A look at Tuesday’s front page might create the impression St. Maarten is lawless, with the Chief Operations Officer of the airport placed on non-active duty pending a probe into presumed irregularities and two police officers suspected of soliciting bribes. In both cases they are obviously innocent until proven guilty.
Indeed, more than half a dozen Members of Parliament having been indicted for improprieties in the last decade is certainly reason for concern. On the other hand, they were charged and in various cases convicted.
One can therefore safely conclude that the justice system works also when it comes to white-collar crime particularly by public office holders. That is important, because corruption eats away at the heart of any society.
What’s more, it undermines the population’s faith in the rule of law and democratic system itself, with all possible consequences. Some of the – former – politicians involved even complained they were being singled out.
Guess what, if so, there was usually good reason. Like it or not, the voters put their trust in elected representatives and the cabinet ministers they nominate, who are thus to be held to a higher standard.
After all, if their leaders cannot be trusted to do the right thing, what should one expect of the proverbial man and woman in the street? By actively going after transgressions the prosecution is clearly doing the country a favour.
The hope is that the examples these cases and related sentences set have a deterring effect on others who might be tempted to follow suit. Honesty and integrity in government is not too much to ask for, is it?
