Sunday Leader Editorial

Attempt To Halt Corruption Probes On Rajapaksa Regime

28 August 2016

 

Sri Lankans love to gossip. From the village kopikade (coffee shop by the road) to office canteens, Colombo’s more exclusive water holes and the sitting rooms of Colombo 7 and now the plusher residential suburbs, what do we do: Gossip.

Don’t blame imperialists, neocolonialists and the whole disgusting tribe into the conversation. Gossiping is a Sri Lankan national trait as seen by that apt Sinhala saying: Rata wata weta bendath kata wata weta badinda bae. A fence can be built around a country but not around a mouth.

And what do we gossip about? Sex, cricket, business or the usual subjects that other nations gossip on? Yes, to a certain extent but the basic substance is politics.

Political gossip has gained greater relevance with the investigations into the activities of the ‘Stars’ of the former regime, who are televised often being brought in and out of courts. The due processes of the law are being followed, as lawyers say. This is quite commendable because opponents of the former regime want instant justice delivered on these ‘Stars’ and strong pressures for instant justice has been rejected by the government.

The slow progress of the judicial process is to be appreciated in that the legal process is being followed, however slow the process may be. This is perhaps an instance where justice delayed is justice being done contrary to the traditional view of speedy justice being delivered.

Watching the spectacle of suspects being brought by ‘black marias’ being remanded and handcuffed to be taken to prison, coveys an impression that the TV publicity is being relished by these ‘Stars’.

Martyrdom for some cause or the other – in this case alleged political victimization – is Oxygen for politicians and is apparent from the glee with which the remanded but smiling suspects show their handcuffed wrists to TV cameras.

However, some of them have complained about being brought in and out from prison to courts to be remanded again, released and remanded again. This is a matter for the courts to decide on.

The judicial process which the leading lights of the previous regime are subjected to, cannot be considered as a political witch hunt as alleged by some because there has been a public outcry against corrupt practices of these individuals as well as mass scale defrauding of state funds. Some of cases filed in courts allege abuse of power not only by those who held government office but also those who usurped power resorting to nepotism.

It is a difficult task to keep politics and justice apart and a political backlash is quite likely strike against those behind the forces initiating prosecutions. A known way of hitting back at opponents responsible for prosecution is to level the same charge against at the initiators.

President Maithripala Sirisena allegedly seeking a bribe from an Australian company smacks of a counter attack on him for his crackdown on bribery and corruption during the previous regime. The allegation is carried in two Australian newspapers belonging to the same company.

We will not comment on these reports other than to ask why it took 7 years to make this allegation – the bribe alleged to have been solicited in 2009 when Maithripala Sirisena was Minister of Agriculture Development and Agrarian Services. Why did these Australian companies and newspapers wait for seven years till Sirisena was the President and commence his campaign against corruption in Sri Lanka.

Newspapermen in Sri Lanka know very well the procedure adopted by some foreign institutions when they fail to win a tender or award in a foreign country. They accuse ministers and high ranking officials of soliciting bribes. The media gets a ‘scoop’ and for Western media it is a ‘scoop on Third World Corruption’.

Apparently such stories are meant to deter the Good Governance government from cracking down on corruption. President Sirisena, it is  reported, will take legal action in this regard and no doubt will not be thwarted by such conspiracies generated on Sri Lankan soil.

Sunday Times Editorial

Hail and farewell with UNanswered questions

28 August 2016

The United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon visits Sri Lanka on Wednesday for what is a virtual farewell call as he completes his term of office at the helm of the 193- nation world body. According to unconfirmed reports he is now a possible contender for the Presidency of his native land, South Korea.

His last visit to Sri Lanka was under different circumstances. Sri Lanka had just ended a military campaign for a separate state; bloody and bruising, it also hurt the pride of Western powers that had wanted the fighting to stop, a call the then Government had refused to heed. The UNSG’s visit came in the backdrop of those harrowing days of 2009 and to say the least, due to pressure from those Western countries. Today, those very countries are grappling with home-grown terrorism, and Sri Lanka seems one of the few safe havens in the world.

The UNSG’s visit in 2009 was to have after-shocks for Sri Lanka in the form of a joint communiqué issued at the time. The then Government of Sri Lanka agreed to set in motion an accountability process for the way its Armed Forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorist organisation. This was to set the stage later for a Resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva formalizing a virtual war crimes tribunal – by whatever name one calls it.

The then President was ill-advised that the Western powers would not pursue such a Resolution against Sri Lanka. The setting up of a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) as an alternative to a ‘war crimes tribunal’ fell short of expectations in Geneva because the then Government did not follow the Commission’s recommendations. It was also too little too late to pacify the West.

