Some people believe it is often necessary even desirable for political leaders to withhold information from the public Others believe that the public has a right to be fully informed

Transparency amongst the leadership and the followers can create an environment of trust and mutual support. Such a positive society can progress at a faster rate as compared to the societies that lack trust in their political leaders. With this view in mind, I strongly disagree with the suggestion that it is necessary or desirable for political leaders to withhold information from the public. I believe that the people have a right to be fully informed for the following reasons.

A leader can remain in power as long as he enjoys the support of the public. The easiest way of garnering support from the public is to establish a transparent system of information exchange where the political leaders are liable to disburse all the information to the public. Such transparent systems can help curb corruption - a menace that has plagues the political systems of almost all of the countries in the world. If the political leaders are liable to pass on information to the public candidly, corruption will be checked. If the public will have access to all the information, they will be empowered to question the leadership whenever they feel that something is going haywire. This will put a pressure on the political leaders to perform their duties diligently. When the political leaders will be honest with the public, it will encourage the lower level executives to be honest as well and it will help to eradicate corruption from the grassroot levels. If the transport minister shares all the details pertaining to the tenders, their allotments, their expected revenues, their expenditures and the details of the entire ongoing project at regular intervals of time, the public will be aware of all the internal workings of the transport department. They can cross verify the details from different authorities and ask relevant questions if they find any loopholes.

One might argue that if political leaders are forced to share information, then their opponents will be empowered to foil their endeavours as well. While this may be true, we cannot ignore that sharing of information will also generate the higher number of supporters as well. If a political leader is planning to introduce a system of metro railway in a city and he shares the information regarding his proposals in public, the real estate mafia might try to influence him; his opponents might try to foil his plans by calumnious moves. However, the citizens will also stand up in support for the leader if they want metro rail to be introduced in their city.

While I strongly stand for a transparent system, there has to be some exception to it. At times, political leaders are in possession of sensitive and confidential information pertaining to national defence and security. It is in cases like these, the leaders can and should withhold the information from public. If such sensitive information is released in public, it can fall in wrong hands and can prove to be pernicious for the nation.