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
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, August 13, 2017
Beyond a resignation
Ravi Karunanayake
Sri Lanka has never had a Foreign Minster resign over allegations of
corruption. But the once unthinkable happened last week. Many, including
in government and from the ruling party, supported the resignation of
the former Foreign Minister on the grounds that what is now in the
public domain around his dealings with Arjun Aloysius, subject to a
convenient partial amnesia, was deeply detrimental to government. Note
that what’s flagged as embarrassing or wrong isn’t what was purportedly
done, but rather, that it came to light. Power, and retaining it, trumps
principle. Tellingly, even in his submission to Parliament, the former
Foreign Minister offered no hint of contrition. Hubris and chutzpah
rule, when shame and guilt should reign. What, if anything, has really
changed?
The political theatre around the resignation masks other more disturbing
developments. At the time of writing, the nominee to the now vacant
post of Foreign Minister is an individual who is about as far removed
from the avowed promise of yahapalanaya as one gets. In sum, we have one
individual, tainted by allegations of corruption, out the door,
replaced almost immediately by another who was forced to resign in 2015
from his Ministerial portfolio and was the erstwhile legal advisor to
the Chairman of Avant Garde, Nissanka Senadhipathi. Frankly, ‘House of
Cards’ couldn’t come up with a better plot twist.
Some have raised concerns around the nature and scope of the Commission
of Inquiry into the bond issue, which isn’t part of the judiciary but
acts with a vigour and verve that has many surprised, and asking the
question as to why other investigations into allegations of corruption
lack similar vitality. This is a fair question, since not a single
investigation into the allegations of eye-watering corruption by members
of the Rajapaksa regime have resulted in anything of consequence. The
past fortnight alone showcases how when political will and partisan
interest is behind a process, things happen, which by extension can only
mean the lack of any discernible, meaningful progress in the
investigations into high profile members of the Rajapaksa regime is a
political decision as well. The question is who benefits, why, and at
what cost.
One journalist tweeted that as a result of the 8,000 odd pages gleaned
from the phone of Arjun Aloysius, several messages with initials, prima
facie, implicating individuals in high political office were found. Some
initials were pursued. Other initials were ignored. The bond issue
involves individuals noted in the COPE report from last year, which
itself saw high drama around finalisation and public release. These
individuals are free to do and roam around as they see fit. Statements
in Parliament around a new political culture of accountability ring
hollow in this light. One response to this, tweeted by a senior
government minister last week, is that those now in the Joint Opposition
robbed more, killed more and abused power more. This is a false
equivocation and one that the government must be unhesitatingly shamed
for parading and promoting.
The baseline for democracy isn’t what the Rajapaksa regime was or
wasn’t, or what the JO today is or isn’t. Constitutional democracy, the
rule of law as well as the early promise of yahapalanaya, as enshrined
in the Presidential Manifesto of 2015, matter far more as baselines.
Unsurprisingly, compared to the JO’s sordid record, anything that
happens today is a miraculous advancement of democracy. But that’s a
false baseline, established and promoted only to hide the growing stench
and sins of the present government. The mere resignation of a Foreign
Minister signifies nothing other than a political calculation around
electoral loss and liability.
No higher principle in operation here. The mere fact that the individual
nominated to take up the office of Foreign Minister is someone roundly
rejected by the people’s mandate in 2015 suggests that we will
invariably see the re-emergence of the former Foreign Minister in some
form or office a few years hence, when the present drama would have been
forgotten. After all, this is a government that appointed this year the
same individual in charge of Sri Lankan troops in Haiti accused of
truly unspeakable child sexual abuse as the Army Chief of Staff. Clearly
then, loyalty, kinship, friendship and corruption glue more than
accountability.
The other key issue is around the constitution of the CoI. The
establishment of it under Presidential fiat is problematic, because of
its broad powers and the precedent it sets for a more authoritarian
Executive, in the future, to use similar mechanisms to hound political
opposition and quell dissent. A friend flagged valid concerns over the
nature of the evidence collected – the manner in which witnesses were
called, the degree to which the CoI had access to personal records carte
blanche - including private content well beyond the scope of
investigations - and the safeguards, or lack thereof, against this
material from making it into the public domain. Even the former Foreign
Minister has an inalienable right to privacy, and his enforced
resignation from office, no matter how welcome, isn’t a presumption of
guilt.
Further, the CoI has no obligation to make its findings public. This is
why it isn’t a replacement for judicial intervention in cases of
corruption. The danger is that proceedings of the CoI and a single
resignation alone is seen as some great victory against corruption, when
in fact it’s utterly meaningless in the larger scheme of things. And to
those who think the President is a doyen of incorruptible governance, a
simple question– what happened to the inquiry, initiated by the AG’s
Department, around allegations of corruption published in the Australian
mainstream media last year, that involved requests for vast sums of
money to be paid to the SLFP?
A fairly high-ranking official now in government once told your author
that he inherited an official body where the production and serving of
every single cup of tea had someone skimming something, at some point of
time, somewhere along the process. He said that if he were to root out
corruption, it would necessarily involve the sacking of everyone
presently employed. The challenge then becomes how much of corruption
one countenances. This is murky terrain, but inescapable, because it is a
fact of political life. Everyone is on the make, or is looking to
create a deal that results in personal or partisan profit. Loyalty is
bought. Clearly, mainstream media and journalists aren’t immune from the
seduction of corruption, as is evident in public proceedings from the
CoI that reveal a well-known Sunday newspaper to be funded by the same
person the former Foreign Minister forgot he was on flights to Singapore
with. The rot is everywhere, including in the private sector, which
never loses an opportunity to grease the palms of those in power for
greater security around returns on investments.
In speaking with youth, I don’t know any more how to inspire the hope
and confidence in them that the political system, as it stands, can work
for them. Making them believe in advancement through merit only seems
to set themselves up to failure, anger, apathy and possibly even
violence. We need to name and shame. Continuously. And it needs to start
at the top, because it is a political culture supported by and for the
benefit of a few, that gives life to corrupt practices by so many. The
elephant in the room (no pun intended) is whether the stability of this
government is important in order to prevent the rise of and return to
power of the previous regime, which suggests a greater patience with
corruption today, as somehow a necessary evil to ward off a greater one
in the wings. Don’t buy into this. Corruption needs to be flagged
without fear or favour. It is wrong no matter who does it, and if in
flagging what’s wrong today, it is the JO that benefits, then so be it,
because their odious rank includes those who did far worse.
A great purge of putrid politicians needs to be engineered and
sustained, through media and discourse at multiple levels that holds up
honesty as a virtue and value. Youth see this, and are impatient with
those who promise much, but change nothing. Today’s anger is a result
promises around yahapalanaya and how far removed the government is from
them. Spin isn’t going to cut it. A mere resignation isn’t going to cut
it. Heads must roll. Governments must fall. Democracy must win.