Thursday, 12 May 2016
President Maithripala Sirisena travelled to London yesterday to attend an International Anti-Corruption Summit organised by the British Government.
The summit is aimed at ‘driving out the culture of corruption wherever it exists’. Some of the world’s most corrupt political leaders will flock to London this week, an irony that was not lost on British Prime Minister David Cameron who was recorded telling Queen Elizabeth II recently that the leaders of Nigeria and Afghanistan, two countries he referred to in the conversation as “fantastically corrupt”, would be attending the Anti-Corruption summit.
The Sri Lankan President attends the summit in London on a slightly different footing. As the reformist President who was swept to power on an anti-corruption, good governance and transparency platform, even one year later he continues to be recognised by the international community as a progressive politician trying to make Sri Lanka fit better in a world crying out for more transparent government.
But President Sirisena’s problems at home trying to reform a political system riddled with corruption, nepotism and shadowy wheeler-dealing are far removed from his global image.
On Sunday (8), most of the political firmament turned up at the Cinnamon Grand for the wedding of Rakitha Rajapakshe, Media Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and son of Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe.
‘Wedding of the year’
Few members of the Yahapalanaya administration feel a compulsion to keep up appearances of austerity in public life. At the Rajapakshe wedding, over 800 guests were in attendance, with the hotel’s Oak Room car park closed off and used as a massive banquet tent for the ceremony. Every guest was sent an electronic key card with their invitation, to be carried along with them to the wedding. At the Atrium lobby entrance to the main ballroom, ushers swiped guests in on computers that displayed their name and table numbers and escorted them to their tables.
Wedding planners were attired in colourful saris instead of professional outfits, blending into the crowd. Giant television screens beamed images of key moments of the ceremony to guests even at the far corners of the extended ballroom. Local music icons Bathiya and Santhush provided entertainment for the wedding, with their performances displayed on the giant screens around the room.
