The Island Editorial

When thieves fall out

16 September 2016

 

Hardly a day passes without a Joint Opposition (JO) MP or someone close to him or her being arrested, arraigned on various charges and remanded. The CID took former Minister and JO activist Mahindananda Aluthgamage, MP into custody to question him on money laundering. He was later remanded. The Supreme Court has directed the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) to file a case against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son, Namal Rajapaksa, another JO MP for contempt. Now, it’s double whammy for the young JO MP in hot water.

The public perception is that bribery and corruption were rampant under the previous government whose leaders shielded the corrupt who were loyal to them. The present administration vowed to investigate allegations of corruption, among other things, against their rivals and bring the culprits to justice. It has got into overdrive in a bid to achieve its goal. Those who acted with impunity in the heyday of the Rajapaksa government and lined their pockets at the expense of the public must be made to pay for their sins.

The apex court has earned public plaudits during the past several months for its bold rulings and observations. Therefore, the right thinking people will not frown on its directive that the CIABOC file action against Namal. No one who has helped himself or herself to public funds or abused his or her position to acquire ill-gotten wealth should be spared.

However, the manner in which the government is trying to deal with the corrupt elements in the previous government has left one intrigued, to say the least. Some rogues of the former dispensation have been let off the hook to all intents and purposes. Is it that only the former members of the Rajapaksa government, currently in the JO, were responsible for corrupt and other illegal operations which proved to be that administration’s undoing? Have those who ditched the Rajapaksas after the fall of government last year, switched their allegiance to the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government and are holding ministerial posts been able to cleanse themselves of their sins so easily? Why is it that neither the much-dreaded FCID nor the CID nor the CIABOC has swooped on them? Will the JO MPs also enjoy that kind of legal immunity like those responsible for the Central Bank bond scams if they join the government?

Meanwhile, have any ministers been summoned by the CIABOC? If so, have all of them appeared before it? Has the commission taken legal action against those who haven’t done so? Is it true that a powerful minister has refused to answer its summons with impunity? And, what action has the CIABOC taken against him for contempt? Will some JO worthies ask in Parliament how many MPs have been asked to appear before the CIABOC and how many have ignored the summons?

It looks as if we had to wait till the next change of government to have allegations of corruption against the members of the present administration probed and the culprits brought to justice. It is being claimed in some quarters that the government has launched a witch hunt against its opponents. One thing good about the action being taken against the JO is that its members will have their rivals currently savouring power probed if they come back to power. The FCID and the CID will be used for that purpose.

People always stand to gain when thieves fall out because the latter tend to squeal on one another after breaking ranks.