Sunday Observer Editorial

Now, YOU can officially demand to know …

29 January 2017

Outraged, are you, by the stubborn refusal of your local government to replace that century-old, dilapidated culvert with a bridge for modern traffic? Despair, do you, that the news media is too busy to take up your neighbourhood’s cause?

From this Friday, February 3rd on, you, the citizen, can take action on this and other issues of public needs unfulfilled by the responsible authority. Under the Right to Information Act that comes into effect, at long last, this Friday, every citizen will have her/his own authority to officially inquire from those responsible as to what exactly happened to their responsibility to provide or maintain whatever facility in question. Of course, dear irate Citizen, the questioning cannot be a shrill “What the … ? Why in … ? How soon, for …. sake? “

The new Right to Information Act (RTI) No. 12 of 2016 provides you, the citizen, with the services needed to ask those above questions in more sober language but, more importantly, in incisive detail that will ensure answers are provided on every aspect of that public need. And, most importantly, those responsible authorities are compelled, under the RTI Act, to provide the demanded information and answer to a deadline or face punishment by fine, or worse, under the law.

Crucially, all that is required is some physical effort and time to access the relevant ‘Information Officer’ who will service your inquiries, even guide you on the sharpest questions to ask, such as: what happened to the funds allocated? Who used it? Was there a deadline overlooked? The whole inquiry process is implemented at state cost, followed-up at state cost and, enforced – even with punishment – at state cost.

The above example of the use of the RTI Act may seem one of the more negative examples of this new and revolutionary empowerment of the citizen.

It is ‘revolutionary’ because the RTI law is a very modern institutional mechanism that addresses the enormous scale of complexity of modern human society and its management – a scale that never existed before in human society. RTI is a mechanism created for this new age.

The RTI mechanism, citizens will soon find, is new in human history in two ways: on the one hand, it enables a more accountable and, ultimately more efficient, management of society and world; on the other, it brings wholly new dimensions to the practise of democracy at the grassroots and in ways that are immediate and, directly of concern to individual citizens.

Of course, it all depends on how quickly and elaborately the mechanism is set up to enable citizens to exercise this newfound power. Encouragingly, any delay, can be questioned through the RTI mechanism itself! The RTI empowers the citizens to inquire officially from the Director-General of Government Information, the Secretary to the Minister of Parliamentary Reform & Mass Media and, the Minister and Deputy Minister (who are the responsible implementing officers) about any delay in implementation or lapse.

In short, the bureaucrats as well as the politicians are put on notice, from now on, that the Citizen will raise questions directly and expressly. Once questions are addressed via the RTI mechanism, those questioned cannot dodge the questions as is done with the news media!

From this week, you can access much information about what those, whom you voted in to power (at every level) and who are using your taxed funds, are up to since they took office.

The space of democracy widens with RTI this week not only in terms of governance and public service fulfilment.

The new service will ultimately be fleshed out with facilities to obtain all kinds of information important for the conduct of everyday life – information that resides in public sector institutions.

For example, a businessperson can ask for concrete information about future plans of the government pertaining to his areas of business. The RTI mechanism will provide free facilities to ask the relevant Ministry or Department for detailed development plans. The RTI administration will not only track the inquiry on behalf of the businessperson but will compel the relevant officials to provide the answers. All government institutions are required to bring their public information facilities up to the standard designated by the RTI administration.

Students, young people, senior citizens, social minorities and socially disempowered sectors all have equal right – and free facility - to address government and all public authorities on many aspects concerning their everyday issues and personal projects.

RTI is one fulfilled promise of this government that opens doors to the citizens in a manner that will enable citizens to appreciate the creativity of the National Unity regime. Thus, it is up to the Government and, especially, the implementing Ministry, to ensure that the RTI Act is fully implemented and enforced.

Last week also reverberated with the bombast of that group of parliamentarians and politicians calling themselves the ‘Joint Opposition’ at a political rally near Colombo, on Friday. There is a new stridency in the rhetoric of this politically indistinct group, many of whom actually cannot be “opposition” because they are members (some of them senior) of a major coalition partner in Government.

The stridency is in the clever highlighting of a dimension of governance that the current Government has been relatively untainted with – corruption. It is crucial the Government takes note of the speed with which this politically amorphous group of politicians has picked up on the few instances of reported irregularities in ministerial action and allegations of financial corruption.

