Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Economic Crime & The P118 Of Sri Lanka

logo
Asanga Abeygoonasekera
“If the top beam is askew, the bottom beams will be crooked.” ~ Chinese proverb 
There is a plague in the streets of Sri Lanka. If this plague has not entered your door steps, your family will still pay an indirect price. Most of us were aware of what ruffled the normal tenor of our lives but had no idea how to fight the plague. The plague is known as “Corruption”, and it might be inimical to the stability and integrity of the economy, which now threatens the entire nation. 
President Sirisena explained that he is not in a position to open the newly built hospital in Hambantota, which he laid the foundation for several years ago when he was Minister of health. “The building is completed but the hospital equipments has gone missing and all funding has been utilized, certain people who where after my term at the Ministry are directly responsible”, said President Sirisena to the Director General of Bribery and the Key Note speaker Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda after a discussion on fighting corruption in Colombo.
Whoever is responsible for robbing public goods should be arrested regardless of their political hierarchy or affiliation. If the powerful (top beam) in society could commit economic crime of this nature, one may wonder how we create a society free of corruption, and instill such values within the entire community. The President will need to take strict measures to arrest the culprits and strengthen weak government institutions, in order to fight corruption. 
According to Auditor General Gamini Wijesinghe, “More than half the state officials would be in jail by now if they were dealt with in the manner in which former presidential secretary Mr.Weeratunga was dealt with and sentenced to prison on charges of misusing State funds”. Due to the large scale corruption, Auditor General suggested the new Audit Bill as a solution to ensure financial discipline in the State sector under the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Such measures should be given utmost government support and top priority, especially considering the events which unfolded in the recent past. Passing the Audit Bill is not sufficient, but getting it implemented should be the key, explains former Auditor General Mayadunna.
Economic crime such as leasing the entire fishery harbour in Modara (Mutwal) Colombo a few years ago by a powerful Minister for a nominal fee was never investigated by the Bribery Commission. It is the duty of the commission to carry out investigation of all crimes, regardless of the culprit’s social standing. According to Anura Kumara Dissanayake, leader of the JVP, “The Bribery Commission has summoned him on two occasions to appear before it to inquire into the harbour tender, but the Minister had not gone there. Instead he influenced the President to remove the Director General of the Bribery Commission”. The rule of law should apply equally to all citizens. 
According to Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, a new “Perpetual class” has emerged in the Sri Lankan society. This constitutes a  new rich middle class, who are much more sophisticated when it comes to influencing politicians, political parties and campaign funding. There are evident differences between this new rich middle class and past businessmen. This Perpetual class exercises control and influence over ministers, high ranking officials and decision making of the state using their financial power. Prof. Uyangoda further explains that there is a need and it’s worth researching to understand the influence of such new middle class in our society. 
The practice of political funding and lobbying  has changed in many societies including in the United States. As Francis Fukuyama rightly identifies in his book ‘Political Order and Political Decay’ that there were only 175 lobbying firms in 1971, in 1981 number reached 2500 and by 2013 a whopping 12,000 firms spent $3.2billion on lobbying, according to Fukuyama “its these firms that distort American public policy across many different areas”.

Read More