Congressman Rangel is old and has a distinguished record yet none of this prevented him from being scrutinized.
NORRIDGE, IL, US: We need to learn from America in the way that it conducts democracy and holds its elected representatives accountable. I am referring to what happened to New York Congressman (Democrat) Charles Rangel. He appeared before the US House of Representatives’ Standards and Ethics Committee for alleged ethics violations. Congressman Rangel is 80 years old and has a distinguished elected public service record of over 40 years and also played a role in the civil rights movement. He was recently elected for his 21st term of office as a member of the House. Yet none of this prevented him from being scrutinized when allegations were levelled against him. He had to step down from his post of Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, tasked to oversee the tax returns of elected members of the House. Rangel was found guilty of 11 of the 12 allegations of violation of ethics and rules set for elected members. The charges range from his financial disclosures from 1998 to 2008, misuse of a vacant residential apartment complex for election campaign purposes, misuse of his congressional stationary and postage for his campaign, to providing more funds than were considered appropriate to a college in his constituency.
Congressman Rangel was recommended for censure by the House Committee and this recommendation will now go before the full House for further action. In the past 40 years there have been 16 such instances where a member of the House has been tried for violation of ethics and rules. There can be no democracy and good governance without any accountability. Compare this to the more serious blatant charges of corruption against our elected public office holders in Pakistan, which are more serious and relate to outright rampant corruption. Yet we call ourselves the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2010.
