Each day it becomes increasingly clear why nothing has been done to change anything in this beloved country of ours. Early this week, Minister of Information Daryl Vaz - in a post-Cabinet press briefing - revealed that three parliamentarians were summoned before the court for delinquency in failing to declare their assets in June 2009.

He further revealed that most parliamentarians are not complying with the dictates of the Integrity Commission and are failing to declare their assets. Of the three that were brought before the courts, none of them were punished. Charges against two were withdrawn after they apologised.

Laws that apply

This is yet another example that in this country, according to politicians, it's a matter of doing what I say and not what I do. Laws that apply to the rest of us don't apply to them. That is why nothing ever gets done and why most laws of this nature are never ever enforced.

Last week, I wrote that, among other things, it was time for women who continue to get pregnant and end up with small armies of children, even though they have no means to support them, to be punished. But as a reader of this column noted, "Nobody is even interested in passing a maternity law that gives women the right to put the names of their children's fathers on birth certificates without the fathers' permission, with court-ordered DNA testing if the father/s objects."

Could it be that if such a law - that currently exists almost everywhere else except here - should be put on the books that it could end up embarrassing some of our politicians and/or their powerful benefactors?

You have to wonder because you hear the stories. For example, there is a girl that used to live near me and who bears the same surname of a local politician, and looks a lot like him too, who claims to get little or no support from him.

It is becoming increasingly clear, then, that perhaps that is the reason why certain laws will never become reality here, because our lawmakers only want laws that won't impact on their private lives, even if it would end up to the benefit of the wider population.

If that is the case, then no wonder many would prefer to have US citizenship, even applying for it while they are sitting in Parliament. And why the rest of them see nothing wrong with it, or are silent when they should be screaming at the top of their lungs in protest.

same principle

But going back to the original thought, how many of us would love to break a law and all you had to do is apologise and you get off scot-free?

Not even in traffic court. Anybody who has ever been in traffic court knows that the judge is not interested in any explanation about why you broke the law. Sure, the judge will allow you a few seconds to get some stuff off your chest, but at the end of the day you are paying that fine. So why then doesn't this same principle apply to our parliamentarians?

The way I see it, you break the rules you suffer the consequences. Those rules should apply to all of us, not just some of us.

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'Nobody is even interested in passing a maternity law that gives women the right to put the names of their children's fathers on birth certificates ... '