taking up to politics. They seem to be under the impression that they deserve these comforts in return for “serving” the poor masses.

The people’s representatives do not seem to care about the feelings of the masses. On the other hand, why should they worry? They are guaranteed re-election again and again, by the idiotic voters, who themselves should be considered utterly shameless! As long as the public remain unconcerned about such gross abuse of what is their due, this nation will never progress, remaining as a paradise for the shameless politicians.

DISGUSTED CITIZEN