Corruption has to end, but how?
The biggest single post war issue, it scarcely needs a special mention, is the
issue of governance — and under the rubric of governance, more precisely, the issue of corruption. As reams were written about the war, in terms of academic treatise and journalistic opinion alike, acres of newsprint and gallons of ink are now expended on the issues of corruption, nepotism and malpractice.
How deep do the roots of corruption go in this country? Very deep, they say and they are digging deeper. However, there is no quantification of the extent, not even from the anti corruption non-governmental organizations that have set themselves up as the guardians of the anti corruption effort.
But press reporting on the phenomenon of corruption is muted. One reason is that the print media particularly, are owned by persons who have some connection to authority at various levels of power — in order to survive. Legislative instruments such as COPE etc., have not famously been able to deliver for the simple reason that their findings are not acted upon, almost by
tacit mutual consent between government and opposition members of Parliament.
There is corruption in terms of financial irregularity at all levels and then there is the considerable corruption in terms of the subversion of institutions through nepotism and political patronage – such as, say, the subversion of the police department, or the subversion of election law during the conduct of polls.
Does that mean that society is doomed? At first glance, it appears to be so. Things are so bad that some of the corruption watchdogs including Transparency International are sometimes seen to be worse than the corrupt government bureaucrats and politicians themselves.
Several members of Parliament for example should be nowhere near the precincts of the assembly. Mervyn Silva is a shoo in such a consideration, but for other reasons such as subversion of election procedure, there are candidates such as Mahindananda Aluthgamage. They are scores of others who should have been disqualified by virtue of previous private conduct.
How deep do the roots of corruption go in this country? Very deep, they say and they are digging deeper. However, there is no quantification of the extent, not even from the anti corruption non-governmental organizations that have set themselves up as the guardians of the anti corruption effort.
But press reporting on the phenomenon of corruption is muted. One reason is that the print media particularly, are owned by persons who have some connection to authority at various levels of power — in order to survive. Legislative instruments such as COPE etc., have not famously been able to deliver for the simple reason that their findings are not acted upon, almost by
tacit mutual consent between government and opposition members of Parliament.There is corruption in terms of financial irregularity at all levels and then there is the considerable corruption in terms of the subversion of institutions through nepotism and political patronage – such as, say, the subversion of the police department, or the subversion of election law during the conduct of polls.
Does that mean that society is doomed? At first glance, it appears to be so. Things are so bad that some of the corruption watchdogs including Transparency International are sometimes seen to be worse than the corrupt government bureaucrats and politicians themselves.
Several members of Parliament for example should be nowhere near the precincts of the assembly. Mervyn Silva is a shoo in such a consideration, but for other reasons such as subversion of election procedure, there are candidates such as Mahindananda Aluthgamage. They are scores of others who should have been disqualified by virtue of previous private conduct.
