Daily News Editorial

President's take on public servants

20 February 2017

President Maithripala Sirisena addressing public servants in the Southern Province at a function in Weligama on Friday while praising the contribution of our public servants towards the country's progress nevertheless said that there were elements in the public service who were hellbent on sabotaging the government's programmes. The President's lament is not uncommon for all leaders. Following the change in government in 1994 after a 17 year long UNP vigil President Chandrika Kumaratunga railed at some of the leading figures in the public service, describing them as UNP stooges. Similarly after the decade long rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa we now see the same allegations being made, at least against a small coterie of public servants who in the eyes of regime was working to a hidden agenda at the instance of their former political masters.

Other than the President, there was Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake who is virtually having a running battle with the Auditor General, although it must be said here that the present holder of that high office does not deserve the brickbats hurled against him. Karunanayake has also taken issue with certain high officials of the Central Bank, who according to the Minister, was not implementing government fiscal policy or was slow in doing so. These officials, it was said, were those close to the former Central Bank governor and was doing his bidding. There was also Minister Kabir Hashim who is on record stating that his instructions were not being carried out by the Chairman of the National Carrier though in this instance the appointment was made by the Yahapalanaya government.

Change in governments often bring about such allegations, sometimes though not without reason. Although, there are some who are adept at shifting allegiances or as the Sinhala saying goes tie eka maru karanawa there are others who find it difficult to shed loyalties and engage in sabotage. The recent power blackouts in the country was also attributed to such elements necessitating the deployment of the military at vital power generation plants. Not all leaders though considered political party colours when handing out important appointments. The case of Bradman Weerakoon who functioned as Secretary to two Prime Ministers of the UNP and SLFP is a good example. This, though, is an exception rather than the rule with important functionaries getting marching orders with a regime change. It must said though that certain public servants carry out their duties with a conscience whichever party comes to power and irrespective of which political party they owed their appointments.

Be that as it may, public servants are the fulcrum of the revolving wheel that ensures a smooth administration and executing government's programmes. Any defect in the fulcrum would cause a malfunctioning of the wheel leading to chaos and disorder. Hence it is incumbent on all public servants to pull in a single direction and execute their duties with a sense of patriotism. While they are well within their rights to follow whatever school of politics or ideology, this should not detract them from the main duty towards the country. In short when they leave for their work places they should leave their politics at home and function with a single purpose of mind to implement the policies and porgrammes of the government of the day.

President Sirisena may have had reasons to believe that at least some of our public servants are working to a political agenda when he expressed his sentiments. If that is the case, those indulging in politics at the expense of their duty towards the country should be identified and hounded out. The country cannot afford to tolerate saboteurs if it is to realise its development goals and ensure a smooth administration. The public service as a whole needs a shake up, with shirkers identified and dealt with.

Dilan's dream

Deputy Minister Dilan Perera who is yearning for a Sirisena-Rajapaksa political marriage these days, after ditching the UNP, says that the SLFP part of the government is on course to join hands with the Joint Opposition to contest all future elections. It is not clear if Perera is reflecting the thinking of President Maithripala Sirisena or if he is expressing his own views. In his enthusiasm, though, to merge with the JO, the Deputy Minister has obviously overlooked certain salient facts.

By ditching the UNP to contest a future general election, the SLFP will have to select its own Prime Ministerial candidate and it is difficult to comprehend the JO opting for any other choice other than Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Minister Faiszer Musthapha, the other day, stated in no uncertain terms that President Sirisena would continue in office for a full six year term by virtue of the 19th amendment only coming into being after President Sirisena had already been elected and that the general election will necessarily have to precede the next Presidential election.

It will therefore be President Sirisena, who will have THE say in who will be the Prime Ministerial candidate.

Ceylon Today Editorial

CBK’s Observation on War Widows

20 February 2017

The first woman executive President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who is also the Chairperson of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, became the first high profile politician to highlight the plight of war widows in the North and the East.

Being the daughter of two Prime Ministers, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga at a very young age saw her mother, the late Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike becoming a widow following the assassination of her father, the late Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.

Later on Chandrika became a widow too, with two children following the brutal assassination of her husband Vijaya Kumaratunga in the early eighties.

As the former President as a child was brought up by her widowed mother and later on as a widow and a single mother bringing up her two children, will certainly understand the agony and challenges faced by widows.

It has been estimated that more than eighty thousand war widows live in the North and the East and the majority of them were still struggling to get proper livelihood support.

Kumaratunga speaking to foreign correspondents in Colombo a few days ago, said Tamil women who survived Sri Lanka's separatist war now face widespread sexual exploitation by officials in their own community as well as from the Army.

Kumaratunga who is the prime architect of the present Government with the motto of good governance has courageously pointed out an issue which others were reluctant to speak out.
The former President is absolutely correct regarding malpractices including sexual abuse taking place at grass-roots level in the war-torn areas in the North and the East.

There were several incidents of officials demanding sexual favours from women affected by the war in the North and the East.

"Even to sign a document, women were abused and of course some people in the armed forces continue to commit sexual abuse", she said.

The former President went on to say that when women have livelihoods, they will be empowered and feel safe from exploitation.

