The biggest threat to our national interest is the systematic plundering and wastage of our assets, taxpayer funds and natural resources by the paid civil or uniformed bureaucracy, or the elected political ruling elite and then transferring them to foreign countries. It is not the revelations of these acts by the media, or organizations like WikiLeaks, but the fact that this has been happening and those guilty are none other than those who were assigned to be custodians of our sovereignty, national exchequer and collective national interest. Our capacity to defend ourselves and develop our human resources, or vital state infrastructure is compromised if these funds are not available for development and welfare of the state and its citizens. Mere imposition of more taxes will only further increase inflation, if the pilferage in tax collection by FBR is not arrested and flight of capital by the elite is not eliminated, or curtailed drastically. This cannot be achieved unless drastic exemplary punishment is given to those who are caught in robbing the state or abusing their powers for self interest. Although corruption is a world wide phenomenon, it is the state which prevents it through strict accountability and giving severe punishment to tax evaders, habitual loan defaulters and other common criminals. However when elected politicians abuse their power to either indulge in such plundering, or protect those caught in robbing the state, democracy cannot function, nor can it deliver good governance, which is what it is supposed to do. The basic objective of a democracy is to ensure transparency and accountability of those who violate the collective national interest and be accountable for every rupee spent. Mere conduct of elections is not democracy, if those elected do not submit themselves to accountability for their actions and subscribe to higher level of propriety during their tenure, than that applicable to a common man. An individual who occupies a constitutional office either through the process of elections or selection, must declare all his assets within Pakistan or abroad along with his tax declarations, failing which he becomes ineligible to hold such an office. The people have a right to access of information and WikiLeaks has only revealed what has transpired and is not based on fiction. ALI MALIK, Lahore, December 5.