Daily News Editorial

President’s admission

24 February 2017

President Maithripala Sirisena has dropped a bombshell of sorts. Addressing SLFP organisers at the President’s House on Wednesday, the President revealed that there were rogues and wrong doers in the previous regime as well as the present one and that he has kept this uppermost in his mind when working. President Sirisena is the first Executive President to own up that there were rogues in his government (SWRD Bandaranaike took action against certain MPs who were convicted of bribery). Of course, President Premadasa too came out with the revelation that there were thieves in his government. But this was after the Lalith Gamini duo left the government and tried to impeach Premadasa. Those familiar with the politics of that era would recall the rash of neu gilla, Mahaweliya keva (ships were sunk and Mahaweliya was devoured) posters that appeared throughout the country at the same time.

JRJ, while not directly admitting that there were rouges in his government, nevertheless increased the salaries and perks of his ministers on the basis that this will keep them out of temptation’s way. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga did not reveal that there were thieves in her government but only that there were those who besmirched her good name, mage moone deli gewa, after the infamous Wayamba election which was rigged to glory, courtesy prominent members of her government.

In that sense President Sirisena’s admission is a first and is bound to be met with mixed reactions.

There will be those who will acknowledge the President’s candidness in admitting that there were indeed rogues in his government while others would ask what was he doing about it?

Politicians in the present day are not of the same make and breed that the people came to know in the immediate post Independence era. That was a time when politics was strictly a public service that attracted philanthropists, benefactors of various causes and the upper echelons of society who were awash with the dosh and did not need politics to stand up financially. Of course there were a few among this breed who sought upward social mobility and used politics as a convenient vehicle for this purpose.

Today, things have changed drastically, with politics being a livelihood for some while for others it is a means of becoming super rich. It is an open secret today how those who did not even posses the means to purchase a push cycle are riding in flashy SUVs and Pajeros while owning property and mansions overseas. With no academic qualifications required to become a parliamentarian, it was party time for all and sundry, the riff-raff included, as it is all too evident today.

True, one can blame the open economy as the primary cause for the level of corruption one sees in present day politics. The liberalization of the economy and the dismantling of safeguards and barriers had certainly opened the doors for financial crimes such as money laundering on a scale never heard before. It is also equally true that the type of individuals who have entered politics had contributed in a large scale towards the present malaise. Those with criminal records and unsavoury characters have today laid siege on the body politic, muscling their way to plunder and ill gotten wealth, using the political power at their disposal. Both main parties are guilty of harbouring such elements in their midst but entertain them for their voting getting value. The Proportional Representation system has only exacerbated matters.

Now that the President, no less, has admitted that there are rogues even in the government it is incumbent on him to identify such elements and weed them out .He will no doubt cover himself with glory by such an act as the first Head of State to show the door to his own men who are corrupt . After all, he is on record stating that the people did not get rid of one set of rogues to replace them with another set. Besides there is his mandate to fulfill to cleanse the body politic of corrupt elements.

Namal’s mea culpa

Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa has made a mea culpa of sorts, perhaps on behalf of his father former President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The eldest of the Rajapaksa progeny, the other day, speaking to journalists outside the Supreme Court, said that he felt incarcerating former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka was wrong and that it is better if it did not happen. In the same breath the former first son says that the he (Fonseka) was imprisoned through a legal procedure after allegations were made against him and that they, meaning the Rajapaksas, did not take revenge by politically insulting him. It is obvious to even a political novice that Fonseka was imprisoned for politically challenging Mahinda Rajapaksa, in a clear act of revenge. The fact that nothing is heard of the case brought against Fonseka is a clear indication of this. If depriving the war winning Army Commander of his civic rights was not political revenge let Namal explain what it is.

Ceylon Today Editorial

Blunderbussing West

24 February 2017

Ms. Anna Uggla, Delhi based Swedish Embassy's Political Affairs Counsellor, speaking to this newspaper recently, said that South Africa's former High Commissioner to Colombo Geoffrey Doidge had impressed upon her the importance of foreign judicial involvement to guarantee the accountability and reconciliation process in Sri Lanka. (See 'Ceylon Today's' 16 February, 2017 issue)

She was speaking in the context of the pledge that Colombo had given the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in September 2015, of permission for foreign jurists to sit in judgment over Sri Lanka in respect of alleged human rights abuse, especially during the closing stages of its war against the LTTE.

Whereas those persecuted in South Africa was the majority black population by the minority whites, the situation in Sri Lanka was somewhat different, where, in the latter context, it was the alleged persecution of a minority community, i.e. Jaffna Tamils living in the North, by Sri Lanka's 75% Sinhala majority population, in the form of its armed forces, acting on the instructions of the Government of Sri Lanka.

While one cannot condone persecution in any form, whether it be in the form of the minority persecuting the majority or vice versa, one also has to take into account ground realities. 'One size fits all' in this context may be apt in dealing with countries, which do not have a developed judicial system, or, for that matter, a skewed judicial system, such as that which was practised by the then apartheid South Africa, which acclaimed the supremacy of the whites, while at the same time denigrating the other races to the status of lesser beings, no better, or a little better than the animals living in the wilds of South Africa.

Sri Lanka doesn't have that culture, nor does it have a Constitution that extols the superiority of one race over the other, like that of apartheid South Africa's. The island's Constitutions, since Independence, or, on the eve of Independence, beginning with the Soulbury Constitution of 1947 and ending with the Second Republican Constitution of 1978 (the current Constitution now in force), has always emphasized the equality of races. None of the three Constitutions of post Independence Ceylon/Sri Lanka harped on the superiority of once race over the other/s.

