Public interest vs national interest

THE EDITOR, Sir:

In recent weeks, I have reflected deeply on the matter of public interest and national security interest, and have questioned how such interest is defined and who, or what, determines it. In Jamaica, we have legislation, for instance, which requires the disclosure of information if it is in the interest of national security.

Clearly, it is always going to be difficult to distinguish between what is in the public interest and what is in the national security interest, which is a very good reason to establish how these two areas are defined.

I do not, for instance, understand that if transparency is critical to truth, and if truth is a major determinant of justice, and if justice is one of the pillars of the rule of law in a democracy, why it should be possible to override or conceal the truth b test or rule that can be objectively applied?

Are our legislators not setting up our democracy for abuse by corrupt leaders who may use the national security provision to prevent the disclosure of information that might blockade the truth, and deny transparency of governance? Likewise, our personal information could be disclosed to obtain political advantage or for other corrupt reasons on the pretext that it is in the national interest.

ALLAN DOUGLAS

alldouglas@aol.com