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
(Full Story)
Search This Blog
Back to 500BC.
==========================
Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, August 8, 2017
RK Drama – Only A Symptom
‘There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men’ ~ Ludwig von Mises
Memory
is essential for survival. The brain stores all kinds of memories, like
the way to ride a bike, what happened yesterday and even the meaning of
the word ‘memory’. But memories are fragile and when the brain is
damaged by an accident or an illness, memories can disappear along with
the ability to remember. However, Ravi Karunanayake’s
recent memory loss is symptomatic of a special type of syndrome (The
first victim being Duminda Silva) – ‘Mata Mathaka Nehe’ syndrome, which
only afflicts corrupt criminalized politicians even today –Yahapalanaya
withstanding. This comical circus will continue, as long as the corrupt
system and political culture remaina and to expect it to vanish merely
with the change of government is like expecting cure for the headache by
changing the pillows.
In January 2015, people were gullible enough to believe that the political culture too will change radically once the name board changed to Yahapalanaya,
in order to rid this country of corruption and racial hatred which
became the bane in the Post War MR era. Of course there were positive
developments. More than 2 years later, none can deny that there were few
commendable measures taken such as more freedom of expression, RTI and
some concrete steps to alleviate the suffering of the Northern people
which earned international commendation. Even the Presidential
Commission which is looking into the CB Bond scam would
not have come about under MR rule. However, both MS and RW have been
overall a sorry disappointment leaving the electorate wondering whether
there will be any further democratic hope to usher in a corruption-free,
hate free country, after losing yet another historic opportunity. Is
democracy then failing in Sri Lanka ? What happened to transparency, to
accountability which are the pillars of democracy ?
Abraham
Lincoln’s definition of democracy remains the most intuitive essence of
this form of government: government of the people, by the people, for
the people. In many supposed democracies around the world, this has
either completely changed, or is changing right before our eyes to the
worse. And an increasingly disillusioned electorate seems to take a
backseat approach in dealing with the offenders. Voter turn-out is the
lowest it has been around the world in a generation. Voters have lost
faith in politicians and are turning to demagogues like Donald Trump –
and the things he represents. And who can blame them when we see what it
has become? The less we trust our political elite, the more likely we
are to take a gamble on one of Trump like demagogues. After all, can a
fear-monger be any worse than the cronyism and lies democracy has
become?
Democracy
was built on the power and needs of the people. It has since been sold
out to money. And that, experts agree, is the biggest threat to it
today. If the corruptive influence of money has left voter in the West
disenchanted, it has been even more damaging in Africa and Asia, Sri
Lanka included. Voters are no longer shocked by revelations of
corruption. For a long time, oligarchs in the garb of democrats
pretended to serve the interests of the people. But the veil of
deception is lifting. People are starting to recognize that the dreams
of collective prosperity promised by democracy are being turned into
nightmares for the majority, and monumental wealth for the privileged
ruling class and their allies. We should however not trust democracy
without extremely powerful systems of accountability. Like in many
so-called democracies today, in Sri Lanka too, that accountability – and
the transparency that goes with it – have gone missing.
It
is said that a strong democracy is still the best anti-corruption tool.
Unacceptable behaviour weakens social justice and fosters populism.
Public vigilance is of utmost importance and should keep the government
to account so
that the government should step up the fight against corruption by
promoting integrity and transparency in public life at all levels, in
particular by adopting sound rules on the declaration of assets, income
and financial and other interests, making such declarations easily
accessible to the public and setting up independent supervisory bodies
and regulating lobbying activities. The role of the media and also
social media in denouncing corruption should be acknowledged, while
ensuring that media regulation respects media freedom and
responsibility. Besides , the Parliament should also develop a code of
conduct covering guidance on the prevention of conflicts of interest,
gifts and other advantages, while ensuring that parliamentary immunity
does not protect members of parliament from criminal prosecution for
corruption-related acts.
John
Locke was, to English philosophy, the equivalent of Sir Isaac Newton in
science. According to Locke, if a government created by society is not
doing its job properly, that is, in the interest of those who created
it, then it ought to be overthrown. There was nothing new in this idea.
Since the Middle Ages and during the Reformation, kings and emperors had
overthrown each other, claiming that their enemies on the throne were
not governing justly.
Locke,
however, went further by stating clearly exactly what a government’s
role was. A government’s job, in Locke’s view, was to protect life,
liberty and, above all, property. When it fails to protect these, it
should be replaced. To prevent power being abused, Locke insisted that
the legislative (Parliament), executive (king) and judiciary (courts) be
independent of each other and constantly checking on each other. But
it’s still not too late. To make sure this lack of trust in politicians
does not translate into a complete lack of trust in democracy, we must
now begin to focus on making transparency and accountability fundamental
to our acceptance of a government as democratic.