The grossly intimidatory regime of the previous Rajapaksa government did not allow for the exposure of much of its huge corruption and nepotism, until the end of that government in early 2015. The liberal regime of the current government enables a transparency that is, then, used by those who wish to score points. It is sad and ironic that these ‘points’ are being scored by the very forces which are, seemingly, the biggest wrongdoers, by far.

The Government faces the challenge of living up, not just to its promises but also, to the ideals of citizens who are inspired by the bold creativity and corrective actions of this regime to expect more, and yet more. The RTI Act, properly implemented, will show more of this Government’s promise.

Much more needs to be done, however, in all other spheres, to expose the sheer hypocrisy and falsity of those now making accusations of ‘corruption’ and ‘treachery’.

Ceylon Today Editorial

A LITMUS TEST FOR GOVT

29 January 2017 

The eulogies began tapering off early last year after speculation about an alleged Central Bank Bond scam made its way into mainline media and went viral on websites leading to President Maithripala Sirisena insisting on a new man to head the Central Bank and letting COPE take its course. That ended with the COPE report to Parliament and the Auditor General's following suit.

Everyone expected some action on either one or both of the reports.

The President bided his time waiting for the law and Parliament to take their courses. Patience can run out with the best of men placed in the embarrassing predicament that the President has been finding himself these past 15 months or more.

Since the end of the war and Rajapaksa's defeat at the presidential poll, nothing has dominated the news more than the CB BOND scandal...nothing except the stream of former government MPs and minions being arrested and marched to prison almost as fast as our wickets kept falling in the test series against South Africa. We got as damning a verdict there. The jury is still out on the Bond scandal while Wimal and men of his ilk and the likes of Wele Suda enjoy a paid holiday at government expense in a now rather comfy Welikada prison. Meanwhile, outside on the streets and in the halls of power the circus goes on. The weekend of course belonged to the Joint Opposition's hurrah in Nugegoda what with ex-Prez Mahinda Rajapaksa telling us that had it not been for President Sirisena's actions (quaint word that!) he would not have remained trapped in politics. Shame on Sirisena!, considering Rajapaksa had the time of his life (in a manner of speaking) winning the war against Amirthalingam's "boys" the poor man needed a break from politics, preferably for life, but Sirisena spoilt it all with "actions" which held Rajapaksa a prisoner in politics. Poor man! So inconsiderate of Sirisena! A colleague argues that its funny that Rajapaksa did not lambast the Premier for the CB Bond scandal as the new raison d'etre for his reluctant persistence in politics. This is all very unfair really and we must tell the President and Ranil to let that poor man retire from politics in peace. Surely, he won't have to live a hand-to-mouth existence with plenty of well wishers to shower him with plenty to keep him in comfort. Problem is that if he quits politics and does not return to power there's the little matter of what Sirisena and Ranil will do to his family members and hangers-on all of whom are in or barely keeping away from the bribery net and murder charges.

Then along comes the gift from the gods. Perhaps all that coconut smashing is paying off after all. How else could the government have got its knickers all twisted up in the CB Bond scandal...all on its own making without any help whatsoever from anyone in the JO? Hoist with its own petard can be a mighty uncomfortable experience for both parties in the government. And the innocent President is left holding someone else's baby. Sow the wind and you reap the whirlwind can be a dominant thought in very many minds at least among ranks in the Government.

The Government has gifted the Opposition with a weapon so damning that it has the potential to slice through the unity government if allegations are proved accurate. But then what? The prognosis, at least for the President, cannot be easy to handle as anyone diagnosed with end-stage heart failure or cancer will tell you. The cancer drowning the Opposition has apparently eaten into government ranks judging by prima facie evidence in the COPE report and supporting action proposed by the Auditor General. It's now passed into the hands of the Judiciary with yells in Parliament alleging that the President's action gives Court the right to subpoena MPs who, they alleged in the House last Friday, are above the law and hence cannot be summoned by Court.

Some say the reaction was surprising. COPE members should be only too glad to go before Court in any capacity and see an end to this farce that's dragged on for so long. To be summoned by a Court is not necessarily an action meant to denigrate the dignity of Parliament by any stretch of imagination because in the ultimate essay should it not be the ideal in a democracy that all arms of government work together where possible and indicated as being in the best interest of the nation in an effort to deliver justice speedily?

