Need For Retraction & Apology By President
By ANI Ekanayaka –October 18, 2016
Professor A.N.I. Ekanayaka
Just as pathetic as the recent repugnant public criticism of the Bribery Commission, CID and FCID by the President, is the stupidity of some Ministers who have been trying to vainly put a good face on a bad speech, as if the people of this country are fools who can’t understand spoken Sinhala and will believe anything they are told. Where millions have heard and watched the widely circulated video recordings of the President’s speech for themselves, the people are not deceived. People know exactly what he said and meant notwithstanding the distortions of politicians who would pull wool over their eyes. Indeed if nothing else the resignation of the Director General of the Bribery Commission is final proof that the President’s remarks were deeply offensive to such agencies.
There is of course nothing new in the tendency of Ministers to embellish the truth for the sake of damage control and tell us that everything is hunky-dory. One example from history is that of a current Minister who speaking at a public function two days ago is reported to have said that “the President had not found fault with the Commissions . . . had not included any remarks intended to weaken the functions of the independent commissions . . . but had only emphasised the importance of protecting the dignity of war heroes who saved the country from the clutches of terrorism”. So I suppose we are being asked to believe that the President was only being kind to the Commissions ! Interestingly in clause 397 (P.83 ) of the Human Rights Council OHCHR Report on Sri Lanka as an example of the previous regime repeatedly denying any responsibility for enforced disappearances, the report specifically mentions the name of this Minister who when he was a Minister in that regime had in 2007 (quote) “ claimed that the reports about people who disappeared were the result of the “propaganda strategy” by “a ruthless terrorist organization” which tried to ‘paint a bleak picture internationally to bring pressure on the government so that our resolve will be weakened’”. So much for his credibility today.
The reality is that the President’s ill conceived criticisms were a sad betrayal of the many good people who trusted him to uphold the rule of law and relentlessly bring criminals to justice without fear or favour whoever they might be. On the contrary the threatening tone, strong language, and content of his emotional speech reflected an abuse of power in seeking to demean, demoralise and put political pressure on these valued independent agencies investigating corruption and crime. Indeed his outburst was reminiscent of the arrogant contempt for independent bodies we had come to expect from the previous Rajapaksa regime in which ( lest we forget ) this President sat as a Minister for about 9 long years during its worst excesses.
