Kleptocracy

Kleptocracy ('klepto' meaning 'theft' in Ancient Greek) is the ruling of possibly any kind of government that uses its power to steal from its people. This rarely-applied word was used by Charles Krauthammer, the nationally syndicated Washington Post columnist and political commentator on Fox-TV, on Saturday, March 2, and Sunday, March 3, 2014. He referred to Russia as a kleptocracy in a TV panel discussion about its influence in the revolution in the neighboring Ukraine in late February. His political column added another derivation of this word: kleptocratic.

"Kleptocratic" is used by Krauthammer in the following quote: "But surely the West has more financial clout than Russia's kleptocratic extraction economy that exports little but oil, gas and wisky."

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had $731 million in his bank accounts when his party, Barisan Nasional, lost the 14th election to Pakatan Harapan, led by Mahathir Mohamad. The loss was partly due to allegations of Najib's involvement in the 1MDB scandal.

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