Following her comments, the Army has denied any involvement in sexual misconduct in the war-torn areas.

The Army in a statement while categorically denying the comments made by the former President on Army personnel over sexual misconduct has stated that because the Army has not been involved in civil administration concerning civilians, accusing Army on sexual abuse was baseless.

However, there were reports of several isolated incidents of Security Forces personnel involved in malpractices and there were instances of some of them being caught red handed.

The Army in response has also stated that stern action was taken in the past against soldiers for misconduct and expressed dismay over her comments.

The former President, being the present Chairperson of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation would definitely not have spoken off hand, without proper evidence.

In an overall effort of strengthening peace and reconciliation priority should be given to those who have been directly affected due to the 37 years of war.

So as a responsible elite citizen, the former President has spoken on the issues which remain the stumbling block towards building peace.

Apart from mentioning the safety of the war widows in the North and the East, the former President has also emphasized the need of bringing them out of the traumatic conditions through proper counselling.

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has mentioned that the foreigners cannot be expected to carry out the counselling and it should be carried out with the resources available locally.

Therefore, the comments made by the former President at the foreign correspondents' association were timely as far as building peace and reconciliation from the grass-roots level is concerned.

The Island Editorial

CID’s Nelsonian eye

20 February 2017

 

The CID has woken up like Rip Van Winkle. It has arrested three military intelligence personnel including a major over the abduction of the then Associate Editor of The Nation newspaper, Keith Noyahr, way back in May 2008. The suspects have been remanded. We have been urging the CID, all these years, to seek the assistance of Noyahr, who fled to Australia with his family following his abduction, to nab those responsible for harming journalists because he is the only scribe to have suffered at the hands of his abductors for hours and returned alive.

The CID action, albeit belated, is welcome. But, there is much more to be done. Above all, the government must refrain from playing politics with this vital issue. It has mastered the art of keeping suspects behind bars indefinitely until they crack and agree to collaborate with it to frame its rivals as is public knowledge.

Noyahr’s adductors obviously had nothing personal against him; they only carried out someone else’s order. The task before the CID, which has, thankfully, risen from a politically induced slumber, is to find out who ordered the abduction at issue. A major attached to the Directorate of Military Intelligence is not equal to the task of carrying out a high-profile abduction on his own without orders from his superiors; he is as helpless as an unarmed reserve constable facing a mob of government goons. It may be recalled that in September 2012 the then powerful minister Mervyn Silva’s son, Malaka, assaulted a military intelligence officer of the rank of major at a Colombo nightclub. The hapless officer took it all lying down and his assailants even stripped him of his service revolver.

A few weeks after Noyahr’s abduction, the then Chief Opposition Whip (UNP), Joseph Michael Perera, making a special statement in Parliament on attacks on journalists and media institutions, claimed that they were carried out by a ‘special team’ controlled by the then Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka himself. He called upon the Rajapaksa government to arrest the offenders immediately. The UNP, currently ensconced in power, is in a position to arrest all those involved in the aforesaid unit. Will the CID continue to turn its Nelsonian eye on Perera’s statement for political reasons?

Were the three military personnel, currently being held on remand, over Noyahr’s abduction, members of Fonseka’s special unit? The UNP owes the public an answer.

Now that the CID has arrested some of the suspected abductors of Noyahr, it must record a statement from former Chief Opposition Whip Perera on his ‘revelation’ in Parliament. If there is any legal barrier for police to question a former MP on what he has said in Parliament, it is incumbent upon Perera or the UNP to make a suo motu statement on that very serious allegation against Fonseka and the army. He would not have made such an allegation without irrefutable evidence to substantiate it. He must either reveal the information in his possession or admit that he misled Parliament and the public at the behest of his party.

In January 2009, Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunga was assassinated and an attempt made on the life of Rivira Editor Upali Tennakoon. But, about ten months later, the UNP embarked on a campaign to elevate General Fonseka, it had flayed for harming journalists, to the position of the Commander in Chief or, in other words, it threw in its lot with him in the 2010 presidential race, but in vain. Even some of Noyahr’s Nation colleagues and bosses had no qualms about backing Fonseka to the hilt as the UNP-led Opposition’s presidential candidate! The UNP, after recapturing power in 2015, went so far as to promote General Fonseka to the rank of Field Marshall, appoint him, following his defeat at the last general election, to Parliament via the National List and make him a Cabinet Minister.

A thorough, impartial investigation into the abduction and torture of Noyahr is called for. That is the only way the government, in a politico-economic mire of its own making, can give the lie to the claim being made in some quarters that it is trying to use probes into attacks on journalists to preclude some of those responsible for defeating terrorism from entering the next presidential fray. But, anyone who expects the government to refrain from manipulating investigations is being as optimistic as those who believe that eating croton and jak leaves is a solution to a food crisis or the bond thieves will be brought to justice.

