Hard to find business people with genuine public interest

In recent years, politics has no longer been restricted to people with political ideologies, or technocrats. More and more people from business circles are represented in governments. Most of them do not run in elections but hold political positions and take part in policy-making. Before climate change got the interest of the world, all governments were geared towards growth regardless of the costs to society or the environment, and that needed input from people in business, some of whom hold doctoral degrees.

I can’t say which group is best able to run the country – politicians or business people. 

At certain points, especially during the 1980s Thailand’s economy expanded rapidly, thanks to politicians who let technocrats help shape the country’s future. Thailand was then one of the “Asian tigers”. Yet, just one wrong turn changed all that. Few politicians then had knowledge of coping with the complexities of the business world, and that permitted the rise of business tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra. His rise to power in 2001 indicated how much Thais wanted a leader with business insight, to help establish the country’s presence on the global stage. 

Of course, he is not the first businessman to lead a government. Media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi became prime minister of Italy in 2001, cultivating on public hopes of the better Italy, mainly in economic term. Hungary in 2004 also elected one of its richest businessmen, Ferenc Gyurcsany, as prime minister. 

These three brought knowledge necessary to facilitate business expansion and economic growth. But it is worth reflecting on what happened to them and their countries.

Thaksin’s story needs no lengthy repetition here. His enemies can file a long list of allegations against him, but the most important are the dubious listing procedure of the family’s business on the stock exchange, as well as the dubious participation in a state land auction by his ex-wife, Pojaman. Now he’s in exile and hardly tries to hide the fact that he still controls the government. 

Berlusconi has faced numerous charges, from tax fraud to abuse of power. In May, he was charged with allegedly bribing a left-wing senator US$3.9 million to join his party. This month he was convicted of tax fraud, which landed him a four-year jail term.

Listed as the 50th richest person in Hungary in 2002, Gyurcsany faced a charge of abuse of power in 2011 regarding a land-swap deal related to a casino project. Prosecutors said authorisation for the land swap was pushed through by bypassing the usual administrative procedures, and the casino scheme iself was facilitated by Gyurcsany’s decision to declare it a “project of national importance”.

The Thai economy was buoyant during the Thaksin era, as “Thaksinomics” helped spark new investment and consumption. But this came at a cost, as public debt rose. Leading Italy for eight of the ten years between 2001 and 2011, Berlusconi saw Italy’s GDP per head fall by 4 per cent during that period, and the debt to GDP ratio rise from 109 per cent to 120 per cent. 

What went wrong? Most politicians believe that businesses are better than bureaucracies at generating growth. But how can we make sure that businessmen in office use their business skills to lead the country and not political skills to protect vested business interests. 

Charges against businessmen-turned-politicians discourage others from establishing a direct presence in politics. But their influence on governments remains high. In a recent article, The Economist said that in some emerging countries like Mexico and South Africa, states grant franchises to well-connected businesspeople in deals politely called “public-private partnerships”. These businesspeople then use their wealth to influence the state, it said.

Politicians do need help from businesspeople, given the more complex business world of today. But they need to realise that for businesses, profits come first. Only recently have some companies realised that there must be a balance between profit, society and the environment. 

As policy-makers, politicians have to realise that they are serving the entire population. Any ideas from businesspeople must be scrutinised and fine-tuned before they are passed into law, which must be fair to all. Meanwhile, there should be less rhetoric, and more focus on the context of their work. Doctoral degree or not, one can only do a job well with the right knowledge and right ethics. 

If there were more such politicians, there would be no need to elect or appoint businesspeople to office.