Peace for the World

Peace for the World
First democratic leader of Justice the Godfather of the Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Honourable Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam

Monday, September 2, 2013

Who will decide on fighting corruption?
by Rukshana Nanayakkara-Monday, 02 Sep 2013

Is there one formula for fighting corruption?
Among the many strategies and programmes, some seek to address systemic issues while others create a deterrent effect through naming and shaming, investigations and punitive measures.

There are many vehicles to achieve this end result. In 1990, we witnessed how walls of public toilets, bus stands and public buildings became walls of ‘information sharing’ with the general public. Eventually, mobile phones proved to be a strong tool in communicating messages of public value. Today, social media is taking the lead in an unprecedented manner.

Sri Lanka is a late-comer to this scene. Our computer literacy rate averages around 35% - so the phenomena of using social media as a means  of advocating social justice is now beginning to knock on our door with more persistence. It is extremely encouraging to note the recent acknowledgement by the President of Sri Lanka on the benefits of using social media. According to news reports, at a meeting with media secretaries of ministries, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has urged them to use social media to better engage with the public.

An extremely
powerful tool
In June this year, the Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, conducted a live question and answer session with the public via twitter. At the end of it, he openly acknowledged social media as an extremely powerful tool. In spirit, social media opens avenues for engagement with people, enhances interaction with the public, improves transparency and accountability, and wins the trust from the people.

From the public’s point of view, it is a mode of receiving and sharing information, engaging in discussions and a platform to bring together like-minded people in addition to creating platforms to advocate for common goals.
Our current space for engagement in public affairs is largely measured in a context of post-war paranoia and there is always the threat the space afforded by social media too may be taken away, in whatever possible form. This looming threat became quite evident when the Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, said the rapid expansion and development of social media posed a threat to national security, adding that it can be used to cause problems by propagating certain ideologies online and mobilizing and organizing people. 

The post-war triumphalism is increasingly becoming an overused trump card of the Rajapaksa Government. In the long run, secrecy in government contracts, nepotism and favouritism within the government, political corruption and mismanagement could even make diehard Rajapaksa supporters disgruntled about the systemic issues. The government is aware of it.

During the last two years, the world has witnessed the collapse of so most powerful regimes around the world. Three years ago, one never imagined peoples’ uprisings in countries like Libya or Egypt. They soon became a reality. This is why the Rajapaksa Government did not hesitate for a minute in sending a strong message to the people through its management of the Weliweriya incident.

It is time the promoters of social media in Sri Lanka understand the perverse nature of the administration. In the collapse of repressive regimes and their leaders – both in the Middle East and Latin America – we are in search of new partners, and indeed we are learning lessons from China and other repressive regimes in the world.
Handling repressive regimes 

Recently, a Chinese anti-corruption activist, Xu Zhiyoung, was arrested for his campaigns in organizing people for what is commonly known as the New Citizens’ Movement in China. Among others, they advocated for the declaration of assets by public officials in the country. In this case, the legal system was used to suppress an activist, who actually was proposing a policy, which in turn would help to prevent corruption. Corruption is plaguing Chinese society in a big way. As a country, it has not invested enough in transparent governance and accountability mechanisms that could earn the rulers any kind of public trust. As a result, corruption continues to affect the ordinary people in multiple ways.

If the Chinese Government is serious about fighting corruption, it has to lend an ear to the voices of the people. But unfortunately, it is countries with inherent systemic issues that Sri Lanka appears keen to build political and economic relations.
Sri Lanka’s recent efforts in building alliances with Belarus rings alarm bells of concern. Military ties with another repressive human rights abuser could only bring adverse results but the government in power does not appear to be concerned about its own projection to the rest of the world.  

As much as we demand anti-corruption and transparency measures, the means and modes of government responses should also be weighed against its true intentions. The current administration has skillfully captured the Opposition, politicized the public service and the Judiciary, won over Opposition members in Parliament to muster a thumping majority, and has practically removed all possible checks and balances from the system.

Public engagement tool
Part of the regime now talks about the benefits of social media as a public engagement tool in the development discourse. This is a norm of development defined by the Rajapaksas and their loyalists. What would be the response of the government if people demand, through social media, for more accountability, transparency or simply the information relating to development? What would be the response of the regime for an organized campaign demanding social accountability?

Benefits of social media are not something defined by any government. Social media is a powerful tool that firmly rests in the hands of the people. It also, to a large extent, takes away a government’s ability to control information and to manipulate information.


People themselves should be given the power and space to decide its scope and benefits of social media. Given Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s publicly expressed fear of the increasing use of social media, it is time for civil society also to engage in a discussion about the healthy parametres of social media within which it could vibrantly operate, and potential threats it faces by this ‘new kid on the block’ by the present regime. We should be indeed well prepared.