Red lines, preserving the government's prestige, and other wisecracks

We had the pleasure to read a very amusing statement preaching about "red lines", "preserving the prestige of the judicial organs" and that "dealing with judicial issues in a negative and destructive manner subjects the safety of the nation to harm and crumbles its texture (sic)". Wrong! The Sudanese, the Indian, or any other nation has the inalienable right to know the truth about violations. Free speech and free press do not harm the nation - endemic corruption does. The culture of impunity, the bribery, embezzlement, theft and fraud at the highest level is what "crumbles its texture"...

A number of serving and former officials of the highest ranks at the judiciary and the ministry of justice have been implicated in high-profile corruption scandals, so what prestige are they talking about? There is no any prestige left that could be preserved! And prestige is not a cucumber that you preserve by pickling for later use: you build it by maintaining the highest standards of personal and professional integrity.

It became obvious that the Sudanese government's PR and crisis management skills are disturbingly primitive. You don't silence the media in such cases, silencing makes it worse because it implicates you further and deeper. The only remedy for this disaster is to man up and order a public inquiry that will be completely transparent and, might actually lead to suspected perpetrators being accused, arrested, tried and, if found guilty, sentenced to approriate punishments. Public scrutiny is a must if you are seriously intending to root out corruption and put an end to the entrenched systems of patronage and impunity.

We have quite a number of fatheads sitting in the Indian parliament, but it seems you Sudanese don't lack them either. One of them recently complained about "violations by newspapers that question the credibility and honesty of the government"... I would have laughed when I read this, if it hadn't hurt that much. What this bozo expects from the journalists? Standing ovation and hour-long applauses? Where does he come from? North Korea?

Another wisecrack from an MP claiming that since the legislators are those who create the law, they are above the law. Could someone explain to this goofball that being a parliamentarian does not place him above the law?! While it is true that the law gives certain partial immunity to the lawmakers, this privilege does not extend to criminal acts or any other illegality perpetrated. To the contrary: being a parliamentarian imposes on you additional responsibility to live by setting an example in abiding to the rule of law at all times.