On the other hand, all of those Constitutions upheld the rights of man, regardless of race, religion, caste or social status. Quite different to Doidge's South Africa, where the former High Commissioner was one of the alleged freedom fighters of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress which was responsible for the overthrow of South Africa's apartheid regime with the least amount of bloodshed 23 years ago in 1994.

In fact in 1994, the year that South Africa's apartheid regime was dismantled, the only Constitution that South Africa had, then, was its apartheid Constitution which prescribed the superiority of the white race over all other races.

It's no wonder that a 'truth commission' was formed in post-apartheid South Africa a year later in 1995, under the shadow of South Africa's white supremacist apartheid Constitution, with the apparent participation of international jurists.

South Africa finally drew up a Constitution, recognizing the rights of all, regardless of colour, creed or any other man made differences as late as in 1996, i.e. two years after the dismantling of its apartheid regime and a year after the establishment of its Truth Commission. Small wonder, therefore, as to why that Commission, to mete out justice, had to go beyond its own domestic laws which were partial towards white supremacy, then.

Sri Lanka doesn't have such a primitive or a young judicial system like South Africa's. Nonetheless South Africa's judicial system, complementing its Constitution, vis-à-vis impartiality, i.e. recognizing the rights of all, is only 21 years old! Whereas, the island's judicial system, in tandem with its Constitutions, post- Independence, or, on the eve of Independence, is more than three times that age, at 70 years as old as its recognition of the rights of man.

That's the initial premise as to why there is no need to have foreign jurists to find out the truth in Sri Lanka's case. And the second and last premise, by insisting of such, there is the danger of Sri Lanka becoming another Iran, playing into the hands of Sinhala-Buddhist extremists, which particular community forms 70% of the island's population, but much less than the overwhelming black population, the victims of apartheid, in the then South Africa.

Sri Lanka has systems and mechanisms, with a strong judicial system in place, to seek after the truth, on behalf of its own citizens. It has no need of an uplift like in the case of South Africa in 1994, which had no impartial Constitution of its own, then, that apparently drew the necessity for international jurists to meddle in its internal affairs, to seek justice to its overwhelmingly strong, black, majority population.

The Island Editorial

‘Go to the jungle!’

24 February 2017

How civilised a nation is can perhaps be judged by the cleanliness of its public toilets. Sri Lankans boast of a glorious past and what is described as a hydraulic civilisation. They also take pride in the fascinating engineering feats of their forebears such as vast irrigation reservoirs and huge dagobas. Excavations in the archeological sites continue to throw up many surprises. Interestingly, ruins of ancient toilets have been unearthed in places like Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa.

Sadly, we learn that foreigners who visit Sigiriya or the Lion Rock cannot use toilets, which have been in a state of disrepair for a long time. An apparently jerrybuilt public convenience with cesspits overflowing was shown on television the other day. Some members of the cleaning staff were heard telling a group of resentful tourists in a callous manner, ‘Go to the jungle!’ So, these workers and their bosses seem to think decent men, women and children come all the way from faraway lands, spending their hard earned money and pay a hefty entry fee to relieve themselves behind bushes! This is certainly not the way to treat humans whether they are foreigners or Sri Lankans.

The Sigiriya rock fortress, a world heritage site, built by King Kashyapa circa 5th Century AD is a showpiece of the country’s cultural prowess besides reflecting the engineering and architectural achievements of ancient Sri Lankans. A panoramic view of the forest-clad terrain below, from its summit, is simply breathtaking; its comely damsels immortalised in frescos in rocky boudoirs, moss covered ponds and symmetrical garden adorned with fountains which still function are fabulous. Why so many people including foreign tourists do not consider a tour of Sri Lanka’s ancient kingdoms complete without an arduous yet exhilarating climb to the Sigiriya summit is not surprising.

As for the Lion Rock, one may say with apologies to Bishop Heber that every prospect pleases and only those who manage the place are vile. Foreign tourists are charged exorbitant fees though they are not provided with even basic facilities. They are friends of this country and must be treated as such. It is incumbent upon the tourism and cultural authorities to ensure that they are not exploited. It is reported that they have to pay as much Rs. 4,700 each to visit Sigiriya and this fee ought to be reduced.

Lack of proper sanitary facilities seems to be a national problem in that toilets in most public institutions are far worse than pigsties. The same is true of some private ventures which do not treasure their human resources. Anyone who steps into a toilet at a railway station comes out, running faster than an express train!

Badly maintained public toilets also spoil an otherwise pleasant climb up the holy mountain, Sripada; some of the cesspits overflow, flooding sections of the road leading to the summit and emanating a foul smell. The same goes for many other places of religious and archeological significance.

President Maithripala Sirisena himself said the other day that teachers of a public school had informed him that their students were wary of drinking water during school hours as there were no toilets. Surveys commissioned by the National Water Supply and Drainage Board and some non-governmental organisations have revealed that many schools are without safe drinking water and sanitary facilities; students are left with no alternative but to ‘go to the jungle’. But, politicians wax eloquent ad nauseam, claiming that they have developed the education sector.

Sri Lankans also find it gut-wrenching to use public toilets at Sigiriya and other tourist attractions. Let the government be urged to send mobile toilets in sufficient numbers urgently to these places and take immediate action to renovate the existing toilets or build new ones.