SAME OLD THING: Despite the institutional strengthening of
anticorruption agencies following the 19th Amendment, consistent failure
in implementation has led to very limited progress in arresting and
reversing corrupt trends in Sri Lanka. So it’s no surprise that in terms
of being perceived as a corrupt state, our island-nation has made
little if any progress in terms of global perceptions
Friday, 1 February 2019
Much
has been made of it. If you haven’t heard about CPI 2018, you’re
probably living under a rock. And if you don’t want to see what
creepy-crawlies dwell there alongside a pure in heart you, don’t pick it
– the rock, or CPI 2018 – up.
But for those of us who like to know, the latest edition of the
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) makes fascinating – if disappointing –
reading. For those of us who follow Sri Lanka’s progress – or otherwise
– on it, it’s an essential insight into how well we’re doing overall
(we’re not). And if Transparency International’s rankings can be taken
at face value, our island-nation has miles to go before we sleep.
It’s probably because many promises have been made – on the campaign
trail and in parliament among other corridors of power – that we have
yet to keep. For one: to bring sundry culprits from a previous regime to
book in a transparent manner. For another: to ensure that the
introduction of good governance into the administrative milieu would
keep present powers accountable. For posterity: to drive the reforms
agenda whereby the seeds of a new political culture would be sown in
notoriously hard soil.
By the way
For
now, it seems that those seeds – and Sri Lanka’s seeding in terms of
how corrupt it is perceived to be – have fallen by the wayside. Though
where once (2016) we were ranked 95th of 176, today we’re in 89th place
with a score of 38 on an index where 0 is ‘highly corrupt’ and 100 is
‘very clean’. Last year, we had the same score (91st of 180 ranked
countries). And our failure to improve our score despite a slightly
higher ranking means that Sri Lanka may be as beautiful as Bali on
Lonely Planet’s 2019 brochure. But we swim with the likes of Swaziland
(90/180) on TI’s CPI 2018, where the average global country score is 43
and South Asia’s is 44. (In general, TI says most countries worldwide
have failed to stem or stymie leave alone reverse the tide of
corruption.)
While we’re nowhere near as bad as Somalia (score 10), Syria and South
Sudan (both at 13), Sri Lanka is perceived as being the third most
corrupt country in South Asia after Bhutan (25th of 100) and India
(78/100). Sri Lanka averaged 83.53 from 2002 until 2018, reaching an
all-time high of 97 in 2009 – the year our 26-year war ended and a
record low of 52 in 2002… another year of political turmoil when CBK
pulled the plug on the then UNP’s Govt. In more recent times, our
country score has ranged from 32 in 2010 (rank 91 of 178) to 40 (2012).
In the main, we bobbed about in the 37-38 score range in 2013-14-15.
All right-y then! So what does this all have to do with the price of eggs?
Bad eggs
One
thing we must keep in mind is that the index is based on perceptions,
which have a tenuous (if tenaciously researched) link to reality. TI
tells us that CPI deals with “perceived levels of public sector
corruption”, adding that “as such, the existence of a legislative
framework – without the will or operational ability to ensure timely
justice – reflects on Sri Lanka’s clear lack of progress to date.”
Its Sri Lankan chapter chief elaborates: “With the likely conclusion of
several high-profile corruption cases in 2019, it is essential that all
authorities uphold their impartiality and independence. If the
application of the law is interpreted as selective or politically
motivated, it could prove detrimental to the anti-corruption drive and
the justice system.”
Still, what of the price of eggs in our island republic?
Basket case
An important conclusion to reach might be – as Transparency
International itself has inferred – is there is a link between
corruption and the health of nation-states. So-called ‘full democracies’
tend to score an average of 75 on the CPI, more towards to the ‘clean’
end of the perceptions spectrum. Those defined by TI as ‘flawed
democracies’ rack up an average score of 49. And ‘hybrid regimes’ – a
mix of democracy with elements of authoritarianism – score in the range
of 35. (Autocratic regimes register average scores of 30 or so on the
CPI.) So the think tank version of Sri Lanka’s CPI score plunks it
between a flawed democracy and a hybrid regime. Tell us about it, TI!
If the CPI suggests that it’s time to make “real progress against
corruption and strengthen democracy around the world”, TI’s call on all
governments to strengthen vigorous checks and balances over political
power, and ensure the ability of democratic institutions to operate
without intimidation, is timely. In fact, the watchdog in tandem with
civil society has been agitating for anticorruption legislation,
practice and enforcement since our war of nearly three decades ended 10
years ago.
Fickle bureaucracy
We in the Fourth Estate must also nod to TI’s desire to support a free
media milieu by ensuring the safety of journalists and their ability to
work without intimidation of any ilk. The organization’s call to support
civil society institutions, which facilitate critical political
engagement and public oversight over government spending, particularly
at the local level, is also salutary in terms of arresting alarming
trends in how the state sector is perceived.
We endorse them, and can add a few more mirrors in which to reflect back
at the Berlin-based ‘anticorruption coalition’ (as it styles itself)
our own perception of state/national corruption. Be TI’s yardsticks for
measuring corruption as they may – a rigorous methodology bolstered by
meticulous research – we have our own gauges. It is far more fly-by-wire
than any index. But perhaps far more perceptive and insightful! And
rather than a rank or score, it is a finger – index or otherwise – that
we use to show our corrupt bureaucrats and politicos what we think of
them…
Failed statesmen
For as long as presidents declare egregious street-level warfare on drug
pushers but pal up to traffickers in minister and mandarin ranks,
perceptions of high-level national corruption will remain rife. And as
long as prime ministers who promised to introduce and sustain a new
political culture hobnob with goblins allegedly culpable of genocide and
gremlins guilty of murder and grand larceny at public events,
perceptions of corruption will dismay the sea-green incorruptible civil
society champions who still mouth platitudes about Mr Clean. And the
less said about how leftover cheats, thieves and robbers from previous
regimes still seem to be at large, to pursue life, liberty and
happiness, the better – it seems.
In fact, for as long as progressive legal reforms such as giving
citizens the right to freely access asset declarations of public
representatives (vide RTI) and the National Audit Bill fail to deliver –
at least in terms of raising Sri Lanka’s anticorruption profile – we’ll
be left holding the baby of a lack of bureaucratic probity and also
think political will has been thrown out with the bathwater.
That is probably why TI’s Sri Lanka chief said last year after CPI 2017
was released: “It would seem that the anticorruption drive has limited
momentum.” We wouldn’t be surprised if he repeated himself in 2019. And
CPI 2018 – for all its rigour – is only the tip of the iceberg.
We know! think! suspect! that the rot runs rather deeper than that. It
is time to dig, expose, uncover. The inauguration of a centre for
investigative journalism in Sri Lanka in the same week as the CPI was
released harbours some hope in this respect. Sure there’s miles to go
but it seems some old hacks and serious journalists are not going to
sleep soon… unless it’s with the fishes. So once more into the breach to
close the wall and bridge that gap!
(Journalist | Editor-at-large of LMD | Writer #SpeakingTruthToPower)
