Pointless probes fuel public ire
Parliament’s investigative committees have something of a tradition in failing to act professionally. Only rarely have they uncovered more information or evidence than what had already been publicized in the media and no one really expects them to make any important breakthroughs when it comes to the biggest and most complex cases. The fact is that it is ridiculous to expect a group of parliamentary deputies who have no real legal or technocratic support to be able to negotiate their way through the mazes of offshore accounts and overcome other obstacles that have been known to stump even seasoned and expert investigators. But when some members of an investigative committee go as far as to leak information to the press, and this information turns out to be completely unfounded or simply ridiculous, then the entire institution of the parliamentary probe loses all legitimacy and credibility. And when this happens at such a tense time and in relation to extremely important cases, it fuels public anger even more.