WE presumed THAT PARLIAMENT WANTS JUSTICE DONE!

Weekend Nation Editorial

Why indecent hurry over LGBT rights

29 January 2017

There has been much brouhaha over an attempt to give legal recognition to those with different sexual orientations. Critics have accused some sections of the government of making surreptitious attempts to legalise homosexuality and lesbianism and so on.

These matters fall into the wide area usually referred to as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. The accusation is that moves to recognise these rights have come as a part of the so-called conditions imposed by the European Union for re-granting of the once withdrawn GSP Plus facilities for our exports.

It is not surprising that western countries often attempt to impose their cultural values upon the countries in the third world. The culture of any country is subject to change and as cultures change over decades what is not acceptable to the people at one point of time may become acceptable at some stage later. However, the western world has no right to impose their values on any other country particularly those in the third world when the people are not ready to accept them.

The other point is that so-called gay rights were officially accepted even in the liberal west not long ago. In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to permit same-sex marriages. Since then it has spread into many countries in the Americas and Western Europe.

In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed its first resolution recognizing LGBT rights which was followed up with a report from the UN Human Rights Commission documenting violations of the rights of LGBT people.

Following up on the report, the UNHRC urged all countries which had not yet done so to enact laws protecting basic LGBT rights.

On the other hand, in most parts of Asia and Africa gay rights have not been accepted while some thirty countries have passed expressed constitutional amendments banning a variety of same sex unions.

Societal attitudes towards homosexuality vary greatly in different cultures and different historical periods. All cultures have their own values regarding appropriate and inappropriate sexuality; some sanction same-sex love and sexuality while others may disapprove of such activities in part.

There seems to be broad acceptance of homosexuality in North America, the European Union, and much of Latin America, but equally widespread rejection in predominantly Muslim nations in Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and in Russia.

The acceptance of homosexuality is particularly widespread in countries where religion is less central in people’s lives. These are also among the richest countries in the world. In contrast, in poorer countries with high levels of religiosity, few believe homosexuality should be accepted by society.

Research has found that age is also a factor in several countries, with younger respondents offering far more tolerant views than older ones.

In any country some ideas are not discussed openly because of cultural inhibitions, however as the number of people supporting that particular view increases the matter becomes a subject of public discussion. That is how ideas should progress in the democratic world and this theory should apply to acceptance of LBGT rights as well.

When such rights were recognized in the west they did not do so under the influence of any other external power. Therefore the democratic west should understand that these developments should take place in a similar manner in the poorer democracies as well.
No external power has a right to impose any value system upon a country when its people are not in a mood to accept it. Neither should our politicians be in an indecent hurry to implement such ideas when there is opposition from the majority of the people. There is no point in creating a new controversy when there are enough issues that truly deserve their attention.

Sunday Times Editorial

Freedom tarnished by corrupt politicians

29 January 2017

Next weekend, Sri Lanka marks its 69th anniversary of Independence. There is, no doubt, much to celebrate, none more significant than the fact that the citizenry are a free people, and masters of their own destiny.

Many still say that Sri Lanka’s freedom was achieved without a struggle; that it was a by-product of India’s freedom struggle and World War II that weakened the British Empire which was grateful to its subjects (now the Commonwealth) who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with them to defeat Nazi Germany – and that such an easy path to Independence is never fully appreciated by the people. That is not entirely so. Sri Lanka had its own struggles in 400 years of colonial domination.

ecently, the President re-gazetted the names of several Kandyan ‘heroes’ who were termed ‘traitors’ by the British rulers. 1915 saw race riots triggered by the ‘Divide and Rule’ policy that is still perpetrated by Western powers in relatively newly independent nation-states. This is part and parcel of neo-colonialism.

Many advances have taken place since Independence in 1948, especially in the health and education fields. The political leaders of the newly sovereign Sri Lanka felt the long oppressed people deserved these benefits, but the growing welfare state, with free rice also given to the people, ran up big bills that had to be paid for these giveaways.

