Who sits in the seat of power in a country is a political question. But what the responsibilities of a ruler are — that is essentially a question of duty.
The very moment state responsibility is entrusted to someone, their one and only foremost duty becomes ensuring citizens’ basic security, order, and a conducive working environment. For the state is not private property.
It does not belong to any one party, ideology, or group with exclusive control. The state is an entity owned by its people. It runs on the taxpayers’ money, and its administrators are, in truth, employees — servants of the people. Governance means service; leadership means responsibility.
When this moral understanding fades, a cruel irony emerges within the state — power exists, but no work is done; forces exist, but there is no discipline; eyes exist, but there is no vision.
Such situations are often seen in many Third World countries, where there is a government but no law and order, no public safety; an administration, but no comfort in civic life; workplaces, but no working conditions.
This is not merely weak governance — it is a form of moral failure. Like metal fatigue, it is moral fatigue. If a government cannot even fulfill these basic duties, then why take the responsibility of running the state at all? Looking at some distant Third World countries makes this clear.
In Nigeria, for instance, despite vast oil resources, citizens suffer extreme hardship — no electricity, no drinking water, no road safety. Yet politicians stroll happily through the corridors of power, enjoying its perks. In the Republic of the Congo, despite abundant mineral wealth, state forces fail to protect ordinary lives and property.
Government efficiency seems to end at the oath-taking ceremony. Often, a government coming to power hides its own incompetence with the excuse that it has been in office only a short while, and therefore lapses are natural.
But the question arises — if in that “short time” a government cannot provide even basic security or maintain a functioning work environment, where was that time spent? For whose benefit?
State power is a profoundly serious responsibility, every moment of which is a test. Failing that test cannot be excused by saying, “We had little time”.
Whether a government’s term is short, medium, or long, if it fails to fulfill its entrusted duties, then its tenure becomes nothing but an unnecessary burden on the state.
The subcontinent is no stranger to such scenes. Sometimes, when a political party assumes that it will easily win on an open field, it behaves as if it is already in power.
In such cases, certain party members act like diners who have entered a restaurant of power and begun eating starters — while the main course is still on the stove, they’re already fighting over plates. Such an unfortunate culture shifts politics away from public service toward a kind of self-serving club.
In today’s world, the true measure of a successful state system is how safe its citizens are, how conducive the working environment is, and how much justice it can deliver.
The state is the trust of its citizens, and preserving that trust is one hundred percent the ruler’s responsibility. If that cannot be done — then why govern? Why take responsibility? Why seek power? This is no child’s play.
