This is primarily one of the reasons why politicians in the UK are not allowed to run their own businesses while they are in office. However, most of our politicians continue to work on their private businesses along with sitting in the legislation houses; making decisions that affect the lives of millions of Pakistanis. In my opinion, if the state continues to be controlled by people who have such complicated plans, it will fail to provide the natives of our country with the rights, facilities and resources they deserve.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Our Elite Politicians and the state
This is primarily one of the reasons why politicians in the UK are not allowed to run their own businesses while they are in office. However, most of our politicians continue to work on their private businesses along with sitting in the legislation houses; making decisions that affect the lives of millions of Pakistanis. In my opinion, if the state continues to be controlled by people who have such complicated plans, it will fail to provide the natives of our country with the rights, facilities and resources they deserve.
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6 comments:
It is tough for politicians to divorce self-interest from national interests. This is why we have so much corruption and why the state so often fails to equitably manage national resources.
It is incorrect to restrict politicians from having businesses only on the assumption that politicians will work for their self interest catering to their businesses. This is a hasty generalization. A politician may also have businesses with a smooth and nicely working government.
In my opinion it is incorrect to generalize what a few politicians do as an image of the whole political system of a country, even in Pakistan there are many examples of politicians doing great charity work and actually working for the progress of the country. We as a nation need to stand together and speak up for our rights, only then we will progress and no one will be able to take away what is our not even the politicians.
I agree with your point of view that politicians of Pakistan really misuse their power, however I disagree with your view that leaders should not be allowed to continue with their personal business. We should rather focus more on accountability and expose the corruption and be sane enough to cast our votes for those who truly deserve it. When we start doing that, this elite will slowly get back to its senses and hopefully one day we shall get to see this day in Pakistan.
I support your point of view regarding the involvement of politicians in private businesses while they are in office. It is only reasonable that they adhere from such practices. Firstly, with their position comes a lot of power and with that they can turn situations in their favor. Although not all, most Pakistani politicians do so which is not only morally wrong but also causes harm to the society.
Secondly, no matter how ethical a person is, biases cannot be removed completely. So even if they make a decision with the intent to help the public and not themselves, to a certain degree they will be helping themselves also (in most cases). I presume some of the commentators here will disagree with this so allow me to explain to you (with an example) why I feel politicians should be restricted from engaging in private practice.
A person working for a company cannot make a decision related to making an investment in another company of which the person is a shareholder. Taking it a step further, if the same person holds a position that involves making such decisions (even if it's not frequently) then that person should either step down from the post or sell their share in the other company. This is a rule of most businesses in 'first-world' countries. Why you ask
Let's suppose a person working in Company A holds a share in Company B. Company A decides to launch a new product, an intermediary of which can be purchased from a number of producers one of which is Company B. Purchasing from B would not be very cost effective (and therefore the wrong option for A), but as the person has a stake in B's future, they will be inclined to choose B.
Even if the person takes on the task with the intent to make an unbiased decision, this bias (of making profits for B) will exist in the back of their mind and therefore influence their decision.
Similarly, the decisions of even the most ethical politicians are influenced (unintentionally and unknowingly) by the biases they hold. Due to this reason their participation in private practice should be prohibited so long as they are in a position of power and their job entails making decisions that could directly or indirectly affect their private business activities,
Fascinating discussion. I'm glad that multiple sides of this argument are being vigorously debated and I will just add two points.
First off, I'm unaware of any countries that ban politicians from running a personal business along with holding office (although there may be some, I'm personally unaware of any). However, I do know that there are ethics standards in some countries - such as the US - that will prosecute politicians if they act on inside knowledge gained through office. But whether or not they take sides on particular issues that advance their interests is again up for debate.
The second and more practical point is how then would you incentive people to run for public office, especially if they had to give up lucrative private-sector careers? How many politicians would forsake luxury and self-interest to promote the public good?
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