In-between, Ban-Ki moon muddied the waters further by appointing a committee, later to be dubbed the Darusman Committee after its chairman, to do its own investigation into what happened during the last stages of the armed insurgency against the state of Sri Lanka. He was up for re-election as UNSG and needed the backing of the Western powers. A UNSG has to ‘play ball’ with the Western powers if he wants to sit on that seat; ask one of his predecessor’s Boutros BoutrosGhali, the Egyptian UNSG who did not get a second term.

Not to be seen as entirely dancing to the tune of the Western powers, Ban-Ki moon said that the Darusman Committee’s findings were merely for his own enlightenment. It was not a formal UN committee. But, he went back on his word and the substantively unsubstantiated findings of the committee were leaked to the UNHRC that was by then prosecuting the state of Sri Lanka in Geneva. He ignored the legitimate protest of the Government of Sri Lanka and took no action against his Assistant SG, an appointee of his, who did the leaking.

Compounding matters was the basis on which the committee members were chosen and the obvious bias they showed in accepting ex-parte evidence not subjected to the test of proof. The credibility of the Darusman Committee members was later exposed. One of them, in particular, Yasmin Sooka of South Africa was seen on pro-LTTE platforms later. The Darusman Committee report became a handy whip against the state of Sri Lanka and Ban-Ki moon has to take the personal rap for this.

This was a time when Sri Lanka’s foreign policy was in a shambles; antagonising India and the West, losing votes at the UNHRC; fast becoming a fiefdom of China, nepotism reigning supreme in appointments domestically, and High Commissioners getting slapped by Monitoring MPs at restaurant bars in New York. It was a time the Government’s left hand did not know what the right hand was doing. Having derided the Darusman Report home as illegitimate, a secret delegation was sent to meet the committee at the UN headquarters in New York to argue Sri Lanka’s case, thereby legitimizing it. What bungling!

The United Nations political standing has been severely eroded in recent years. Its apex Security Council is seen by many around the world as a mere rubber-stamp endorsing the West’s global agenda; it is a testament to the UN’s failures in maintaining world peace. Selectively pursuing human rights abuses and grave violations, and the killing of non-combatants, including children and the destruction of property in war theatres but exempting the West’s NATO or NATO allied forces committing the same crimes as reported daily from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya and other countries, the UN is under scrutiny. There are no Darusman Committees sent by the UNSG to these bleeding hot-spots.

What has the UNSG to say about the R2P (Right to Protect) concept mooted during the period of his predecessor, by Western powers to get a foothold in sovereign nations not tocing their line? Did the UN factor in the culpability of bigger countries destabilising smaller states in the first place? Take the case of India’s intervention in Sri Lanka.This triggered the military campaign for a separate state on this island-nation for three decades. The UN maintained a deafening silence all along.

Is not the Palestinian problem, the tragic sore festering in the world for the past seven decades with injustice, poverty, bondage and human rights violations rampant. Why has the UN outsourced the solving of this problem to the US, which given the influential Jewish lobby in America, can hardly be an ‘honest broker’?

While the UN has displayed its partisanship on the political front – the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka being a textbook case, the organization nor Ban-Ki moon has been entirely a disaster to the world. One has only to imagine a world without the UN to comprehend what it would otherwise be. This is an imperfect world and there are no level playing-fields. That is in Utopia, not on planet Earth. It is somewhat like religion. Despite wars fought in the name of religion, imagine a world without religion, whatever the Rationalists may say. And with issues like climate change creeping up on humanity, who would coordinate the fight against it.

The ‘good side’ of the UN gets little kudos — the several agencies of the UN that do immense work outside the political arena. Sri Lanka has played its part in the organisation over the years. Our UN Ambassador ShirleyAmerasinghe was a shining example having chaired the Law of the Sea Conference and GamaniCorea heading UNCTAD was no second. A host of other Sri Lankans have served in these specialized agencies providing their expertise to the world community. Sri Lanka has punched above its weight by way of human resources and expertise to the UN and right now, the irony is that its Army plays a significant role in the UN Peace Keeping Forces in the world’s troubled areas even as the conduct of this same Army is being questioned by another UN agency.

President MaithripalaSirisena leaves for the UN General Assembly sessions in New York next month after the UNSG’s visit. Last year, he was feted as a ‘conquering hero’ by Western leaders who had assembled in that city for defeating an anti-West Government in Sri Lanka, but the UNHRC’s Geneva Resolution sponsored by those very countries continues to hang like the Sword of Damocles over this country.

Sunday Observer Editorial

Sour grapes, or . . .?

28 August 2016

When Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran did not turn up, last week, for the very first international investor gathering to be held in Jaffna, outwardly his seeming boycott looked like an action akin to that old adage about 'sour grapes'. That is, the Chief Minister - it is speculated - did not attend because he felt that the Provincial Governor, acting on behalf of the central Government, had upstaged him in a most important area of economic activity, namely, the mobilising of vitally needed foreign capital investment in the war-ravaged North. 

