Surprised!!!

I have been completely taken aback at the current political crisis in England. Having observed and suffered at the hands of a political system in India where corruption has become an accepted evil of the political class and getting bribed supposed to be a right for politicians, the theatre of resignations and uproar in Britain about second home expenses come as a very pleasant surprise. So here is the detail that is what I have figured out from the wide coverage at BBC. Members of parliament in England were provided a second home expense allowance where they can claim for expenses required for their works during stay at the two houses - one at their constituency and the other in London for attending parliament. These expenses were reimbursed by the parliament after production of appropriate bills. Due to some ruling by parliament/court (I am not sure), the parliament was supposed to publish the details of second home expenses claimed by MPs over the last 4 years in July. Telegraph got these expense details through an informant and started publishing the expense details of individual MPs day after day and shaming them.

Now here there was no fraud committed by MPs in majority of cases. The bills that were submitted were not fradulent. And these bills were approved and agreed upon by the authorities in the house. But there was a huge uproar on whether the MPs have followed the law in its spirit. Seeking reimbursement for maintaineance of a swimming pool, dog food, television, security system etc are not what is required for working of MPs and it was alleged that MPs though have followed the rules in writing but have rigged the system for their own benefit. This has caused resentment and uproar among the common people aggravated by the global economic recession. The speaker of house has resigned and 5-10 MPs have decided not to contest the next elections scheduled next year. There is a possibility that many others will be defeated in the next elections. The leader of opposition has called for independent members to join his party and fight for elections showing how much discredit has been brought by this scandal.

So what do we take from this episode. First this is an example of the power of information in democracy. Corrupt practices which may not stand illegal in courts of law are completely a no-no in the courts of public opinion. This may lead to a generational shift in English politics towards a more transparent and less corrupt political system. Second this is a lesson for Indian democracy. We have politicians in India which have been charged with corrpution of millions of ruppees and still they are elected representatives of people. In the last elections, 20% of MPs have criminal charges against them. And learning from the English experience, it is not the rules that make up for cleaner political system but it is the public opinion that unseats the corrupt politicians. Rules can aid but ultimately it is required that the public opinion be guided towards yearning for a clean political system where corruption is a strict no-no and probity in public life valued with the highest respect. And this change in political opinion can only come through literacy and empowerement of masses where they understand how much each of their vote counts.