Sunday Island Editorial

Noyahr, Lasantha, Thajudeen et al

19 February 2017

 

Yesterday’s news that investigators have taken three serving military intelligence personnel over the 2008 abduction and torture of Keith Noyahr, Deputy Editor of the Nation newspaper, is most welcome. Earlier similar arrests were made over the assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunga, Editor of the Sunday Leader and the killing of ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen. While the arrest of those actually responsible for these heinous crimes is well and good, it is more important to find out who assigned them the task of doing the dirty. Obviously the men now in custody had no motive to savagely attack their victims. But their bosses up in the hierarchy were serving the agendas of VVIPs. It is these persons rather than the actual perpetrators that must be apprehended and brought to book. While those responsible for the physical acts cannot be excused on the grounds that they were mere minions carrying our orders, those who issued the orders must be held accountable. That is imperative.

The questions asked of Noyahr under torture would have surely revealed who sent the goons to get him. But he would not say anything, even to his nearest and dearest, probably because not only he but also his family was threatened with reprisal. Noyahr with his family fled to Australia where he was granted asylum. Sri Lankan detectives flew there recently to record his statement when he finally agreed to make one many years after the trauma. Upali Tennekoon, Noyahr’s colleague editing the Rivira, the Sinhala publication of the Nation group barely escaped with his life when a goon squad attempted to bludgeon him to death as he was driving to work. His wife, riding the passenger seat, threw herself across Upali and saved his life. They were here last year and identified some suspects also from the state security services at a court ordered identification parade.

As for Lasantha Wickrematunga, his brother Lal who was chairman of the Sunday Leader group has gone public a long time ago saying that the then president had told him not once but several times that a named very high personage was responsible for the crime. But there was no explanation why nothing was done if the culprit was known. The authorities are obviously some distance away from getting conviction against those responsible for these dastardly crimes. Whether they will ever succeed is a wide open question. But at least a strong signal will go out to smaller fry in state agencies not to haul their bosses’ chestnuts out of the fire and risk their own lives and liberty. But no effort must be spared about all those responsible – those that issued the orders and those who committed the crimes – to book, the former more than the latter.

The current administration can take a bow that these developments have occurred under its watch. It is incumbent that it does not attempt to protect any miscreant now in its bosom.

 RTI and asset declarations

Nobody will disagree with President Maithripala Sirisena’s assertion last week that the people of this country believe that the vast majority of out politicians and a sizable proportion of our public servants are corrupt. Whether this could be established with the high standards of proof required by the courts is another matter. While many of those who held elective office in the previous regime, including the top leadership, are under investigation by the various agencies of the state set up to bring the guilty to book, there is a widespread belief that the ongoing investigations are directed mostly against the government’s opponents. As for the rogues under the present dispensation, the approach at best is lukewarm. Nobody believes that the incumbents are lily white; far from it. But few bloodhounds are seen snapping at their heels. Complaints, of course, have been made; some no doubt malicious and without substance. But whether the same zeal is displayed by investigators in pursuing present wrong doers as has been shown against the has-beens of the previous regime is a moot point.

The recently enacted Right to Information (RTI) law and the long extant requirement that Members of Parliament and bureaucrats above a certain rank must make annual declarations of their assets and liabilities are instruments that can be effectively used to at least curb the illegitimate amassing of wealth by corrupt means. Short of summary executions, it will probably be impossible to stop this scourge altogether. The Citizens’ Movement for Good Governance (CIMOGG), a public interest group that has been responsible for a lot of good work in pursuing the good governance ideal, had once sought information from the Secretary General of Parliament on how many MPs have made their assets declarations. They were told to ask the Speaker. There was no reply from that quarter and CIMOGG asked the Commissioner of Elections. They learned that about half a dozen JVP MPs and Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, then Leader of the Opposition, had made declarations. The vast majority had not.

Now under the RTI law such information can be sought after paying the prescribed fees. President Sirisena went on record last week saying that he’s made his declarations presumably after he was elected president. A declaration was also on file when he was the presidential candidate. We recollect that Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya attempted to arm twist candidates at the last general election to make the required assets declarations. He threatened to deprive those who did not do so of certain privileges accorded to candidates. But that didn’t result in a flood of declarations inundating his office. We do not think that the commissioner kept his threat. Hopefully the situation is improving and will further improve with the RTI in place. The president has said that certain NGOs have their own agenda in seeking information under this law. It is not clear whether this relates to assets of politicians or something else – maybe both. Even if vested interests are looking only at exposing selectively targeted persons and not others, they will have rights under the law however dishonest or venal their intentions.

Whether tax returns and state bank loan default information will come under the RTI radar remains to be seen. Generally the tax return of any citizen is a confidential document to which all and sundry have no access. It is unlikely that RTI would change that. It can be urged that it should be changed to nab tax evaders. But doing so will lead to many other problems that are best avoided. There is nothing to stop anybody with credible information on tax evasion supplying such information to the Inland Revenue Department. In fact the department rewards informers. Before RTI came into force, there have been occasions when the secrecy provisions of the Banking Act have been invoked to withhold information on defaulters. In a country where politicians have influenced state-owned banks to make bad loans to their cronies, denial of such information is doing ordinary, honest, tax-paying citizen down. Meanwhile defaulters owing state banks hundreds of millions swank around in high-end vehicles and spend their evening wining and dining in plush hotels. Whether RTI will change this remains to be seen.