Ceylon Today Editorial

COPE: GIVE THE JVP A CHANCE

18th October 2015

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has requested the government to give them the Chairmanship of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) that monitors State-owned enterprises. Since it was established by the J.R. Jayewardene Government, COPE has no powers to punish the offenders and it could only make recommendations. Over four decades, COPE has made many recommendations, but nothing practical has happened. And, State-owned enterprises identified as being corrupt have only turned absolutely corrupt. All those COPE Reports either idle at the Presidential Secretariat or may have ended up in the dustbins.

What really needed are more teeth to the COPE. Legislators when in the Opposition demand more teeth for COPE. But when they are in the government they turn a blind eye. In the last report submitted by former COPE Chairman D.E.W. Gunasekera over 25 State-owned enterprises were found corrupt. The previous government swept that report under the carpet and no follow up action was taken. Gunasekera who named those institutions also named officials responsible for such corruption. However, no action was taken as the culprits were political henchmen or relatives of the powers that be of that regime.

Over the past four decades the two main political parties or members of their coalitions have controlled COPE with no fruitful results achieved to eliminate waste in corrupt State-owned institutions.
Instead corrupt State-owned institutions have become absolutely corrupt being a burden on the General Treasury. For example, most waste and corruption was at the national carrier SriLankan and Mihin Air.
The D.E.W. Gunasekera COPE report highlighted the corruption at SriLankan Airlines. A Committee appointed by the present government named the corrupt high ranking officials in the airline. What has happened to all those probes? Successive governments always came out with a bang highlighting corruption of the earlier regime. But after some time, all those issues are swept under the carpet.

Evaluating the fate of COPE reports over four decades, it is crystal clear that successive governments have entertained corruption in a number of State owned institutions by turning a blind eye to the findings in those reports. Hence, corruption continued to reign in the State Sector. The time has come to end the corruption menace in such institutions which are a heavy burden on the Treasury. The Treasury is pumping millions of rupees to keep those institutions going at the expense of the people.

The JVP's request is quite timely. The government speaks of Good governance. The JVP says that if the Government is serious about effective Good Governance, it should offer the chairmanship of COPE to the JVP. Considering the pathetic performances of the COPE in the past, the JVP request is quite timely and reasonable. The JVP is a party always opposed to corruption.

They deserve an opportunity to perform. If the National Unity Government wants to eliminate corruption as it spelt out in its election Manifestos, the JVP is the ideal political party that should be used to head the COPE. The government should not fear the JVP because the JVP says it is ready to help the government to uphold the concept of Good Governance. Public institutions are run by public money and not by funds of politicians. Therefore, the people have a right to know how those institutions operate. And, if there is corruption in such institutions, it is the duty of the COPE to inform the government and the people. The JVP has no vested interests in State institutions. It does not want to safeguard corrupt State-owned institutions.

The JVP is not a stakeholder in the National Unity Government. It stands independent in Parliament like the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).The present government has members from both the UNP and the SLFP. Some were ministers of the previous UPFA administration where institutions that came under their purview were found corrupt by the previous COPE. In that backdrop, it is not correct for a government member to lead the COPE.

It's time to give the JVP a chance to lead the COPE. The government will benefit by that move and could uphold the policy of Good Governance and avoid embarrassment. Also, when the UNP and SLFP have failed having led COPE for over four decades, it's the turn of the JVP to prove itself.