Exports did not bring in sufficient funds and today Sri Lanka, like many other economically developing countries, has the dubious distinction of balancing most of its budget with the remittances of exported labour. Funds for infrastructure development have had to be obtained through foreign loans, riddled with corruption allegations that have now reached epic proportions building up to a debt trap that is going to implode in 2019 when the loans have to be paid back. This week’s Parliamentary debate on the Central Bank scandal of 2015 and 2016 is a compelling story of our times. The debate itself was a cacophony of accusations across the floor of the House, but the overall theme that political leaders are corrupt, was crystal clear.

The Opposition Leader arguably made the best contribution of the day saying that all Governments, past and present, defend corruption. If only he can speak out more on national affairs other than confining himself to regional matters. His simple message was that both the SLFP and the UNP that have ruled this country alternatively since 1948 – and are now ruling together — accuse each other but protect rogues, and that the people were getting sick of them. More so, he said, democracy was at stake with this kind of behaviour by both mainstream parties.

Corruption is endemic in Sri Lanka, trickling down from the Cabinet of Ministers to the traffic cop. Bloomberg, the world renowned economic data company, this week ranked Sri Lanka as one of the highest risk countries for foreign investors based on economic, financial and political risks. This, when the country is desperately trying to attract foreign investment.
As Sri Lanka celebrates its 69th year of Freedom, it is time the political leaders re-evaluate and re-calibrate their roles and ensures their tattered credibility is restored, both locally and overseas and that this is not a country where politics and political patronage is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

Lanka’s ‘tryst with its (RTI) destiny’

It may be a forgivable overreach in dramatic flair, but to paraphrase independent India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s stirring words to the Indian Constituent Assembly on the eve of shaking off colonial fetters in 1947, Sri Lanka’s ‘tryst with its (RTI) destiny’ will occur on Friday. This is when the Right to Information Act, No 12 of 2016 becomes operative to all Public Authorities on February 3, 2017, the day before we celebrate the 69th year of our own Independence.

In this case, the long established fetters that Sri Lanka hopes to shake off will be the decades of stubborn bureaucracy in denying information to our citizens. Typically, these denials range from plundered monies in the construction of village roads to multi-millions squandered in sophisticated high finance deals, from embarrassing Government mistakes being hidden as ‘official secrets’ to a complainant in a local police station and much more.

As Sri Lanka sinks to a morass of ‘politics as usual’, the RTI Act is unquestionably a signal exception to that cheerless record — though late, at least it is one election promise that the National Unity Government has fulfilled.

This was a law that was relatively easy to draft because much of the groundwork had already been done with the draft Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill of 2004 under the then – and present Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s watch. If that Bill had not been callously brushed aside by Presidents Chandrika Kumaratunga and Mahinda Rajapaksa as it posed an obstacle for politicians to rob public money, we would have had an RTI Act at the same time as others in the region.

Though the media spearheaded Sri Lanka’s RTI Act, this is a law for all citizens, not only journalists. Ranked high on the index of RTI legislation internationally, it ensures an independent RTI Commission tasked with monitoring RTI compliance and adjudicating on disputes. There has been a pitiful lack of time to prepare Rules and fine-tune Regulations to give effect to the Act as the Commission became functional just over a month ago though we are made to understand that these duties have been complied with. The ball is now in the court of the implementing agency, the Ministry of Mass Media, which has to gazette these Rules and Regulations.

The country will be closely watching as to how the RTI Commission is enabled by the Government to function properly. We must not forget Sri Lanka’s first National Police Commission supposed to be unique in the region. Functioning with integrity, it was gradually undermined by politicians even before the 18th Amendment put paid to all independent commissions. Even though the 19th Amendment restored the status quo to some extent, the Police Commission remains a shadow of its original self. This is not encouraging. The Government cannot set up commissions, boast to the world about this and then starve such bodies of adequate resources, refuse to financially support the commissioners or deprive them of the capacity to function independently. That will be a farce and worse, a betrayal of all the peoples’ struggles. Lanka’s ‘RTI destiny’ will finally be measured only by the people’s wise and strong use of their right to know. Public servants, the media and the citizenry remain to be properly educated about the force of RTI which, in other countries, has brought corrupt politicians to account. We witness the agonising wait to bring these corrupt politicians to book partly due to the secrecy associated with the workings of the government which permitted Presidents, PMs and Ministers – and bureaucrats to escape with impunity the basic public responsibilities they owe to the people they represent.

