Unhindered Politicization And SLAS

By Austin Fernando -February 20, 2014 

Austin Fernando

Politicization of administration is a universal social process bringing a political character or flavor to administration. It may yield positive (e.g. pressure to motivate officials) and negative (e.g. discrimination of political opponents through officers) results. The faint murmur by Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) and others officers may be to minimize it. Concurrently, politicians vociferously demand it as a functional necessity.

Those who honor Max Weber Principles on bureaucracy[1], i.e. hierarchical structures, management by rules, being impersonal etc find difficult to tolerate politicization. Negative politicization appreciates non-hierarchy (except for political power), bending rules to politicians’ wishes, politics-based personal discrimination etc. Negative politicization affects respected aspirations in administration, e.g. human rights, environment, sustainable development, natural justice, accountability, transparency etc. This dichotomy irritates. This is why focus on politicization.

Since the establishment of the Ceylon Administrative Service (CAS) in 1963, later SLAS, politicians made constitutional and administrative arrangements reinforcing politicization. These diluted the aura and importance enjoyed by officers and in lieu enhanced overt and covert involvements of politicians in administrative processes.

Incidentally, one may cynically or sarcastically argue that the establishment of SLAS was also politically motivated, because anti-colonialist political thinking to erase the last vestiges of colonialism was uppermost in the agendas of the then ruling politicians.  In that cynical sense the birth of SLAS was a progressive step towards emancipation from colonialism!

Though politicization has affected other parallel services, it was the SLAS as the frontline administrators with close range relationships with politicians and people that faced the crunch mostly. Why? To answer, it is appropriate to reminisce how SLAS is introduced.                                          Read More