June 1, 2020 – Recently, we have witnessed a series of arrests of high-ranking government officials and heads of state-owned firms. UGP fully supports any fight against corruption and strives for better functioning of the judicial system and greater justice. Given the interesting timing of these arrests, we asked our members: What you think about the recent arrests of people from state structures?
These are their answers:
Most respondents—almost 73% believe that this is a pre-election play that will not have any real consequences for the accused. Another 19% also believe that such actions are useless because no one is ever convicted. In the third category, 5% think that this is an internal clash within the ruling party, while 1.8% believe that the conviction is questionable, but the stolen money will certainly not be returned. Only 1.2% of respondents give a somewhat passing grade and think it’s not bad that it started, but they are also not sure whether there will be any convictions. And a whopping 0.1% believe that the system is doing its job independently and that such steps are excellent.
Given these results, we must conclude that if this is part of the election campaign, it will not have the desired reactions from entrepreneurs. Although corruption is one of the main topics, it is clear to everyone that the consequences for the accused are rare. In a country where corrupt officials’ arrests occur with the same frequency as the Olympic Games or some World Championships, every four years and, interestingly, coincide with parliamentary elections, the positive impact of such actions is significantly reduced. Glas Poduzetnika Association certainly intends to monitor the situation and insist on concrete results and condemnations, not just performing plays that can be used to collect short-term political points.
