Disadvantages of Letting Go of Power

Dariela Aquique

Yulia Tymoshenko. photo: securityconference.de

When the use of political power granted to a person becomes indiscriminate, there always comes a day of reckoning. Like life itself, that power is not perpetual.

The abuse of power — be it for personal gain or out of poor judgment — will inevitably end the moment it receives to its just due: condemned for this or that act of cruelty or injustice.

International news agencies headlined the trial involving former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was sentenced to seven years in prison.

This type of scandal involving trials of ex-presidents and senior politicians are common throughout the world. They occur regularly as a result of excesses and flagrant violations of civil rights in the name of authority self-conferred by those who from their comfortable positions thought they stood above the citizens and democracy.

These situations are always accompanied by overly elaborate explications full of justifications and name pointing but from behind which emerge evidence about many things that transpire under the governmental table.

Although I don’t have all the specific details about that particular case, I don’t need them to corroborate the fact that where there has been outrage, justice always prevails – albeit sometimes delayed. But in the face of this news, I reflected that only when there are countervailing forces can those who abuse their authority be accused.

In our country it’s impossible for there to emerge the slightest opposition to what goes on under the table. Nonetheless, I’m sure that many cases could be filed for the crimes and injustices committed by the highest leadership of the partyocracy.

This must be one of the main reasons they cling to power. Being convicted of abuse is one of the disadvantages of leaving office, and those who are there are well aware of that risk. This is why it will take so long for information to come out in our media reports about the various Yulia Tymoshenkos who are in our government offices and ministries.

Dariela Aquique

Dariela Aquique: I remember my years as a high school student, especially that teacher who would interrupt the reading of works and who with surprising histrionics spoke of the real possibilities of knowing more about the truth of a country through its writers than through historical chronicles. From there came my passion for writing and literature. I had excellent teachers (sure, those were not the days of the Fast-track Teachers) and extemporization and the non-mastery of subjects was not tolerated. With humble pretenses, I want to contribute to revealing the truth about my country, where reality always overcomes fiction, but where a novel style shrouds its existence.