Even though the Chief Minister, himself, did not attend the investor conference, the Chairman of the Northern Provincial Council as well as senior national-level leaders of the Tamil National Alliance, the Provincial ruling party, as well as many provincial councillors, made sure to attend. In this light, the general political leadership in the North as well as the Tamil community leadership at national-level, can clearly be seen to be giving high priority to this exercise which is one that could easily have a significant impact on the North. 

After all, the North as well as the East, need the greatest possible input of resources, both human as well as financial, and as quickly as possible. These regions need to recover not only from decades of utterly destructive warfare but, also, from an even longer period of marginalisation in national development by successive regimes in Colombo that actually contributed to the ethnic conflict. Indeed, this marginalisation in national development also occurred in other parts of the island distant from Colombo, namely, the deep south and south-eastern hinterland, similarly contributing to no less than two successive rural youth insurgencies in the southern half of the country. 

Hence, the Investor Forum in Jaffna must be seen as an exercise that should be part of a larger socio-economic strategy aimed at ensuring the spread of development that has already benefitted the western and central parts of the country. The ignoring of the geographical 'periphery' can only be done at the political peril of political leaderships in Colombo, as such leaders have learnt from shock results in elections. And the country as a whole should also know by now - after multiple insurgencies from precisely this periphery - the peril to the nation and, our island civilisation, from such a strategic failure. 

Dharma dveepa or not, the social and cultural triage suffered from these conflicts is equal to the economic and environmental devastation. 

Hence, Chief Minister Wigneswaran's 'boycott' action must be seen as something more than just churlishness. At the very least, it could be read as a symbolic action. The full participation of the Northern ruling party other than the Chief Minister is an indication of not only the importance given by the Northern political society to the Investor Forum exercise. It also signals the general Tamil leadership's readiness to participate in nationally initiated programs even in their own constituency regions despite the intrusive connotations of such initiatives by the centre. 

In the light of remarks by his aides about the reasons for his absence, the Chief Minister's 'boycott' could be seen as a symbolic expression of frustration that such things as investor fora have not been left to the provincial administration to manage. After all, the provincial leadership has direct knowledge of the ground situation and, local needs and sensitivities, making them the most competent to convene such a gathering to ensure the maximum outcome. No doubt the Northern Provincial Council would have been happy to be helped by the various agencies of the centre that have the expertise as well as bureaucratic powers to facilitate the whole exercise. 

Thus, while the Government and its representative agencies in the North can certainly pat themselves on the back for an excellent initiative - long overdue - the national political leaderships must remain sensitive to the interests, enthusiasms and aspirations of the northern communities in such vital activity. 

This is especially critical at a time when national leaderships are now engaged in far-reaching moves - including constitutional reform, no less - to make amends for the tragic errors and failures of the past and, to re-arrange community relations and the national development structure, to enable more community self-realisation whether in the North or other parts of our long-neglected 'peripheries'. Ultimately, a wholly equal national development should mean an end to a single 'centre' and to any 'periphery'. 

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Breathing easy 

 

On the previous Sunday, this newspaper broke the news of a 15-hour delay of a Srilanka Airlines flight set to depart Frankfurt for Colombo. The cause of the delay was reportedly the inebriated condition of the chief pilot of the aircraft when he reported for duty in Frankfurt to take control of the flight. 

Happily for the 270 plus passengers on board UL 554, other crew members noticed the behaviour of the officer concerned and following standard procedure, reported to higher authorities, thereby activating other procedures that effectively grounded the officer and ensured that substitute personnel were found to take over the flight. Still the passengers suffered from a wholly un-expected delay of over 15 hours. The airline, inevitably, suffered financial loss due to extra logistical costs and compensation for the passengers. It also suffered a hit to its reputation as a world class carrier. 

The incident reveals a loop-hole in operational procedures meant to ensure flight safety and security.

While the air and ground crews fully deserve credit for their professional response, it is now incumbent on the air travel regulators to examine the whole incident and devise new procedures that will, ultimately, deter such crew misbehaviour. After all, the purpose is to prevent such occurrences and consequent losses rather than to merely respond to an avoidable crisis. 

The current Indian model of compulsory pre-flight breathalyser tests is one possibility. The main thing is for the passengers and crew to breathe easy in-flight.

Sunday Island Editorial

The Presidential take on investigations

28 August 2016

 

Investigation is all about unearthing the unknown. Sometimes you know what you are looking for and you investigate because you suspect that the exercise will yield it. Sometimes you just dig, hope to make a strike – like people looking for precious stones or gold. Sometimes you strike a vein and you work it to exhaustion. It’s all part of the exercise.

Two investigations made headline news over the past week. The first was a revelation by an Australian investigation and the second the unmasking of a attacker by a victim.

