Fighting corruption
September 16, 2014, 8:02 pm
Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken a swipe at the government while welcoming the visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping. Sri Lanka should, he has said in a media statement, adopt the Chinese anti-graft drive which is aimed at increasing transparency and accountability.
One cannot but agree with the Opposition Leader that Sri Lanka should embark on an anti-corruption campaign. But, the question is who will lead it.
In 1994, people pinned their hopes on Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, who promised a corruption free Sri Lanka, only to be disillusioned and disappointed. Some of the mega corrupt deals on her watch were subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court. Then, they voted in the UNP-led UNF government with Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister, but it failed to be different from its predecessor. The apex court had to intervene again to declare null and void some of its questionable deals such as the sale of Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation and the Lanka Marine Services property for a song. Allegations of corruption against the incumbent dispensation abound and it is sure to suffer many a judicial gavel blow when it is out of power.
In 2010, the Opposition top guns promoted former Army Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka as a messiah capable of ridding the country of nepotism, cronyism, corruption and abuse of power besides the executive presidency. They wanted him to be the President. But, today, they avoid him like the plague.
It is popularly said that the difference between a politician and a statesman is that the former thinks in terms of the next election and the latter thinks in terms of the next generation. True, but greedy politicians also think in terms of the next generation or generations to come; they amass ill-gotten wealth and stash it away so that there will be enough for even their great grandchildren! And not even the ordinary people’s great, great grandchildren will be able to pay back the loans the present-day rulers obtain.
The problem with politicians on anti-corruption drives is that their will to fight that social evil desert them when they are voted into office and ensconced in power. Those who stand accused of lining their pockets at the expense of the poor today were once champions of democracy and good governance. They took to the streets against corruption and abuse of power and succeeded in duping the masses into voting for them. What we see under their rule is the very antithesis of what they promised.
The Opposition Leader tells us that in China local government officials have been punished for spending public funds on travel among other things. The implication of his statement is that politicians and officials who waste people’s money in that manner should be severely dealt with. But, it was only recently that at the UNP-controlled Kalutara Urban Council, a UNP member berated the media for reporting that the ratepayers’ money was being spent on councillors’ foreign junkets; he even demanded that journalists be barred from covering the council sessions. What action has the UNP taken against that member and those who waste public funds on pleasure trips? Not to be outdone, the Chairman of the government-controlled Polgahawela Pradeshiya Sabha has declared his council out of bounds for journalists who exposed financial irregularities.
There are many issues that the UNP can flog at future elections, corruption being the main one. As much as there is said to be a crime behind every great fortune, there is a corrupt deal behind every mega development project in this country. However, one wonders why the Opposition Leader considers China a role model where fighting corruption is concerned. Aren’t there western democracies which have more effective anti-corruption mechanisms? In countries characterised by one party rule, all politicians are equal but some politicians are ‘more equal’ than others and there is no way the affairs of the ‘more equal’ political leaders can be probed; errant minions are often sacrificed to boost the images of their leaders.
Nothing is stupider than depending on politicians to lead anti-corruption campaigns, which to them are mere stepping stones to power. Their integrity is only lack of opportunity to help themselves to public funds. The less said about the politicians in power, the better; their appetite for public funds is enormous. So, in the final analysis, it’s as broad as it’s long.
The ideal person to lead the country’s battle against corruption, we believe, is a pro-people leader with a clean track record and no political ambitions. Let’s light lamps and begin our search for him or her in broad daylight a la Diogenes of Sinope!
“Ceylon, under the United National Party Government, became one of the first countries of the world to recognise the People’s Republic of China in 1950. Our economic ties were strengthened in 1952 by the Ceylon China Trade Agreement of 1952, when under the leadership of then Commerce Minister under the UNP Government R.G. Senanayake, the two countries signed the Rubber-Rice Pact,” Wickremesinghe observed.
