Politicians have indeed become the perpetrators of many atrocities across the world. However, i think the professionals involved the rehabilitation of the building, safety checks etc, all have a bigger share of the blame.

For example, i am an accountant and i worked in government organisations and highly political environments for many years. There were times when politicians or political appointees would come in and try to influence my work, for one political reason or another, but the onus was on me, to tell them it was impossible to do things that way, as it went against every accounting principle in the book. Once or twice they initially kicked up a storm, but i would stand my ground and over time they learned to respect my professional opinion.

In the event a politician cuts costs, the professionals owed it to their conscience and the people to speak up, by refusing to do the job with items that were dangerous for inhabitants of the building.

Many politicians can't tell the difference between a Mercedes and a BMW, talk less of expecting them to know what fire-resistant cladding is. That is too technical. If we have more professionals sticking with the rules or guidelines of their knowledge and profession, some of such disasters can be prevented in the future.