A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, July 29, 2017
Anti-Grift: Hoping for Lanka’s Pakistan moment
Whether the judicial decision against PM Sharif will help Pakistan with its campaign against corruption remains to be seen. People in this part of the world are gluttons for punishment; they have a remarkable propensity to suffer corrupt politicians gladly. It may even be another false dawn for Pakistan.
( July 29, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri
Lankans have been adopting models of all sorts. Their legal system is
based on the Roman-Dutch law with borrowings from other sources. They
got the Westminster model of representation from Britain. The
presidential system is an executive hotchpotch, to say the least. They
have an Indian make of devolution system. Now, they are trying to adopt
the German electoral model. Other models such as 5S of Japanese origin
are also in vogue here. Never has Sri Lanka given serious thought to
adopting any model from Pakistan, which has had more than its fair share
of trouble including military rule and terrorism, all these decades.
But, now it is clear that Sri Lanka has got to take a leaf out of
Pakistan’s book, where fighting corruption is concerned. The Supreme
Court of Pakistan yesterday disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
from holding public office over corruption. Leaked Panama Papers has
brought about his downfall. This, however, is not a new experience for
him; he has been stripped of that post twice previously.
The court ruling has said specifically, among other things: “PM failed
to disclose his un-withdrawn receivables from Capital FZE, UAE in 2013
nomination papers.” Sharif has stepped down. Opinion is divided in
Pakistan on the Supreme Court judgment. Opposition activists are dancing
in the streets, distributing sweets. The Shariff loyalists are
naturally incensed. However, the apex court ruling is bound to have a
deterrent effect on all political leaders, present and future.
It is unthinkable that a sitting President or Prime Minister will ever
be arraigned on corruption charges in this country let alone removed
from public office. Even the ordinary ruling party parliamentarians are
above the law. When it becomes too embarrassing for the government in
power to defend some of its MPs arrangements are made for them to enjoy
the bail-on-arrival facility, as it were, in Courts.
There have been a handful of instances where politicians in power had to
face legal action, but the judicial system was manipulated for them to
escape. It may be recalled that under the Rajapaksa government a
minister who pleaded guilty to a cheque fraud got away with the serious
offence, which would have landed an ordinary citizen in jail; he only
paid state costs! None of the rogues in the previous government
notorious for bribery and corruption and abuse of power have been thrown
behind bars though two and a half years have elapsed since the
beginning of the yahapalana rule.
This year has also seen another head of state suffer a devastating
judicial gavel blow over corruption charges. South Korean President Park
Geun-hye was impeached, subsequently arrested and jailed over a
high-profile corruption scandal. Charges against her pale into
insignificance when compared with the allegations against politicians in
this country.
Whether the judicial decision against PM Sharif will help Pakistan with
its campaign against corruption remains to be seen. People in this part
of the world are gluttons for punishment; they have a remarkable
propensity to suffer corrupt politicians gladly. It may even be another
false dawn for Pakistan. But, a prerequisite for a nation’s war against
corruption is to let its political leaders and others in high positions
know, in no uncertain terms, that no one is too big or powerful to be
caught and punished. The Pakistani judiciary has done just that and the
onus is now on others to take it from there. Breaking the twin evils of
corruption and abuse of power is half the battle in developing a nation.
Having been taken for a right royal ride by a bunch of wily politicians
who promised to usher in yahapalanaya, Sri Lankans must be hoping for
the ouster of the crooks living off the fat of the land at their
expense.
( The writer is the editor in Chief of the Island, a Colombo based daily newspaper, where this piece first appeared)