Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Dear Editor,

Transparency? Accountability? It’s a joke 

You have hit on the head Mebahel the root cause of the problems in Samoa, which is that power corrupts absolutely and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The PM has been so used to getting his way that he can do whatever he wants and change any law to achieve his purposes.

One wonders whether Samoa is going to be any safer if the government has this power to hire and fire any police and assistant police commissioner. 

My simple answer to that question is NO. What we are going to get instead are yes men and women who will march to the PM’s tune without providing impartial and fearless advice. 

Ironically this what the PM wants and seeks but his actions will get him the total opposite effect.

Perhaps the PM is after a police force which one reads in the news can be found in countries like Russia and Iraq. It is a rather sad day when politicians meddle in the affairs of statutory entities like the police force. 

One is reminded of a neighbouring Pacific country which has a PM who sets out to do exactly what our PM is now hell bent on doing. Funny thing is that our PM has been name calling this PM as unfit to hold the position of PM. Talk about the kettle calling the pot black.

And our PM loves to parade his country as a model of democratic government in the pacific context. Maybe our PM is talking about a different country to that in which I am now living. 

I don’t feel democratic at all but then I and others of lower academic achievement than our beloved PM, don’t know anything at all about an excellent and properly functioning police force should look like. 

Only my esteemed and almighty PM knows this. Was this change ever given to the people like me to vote on as per my democratic rights? NO. 

You, the PM supporters would undoubtedly give a lesson in politics 101 and lecture me about voting for my parliamentary representative who chose the PM who is now trampling on my democratic rights. 

That might be true but at the end of the day, this particular issue was never taken to the public in the context of the last election.

I feel absolutely safe in the knowledge that my PM is taking all these hard decisions to make me feel safe walking the streets of Apia. 

Dare I suggest that the police force the PM is after will make its decisions based on what the government wants, perhaps including who to arrest and who to charge. 

Perhaps I need to keep quiet and not criticise the government and PM for fear that I might get a visit from the soon-to-be constituted super efficient police force. It might sound a bit far fetched but not out of the realm of possibility.

Should I be afraid? You are damn right I should be.

Wishing you the Samoa Observer readership a great and peaceful Xmas.

 

Vai Autu 

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