In February 1976, Karl Kotchyan persona person who was the director of “Lockheed” corporation announced at the U.S. Congress that bribes were given to a number of high rank managers in exchange for receiving orders for selling planes. In particular, Japan’s Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka had received a rollback for such orders. The so-called “Lockheed case started.” In Japan, the opposition was ruining the work of the Parliament (there is such a possibility there) until the examination of the case was taken over. Tanaka’s 2 million dollars ‘rollback’ was confirmed and the Prime Minister was sentenced to 4 years in prison. Tanaka’s headed Liberal Democratic Party as then and now is the head of the government. In the second half of 80s, a major political scandal broke out in the United States. It turned out that high-ranking military men and representatives of CIA officials violating the law were selling weapons to the “enemy” Iran, and the money received from the sale were used to finance the Nicaraguan opposition. The scandal was called “Iran-Contras”. To provide a legal image to illegal activities, these “businessmen” created a company “Enterprise”, which had accounts in offshore zones. The investigation of this case lasted for several years, including in the format of the ad hoc Committee of Congress. To know the truth, $ 35 million of the American taxpayers was spent. Corruption, “rollback” and other similar phenomena can not be a specification of any country or any region: if a person decides, for example, the fate of 100 million dollars, but annually receives even a million dollars salary, he will, anyway, have a temptation to tear a piece from 100 million. The problem, therefore, is not only the high salary of officials. The problem is in the control mechanisms.
The Parliament, the prosecution and, most importantly, the judicial system should not be in the same form of Executive “bureau”. In normal countries, they balance the Government. And the matter is not that different parties will govern in the Parliament and the Government. The same in Japan, for example, since 1955 the Liberal Democratic Party (in some intervals) is dominant, but such powers are given to the opposition by the law, which limits self-wills of “bosses” of the ruling party. The Japanese probably invented the fate of “one and a half” party system, on the one hand to ensure stability, and on the other hand, to make the power under control. The prosecutor’s office, courts, political parties, non-governmental organizations, the media also control mechanisms. As for the offshore scandal, ‘Hetq’ was leading its investigation. It is wonderful. But why does the media only have to deal with it, and the rest will ‘buzz” by producing emotional assessment. There are sufficient professional personnel in our legal system who may investigate the case, also by making a business trip to Cyprus. Otherwise, some kind of infantile dialogue takes place: “You’ve done – you’ve not done.”
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
