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STRAIGHT LINE

Greed and guardians
**Nobody would question the politician's prerogative to rule. The historical fact is that people have risen to great heights when they have basked in the glow of noble kings or leaders. It is, therefore, a sad sight to witness the continued demeaning of politics and politicians in our midst.
The seizur ofTak;
70 lakh from the railway minister's assistant personal secretary's car and
the subsequent handling of the matter by the minister have drawn adverse attention in the media. The
neutrality of the probe committees formed by the minister has been questioned even before it commenced functioning. The Anti-Corruption Commission says that it will launch a probe into the minister's alleged involvement in the incident, as reported by a private TV channel.
The high profile criminal cases of corruption lodged against a number of our political heavyweights in the recent past perhaps demonstrated that the minds of many public leaders have become impoverished on account of single-minded pursuit of money. It appears that such relentless pursuit has also desiccated their hearts. The malaise seems to be not only persistent but also prone to aggravation.
The question is, can mentally and ethically deficient people as above hold our trust that has to be reposed in public office? Alternately, should people with an unbridled lust for material accomplishments be allowed to occupy and disgrace high offices? In the fitness of things, such thoughts should engage the minds of all right-thinking people.
It is perhaps time to stop ruling out wise changes by politics as that would amount to a grave indictment of the functioning of the democratic process. The seizure of all levers of power by politicians and conniving bureaucrats in the recent past has been very frustrating to technocrats and professional managers.
Observers of the political scene are of the view that the personal and professional credentials of the politician are central to the subject under discussion. In this regard, the layman, in view of his experience, may wonder whether politics is a profession or a vocation or simply a social service. One considered view is that although some political parties may have full-time cadre of workers who are on the party's payroll, in a democratic society, politics cannot be a full-time occupation.
It is felt that, while in power, holders of office shall be adequately compensated by the state, although the compensation may not prove to be satisfying for a capable professional. But then that is the price one has to pay for being in public service. The important issue here is that after one ceases to hold power one goes back to
the parent profession or occupation. In other words, it is expected that politicians are in definite profession or occupation and have means to support themselves.
How close our political scene to the proposition described above is may be the subject matter of serious discussion. Do we see people in the political scene whose true sources of income cannot be ascertained? One has to bear in mind that parasitic leadership can neither inspire nor help in the creation of healthy political culture. These issues should be discussed seriously by the political parties themselves because, barring honourable exceptions, politicians with accountable income can command respect.
Politics has often been described as the art of wise people, and alternatively as the last refuge of scoundrels. There is, however, no doubt that efficient politicians are artful people who are driven by an admirable urge for public service. As such, their altruism has been appreciated and recognised in all societies and politics has been deemed to be an edifying activity.
It is, therefore, quite striking to note that in recent years, politicians, irre- spective of their country of origin, have figured very low in the popularity ratings and therefore it is no wonder that governments administered and steered by politicians have been less than trustworthy in public eyes in different parts of the world. The increasingly strident voices of civil society and non-governmental organisations in such a scenario have further eroded the credibility of politicians.
Nobody would question the politician's prerogative to rule. The historical fact is that people have risen to
great heights when they have basked in the glow of noble kings or leaders. It is, therefore, a sad sight to witness the continued demeaning of politics and politicians in our midst.
The question is, has politics become dirty because we see many of our politicians occupied solely in maintaining a system which is poisoned by collective bad faith and polluted by individual avarice? Are our politicians served by deception and craftiness instead of vision and imagination? Has the near breakdown of politics been caused by the fragility of our institutions? Such worries should bother a concerned citizenry.
Politics brought to the fore a lot of dirt because our democratic experience did not depend upon habits of consent and compromise that are attributes of a mature political society. We did not seek to establish and sustain a lawful government under the rule of abiding law and with freedom of opposition and dissent.
It is time, therefore, to ensure that arbitrary power cannot once again wear the garb of constitutionalism. Elected representatives who betrayed the people's trust need to be kept away from public affairs. The question is, how do we restore politics to its artful best and to the bonafide politicians?
In Bangladesh, politics, in its wider connotation, should really mean taking one's agenda in one's own hands. It should be about the process of change; how society is organised; what its power structure is; who the actors are; how they interact with each other and with the outside world. It is also about social responsibility, about participation, about inclusion. It is about ideas and new concepts and their implementation.
When we restrict politics to politicians and their antics, and intermittent interventions by the military, we exclude the above-mentioned subjects from purview. Politics in such a situation becomes a spectator sport. Quite naturally, in such a scenario, the people have neither role in selecting the players nor any part in the game itself. Therefore, the people also share the strengths and weaknesses of the players.
In our parlance, the best politician or a good bureaucrat should no longer be the person who never says no to his voters or friends. The distinction between public propriety and private gains has to be firmly established, and accountability restored. Doling our favours at public expense can no longer be tolerated. We have to get acclimatised to institutional reforms as against short-term gains.
Politics should touch our daily lives. For residents of urban centers, the issues of law and order, shortage of water and electricity, lack of a public transportation system, and unemployment should be the focal points of our politics. Issues which concern citizens' lives are political issues.
The colonial masters introduced the concepts of modern governance: a neutral civil service selected on the basis of a competitive examination, codification of laws, delegation of powers, local self-government and an independent judiciary; and, of course, modern universities and colleges for social science, medicine and engineering. If we succeed in rejuvenating all those we will have excelled in the art of politics.
The writer is a columnist of The Daily Star.