We need honest talk on systems of government

A famous American statistician, W. Edwards Deming, once said: “In God we trust. Everyone else must bring data.” Let us apply this principle to the ongoing debate about whether the presidential system is to blame for corruption and entrenched impunity. Is this assertion a misconstruction, or a fact?

Here is another rudimentary question: when someone bribes a traffic policeman, is it because we have a president instead of prime minister? Or more realistically, would government officials be less likely to steal public funds in the context of a parliamentary system? If that country also has functioning institutions such the judiciary, then the answer is yes. But if the country has an entrenched culture of corruption at all societal levels, then the public officials would still loot- it doesn’t matter the system of government.