In the first instance, it is alleged that a bribe was sought by an official on behalf of his minister. The minister in question was none other than President Maithripala who has rightfully called for a full investigation. In the very least it will put fear in the hearts of all officials used by politicians to negotiate kickbacks on their behalf or else claim to speak for their ministerial bosses to make some bucks on the sly.

Interestingly (as editorially pointed out in The Island yesterday) the President’s brave assertion (which essentially claims ‘Investigate me!’) has lost much of its gloss by the ‘warning’ issued by one of his recently rewarded loyalists, Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena. Abeywardena vowed action against anyone making corruption-allegations against the President. In doing so, he is essentially saying that the President is above the law, which of course is quite out of tune with yahapalana principles. This government has mostly been about allegations. One can’t really fault Abeywardena because the allegation-levelling exercise has been selective. Again, as The Island editorial points out, where as some alleged wrongdoers are hauled over the coals and made to ply a tired route from FCID to court to jail to court only to be released on bail and then made to walk that same path all over again, others are left untouched.

The President’s approach is therefore brave and laudable. He is affirming that yahapalana principle of no one being above the law. If the President is willing to be investigated there’s no reason why the dealings of other politicians and also officials charged with far more serious crimes should not be investigated. This, after all, is what President Sirisena’s presidential election campaign was all about. Indeed it was ‘the difference’ that was promised. The delivery has been disappointing in that it increasingly seems that justice and truth are sought only in cases where political opponents stand to be exposed.

The second case offers more hope, however. Upali Tennekoon, former editor of our sister paper Divaina and later Rivira, has along with his wife taken the bold step to come forward and help identify those who had attacked them on the morning of January 23, 2009 in Imbulgoda, Gampaha. The couple who had to flee the country back then for obvious reasons and is now domiciled in the USA, have chosen to return and assist the investigations into this attack.

The action of the Tennekoons can be read in many ways. First of all, the courage to come forward. For this, one must credit the political climate created by the electoral defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa, a context which, given statements such as the one by Abeywardena, appears to be dependent on the degree of political security felt by those occupying the high seats of this regime. For now, though, there’s space to speak the truth. The Tennekoons have and by doing so will no doubt strengthen the resolve of others to come forward.

The Tennekoons have given a clear message to those absolutely unconnected with this particular investigation. People can speak out now about things they were scared to talk of not too long ago. Every single person aggrieved and yet rendered silent by fear of reprisal, whether it is theft, abduction, torture, murder or disappearance, can now feel less insecure about speaking the truth they know. Of course if relevant pieces of protective and emboldening legislation are put in place, we won’t need examples of courage, but that’s for later. For now, others like the Tennekoons, can speak out and indeed, if they take their civic responsibilities seriously then they must.

That said, there are concerns that need to be addressed. As the Abeywardena-statement indicates, there seems to be a thus-far-but-not-farther clause that somehow hovers over investigations. The President’s courage and example notwithstanding there seems to be some holy cows, some untouchables and, as The Island editorial suggests ‘guards who ought to be guarded’.

The Friday Forum which has championed the cause of good governance details the disappointment of those who expected this Government to be different from the regime it replaced in the following manner:

"Siblings were appointed soon enough to offices of high profit; friends were appointed to high offices of state whose misdemeanors and abuse of office were overlooked with ease; and advice was sought from among friends and colleagues who were too ready to satisfy the prejudices of leaders. Quick fixes were sought to problems whose solution required wide consultation with all stake holders. These undesirable practices inevitably led to glaring departures from established procedures, by-passing experienced and competent public officers whose advice and implementation capacity went unused. Large investment projects, whose feasibility had been seriously questioned when initiated during the previous administration, have been re-negotiated, ignoring consultation with the people; it is the latter who will suffer the ill effects of poorly thought out project activities. Political exigencies have installed a large number of ministries, wasting substantial amounts of public funds, making it absolutely necessary to establish working mechanisms for coordination among them. Their absence is glaringly evident."

President Sirisena, as the elected custodian of the people and resources of this country, is mandated to do much more than say ‘Investigate me!’ The arduous task he set himself was to ensure that no stone is left unturned in the search for truth and justice and none left unused to build the systems that will ensure that such investigations are carried out independently regardless of the names, positions and power of the perpetrators that the evidence points to.

Perhaps, in this regard, the past week marked a turning point. If on the other hand these developments generate hope that will be deflated subsequently (like the euphoria produced on the 8th of January, 2015, which has long since subsided), the next challenge is not for the President or the Government or even the Opposition, but the people. How they take stock cannot be predicted, but the unpredictability must worry everyone, politicians included.

Investigations are about unearthing the unknown. Sometimes you come up empty-handed or with little to show for your efforts. Sometimes you find things you were not looking for or things you never knew existed. Sometimes the truth-yield of investigation is disconcerting or even terrifying. Hunters, as they say, can become the hunted. That too is part of the exercise.

May the Government be as brave as the President!