Opinion

In the end, everyone is laid to the ground by corruption

In the end, everyone is laid to the ground by corruption

By Enver Robelli/ When everyone is corrupt or described and suspected as such, it takes at least a decade (at worst two decades) to establish a new political alternative. If one day the alternative is unmasked as a group of misuse (usually at the end of the first term and throughout the second term), then the citizens have no choice but to despair, which often ends with fleeing the country. There is a way out of every impasse: more democratic elections and punishment of politicians. Democracy is a daily battle for the best possible

Translated from Latin, the word corruption means "bribery", "wickedness", "collapse". When talking about corruption in the context of the state, this means that someone misuses a professional position or a public position to create favors for himself and harm others. In the end, everyone is brought to the ground by corruption. Soon or late. Better early, because then the damage is less.

There are three types of corruption. Situational corruption, which is carried out without any prior planning. Structural corruption, which arises on the basis of long-term corrupt relationships, which are created before the commission of the criminal offense. In structural corruption, no action is spontaneous. Systemic corruption is the least visible, as it is widespread in all layers of society and in the political system.

In addition to material damage, corruption causes non-material damage, including damage to citizens' confidence in the independence, incorruptibility and capacity to act on the part of the state. The biggest damage done to citizens' trust in the state is the selective action of justice. In the end, corruption suspects, regardless of which political camp they belong to, have harmed all citizens by misusing public money, putting private interests first.

In essence, corruption is the misuse of a given trust. The consequences are serious: political processes stall, reform goals fail, democratic representation of citizens also fails, the administration does not work efficiently. The poor, women and children suffer the most from corruption. Their access to public health services and educational institutions is (almost) impossible due to corruption.

In order to escape from the plague of corruption, it is necessary for the state to have an efficient and non-selective justice system. Countries like Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia are very far from this ideal. Consequently, the courage of politicians to put their hands in the state coffers is great. They are not afraid. Because there is no justice! When justice acts (even with selective action), it's interesting to see how the masks fall. Public talkers curse their idols to this day. The idols immediately curse the talkers. The accusations are similar: you, the politician, are corrupt, not you, the public speaker, are corrupt! How well they know each other, stained in the dirty waters of corruption.

When everyone is corrupt or described and suspected as such, it takes at least a decade (at worst two decades) to establish a new political alternative. If the alternative is unmasked as a group of misuse (usually at the end of the first term and throughout the second term), then the citizens are left with nothing but despair, which often results in fleeing the country. There is a way out of every impasse: it's called democratic elections. In Albanian countries, it would be good if, in addition, the mandates of prime ministers are limited to 8 years. It was not empty-headed that in America the term of the president was limited to 8 years. Nothing scares politicians more than when they see the end of their term on the horizon.

In societies with a less developed democratic culture, frequent changes of governments and cabinets possibly composed of more than one party are a small guarantee for curbing corruption. If a single party enjoys almost unlimited power, the danger is great that the sole currency of government will become - arrogance, ignoring all criticism, tinkering with grand projects, ridiculous ambitions to fix the world's problems. If it has not been possible to persevere in the second mandate, the third mandate of such governments is fatal for the fate of the country. The example can be seen from Kukësi below. Kosovo society must show political maturity in the coming years to not allow any authoritarian tendencies.