IN OCTOBER claims surfaced that Victor Bogado, a Paraguayan senator, had arranged two lucrative public jobs for his children’s nanny. A few weeks later 23 of his peers—a majority—voted against stripping him of the immunity from criminal proceedings that Paraguayan legislators enjoy. Instead of going unnoticed in a country where political clientelism has long been the norm, the story sparked outrage. Restaurants, petrol stations and beauty salons in the capital, Asunción, put up signs naming the “23 shameless rats”, and barring them as customers. Two weeks later a senate committee overruled the vote for immunity.The case of the “golden nanny” is part of a wider citizen revolt against political corruption. In October the Supreme Court ruled that Daniel Vargas, a radio host, had the right to know the names and salaries of municipal employees. Six years earlier listeners had asked him to investigate; he went to court after being stonewalled. Without public pressure the Supreme Court would never have dared to move against Congress, says his lawyer, Benjamín Fernández. Rather than obliging citizens to seek the information piecemeal, Paraguay’s new president, Horacio...
via The Economist: The Americas http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21591867-trickle-down-economics-one-south-americas-poorest-countries-cartes-plays-his-cards?fsrc=rss|ame
No comments:
Post a Comment