The Island Editorial

Poachers and gamekeepers

23 September 2016

Politicians, in our book, are of two kinds—poachers and gamekeepers. When they are ensconced in power, enjoying legal immunity, they are poachers. They become gamekeepers upon being kicked out of office. The hapless game (read the general public) is left with no alternative but to repose their trust in the poachers turned gamekeepers, hoping against hope.

Those who pretended to be knights in shining armour on an anti-corruption crusade before the last presidential election have got badly exposed. They have not only failed to make good on their promises to clean the Augean Stables aka Sri Lankan politics and eliminate corruption but also drawn heavy flak for a host of corrupt deals on their watch. Promises are said to be like babies; they are easy to make but hard to deliver. Another unfulfilled pledge dogging the self-proclaimed messiahs is the restoration of the rule of law.

Time was when ancient Sri Lankan kings had their enemies trampled to death by elephants. Today, the rulers use a different modus operandi. They get the ass called the law to kick their foes and lick their friends so much so that courts are kept open well past midnight and even on Poya Day to remand Opposition activists and bail out government MPs and loyalists on the wrong side of the law. It looks as if paddy wagons were stationed round the clock near those courts to rush the enemies of the government to state pens.

The Joint Opposition (JO), consisting of former poachers, is now defending the rights of the public and has taken upon itself the task of battling bribery and corruption, of all things! Their integrity is like a Lothario’s fidelity, which is lack of opportunity.

The JO MPs fought quite a battle in Parliament the other day, demanding as they did that the government reveal the names of ruling party MPs who had been summoned by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). On seeing the JO stalwarts in action one wondered why they had not cared to put their own house in order while they were savouring power.

UPFA firebrand Vasudeva Nanayakkara led the charge from the Opposition ranks as the official Opposition is useless because it is controlled by two parties which, like the hefty wrestlers in fake wrestling matches shown on TV, play fight with the government for the consumption of the public. Nanayakkara, a seasoned political matador, stood his full height, taking on Deputy Minister Ranjan Ramanayake, who looked like a calf still wet behind the ears. The latter claimed that the CIABOC had two gates and one was used by Opposition MPs in full view of media personnel and the other by their government counterparts without much publicity. Hence, Ramanayake argued the public was not aware of the investigations against the ministers et al. (He seems to have taken people for suckers!) The JO’s questions as regards the government members summoned by the CIABOC went unanswered. The government was able to avoid those curve balls by using smoke and mirrors because the JO did not raise them formally.

The Supreme Court has recently directed the CIABOC to file a case against former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son and UPFA MP Namal, who did not answer the commission’s summons, for contempt. We believe all those summoned by the CIABOC must fully cooperate with the commission even if they think the allegations against them are baseless. Will the JO ask the government in Parliament to reveal the names of all government worthies who have been summoned by the CIABOC and tell the public whether all of them have answered the summons?

Meanwhile, it is incumbent upon the government which claims to champion good governance to ensure that both its friends and enemies are equally treated by the CIABOC without anyone being allowed to use different entrances or exits.