Hopefully, the RTI Act — a great and long overdue gift to the people — will show us the way,

Sunday Island Editorial

Bond scam – doubts that will not down

29 January 2017

 

While nobody would have been surprised by the Nugegoda turnout on Friday, very large numbers of ordinary people were inconvenienced by the rally’s disruptive effects on traffic movement and the deafening sound of firecrackers. Those who owe allegiance to the former president and the Joint Opposition would no doubt exult at the crowd their organizers were able to attract/bus-in to the rally. Equally certainly there would have been at least a few butterflies in the tummies of those who draw patronage and sustenance from the current administration and its leaders. Rallies such as Friday’s provide entertainment and nourish the thinking (apart from the egos of the organizers) of those suffering the travails of making ends meet in the face of an ever increasing cost of living. Most people tend to lay their grievances at the door of the government, whoever is in power. Whether those gridlocked in traffic or waiting interminably for a bus would nonetheless cheer the performance of the rally organizers must necessarily be an open question.

That said, thinking people must heave a sigh of relief that the cost of this rally did not come out of their pockets. Reports of the various ongoing investigations, whether cast iron proof necessary in a court of law for conviction is found or not, indicate that state resources were freely used to secure former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s re-election. Those responsible for that, cocksure that their candidate would romp home comfortably, did not dream that they would be called to account. Hopefully they will be made to pay for their sins but it’ll be months and years before we learn how that papadam will crumble. It is hard, if not impossible, to refute the Churchillian dictum that "democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried out from time to time." Voters know that they can vote out those they elected when the next election comes around. But that is some years down the road as electors in Sri Lanka are painfully aware. Apart from the long-postponed local elections, we have had the experience of Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike extending her 1970 government by two years (to compensate for time lost by the JVP’s 1971 insurrection, she said) and JRJ’s infamous referendum that enabled him to retain his five sixths majority of 1977 for six more years. How the ‘lamp’ won that referendum signifying the people’s consent for "rolling up the electoral map" (if we may borrow the then president’s language) is another story.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is making no bones about his intention of toppling the present government sooner than later. This statement of intent drew raucous cheers when it was re-stated on Friday. While a general election is some years away according to the prevailing Constitution, with the president’s hands tied on dissolving parliament until four years pass since the last poll, there are other ways of obtaining desired objectives. Elections are not the only means of toppling governments. Engineering defections is one method, declaring trade union war is another. Let us not forget that Mahinda Rajapaksa got the two thirds parliamentary majority by which he, among other things, abolished the two-term limit on the presidency (and cooked his goose two years earlier than he might have) thanks to defections. While the Constitution has provisions to deprive defectors of their seats, most of them have sat tight due to jilmaats of one kind or another. Whether the present government will have a go at pulling the carpet from under the feet of Ven. Athureliye Ratana who came to this Parliament on the UNP National List courtesy the JHU only time will tell.

The so-called bond scam debate in parliament last week, the incessant statements pouring in that regard, the president’s statement (or boast?) that it was he and no other who replaced Mr. Arjuna Mahendran as Governor of the Central Bank with Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, the appointment of a three-member Presidential Commission to probe the bond matter and the general certainty in the country that a lot of things are badly wrong in the whole business which hangs like an albatross round the prime minister’s neck. The mere fact that the matter is being investigated, with the COPE report referred to the Attorney General and the CID is also making its own inquires, will not take the subject off the public agenda. Nobody will be able to wish it away. The mega bucks earned by Perpetual, the conflict of interest of the son-in-law of the Governor being a primary dealer and a whole host of other matters including EPF bond purchases from the secondary market have created doubts that will not down. There was no vote at the end of last week’s parliamentary debate. The president has laid down a three-month time frame for the commission to complete its work although one of his ministers has already indicated that a short extension is possible. Hopefully the trained legal minds of two serving Supreme Court judges and the experience of a retired Deputy Auditor General will be able to get to the bottom on that matter. But whether their determination will satisfy the hawks – political, public interest and dirt-seeking – is another matter.

Meanwhile we can expect the Joint Opposition to ratchet up their campaign seeking to topple the government. Whether this will include strategies to win over Sirisena loyalists in the SLFP or even UNPers looking for dividends in the event of a change in the power structure remains to be seen. What the average Lankan with national welfare at heart will wish most is that the jostling for power will not cost the country or its people who are getting increasingly cynical about their rulers of all political complexions. Instability is always expensive.