Sri Lanka: Is it good bye to ‘good governance’?
Col R Hariharan
People
who overwhelmingly voted the President Maithripala Sirisena-Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe alliance to power expecting it to fulfill their promise of
yahapalana (good governance) have been shocked by President Sirisena’s
strident comments questioning the integrity of the agencies carrying out
investigations into cases of corruption, bribery, criminal and financial
misconduct.
The
President speaking at a function at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute warned
that he would take action against Criminal Investigation Department (CID),
Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) and the Commission to
Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) for working to political
agendas at the cost of justice. The President
seems to have been irked at the agencies giving cause to the opposition to
accuse him of political witch hunt; obviously, this referred to the large
number of corruption and criminal investigations now going against politicians
and armed forces officers. According to the Island newspaper, the
President also said that hauling up the former naval chiefs and former defence
secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa before the court in connection with the arms
storage company Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS) case.
He
accused those in charge of investigations of misleading him. Referring to the
indefinite custody of members of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI)
held in connection with the disappearance of cartoonist Ekneligoda and the
killing of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, the President
said the courts should be moved to get them released or given bail pending
court proceedings. It is significant that soon after the President’s tirade,
the court released on bail Udalagam, an army intelligence officer accused of
assassinating Lasantha Wickrmetunge.
President
Sirisena’s reference to cases connected with armed forces was perhaps made to reaffirm
his support to the armed forces which have been perturbed ever since Sri Lanka
agreed to conduct a judicial probe into alleged war crimes committed during the
Eelam war. The issue war crimes issue would again come up at the UN Human
Rights Council meeting in March 2017.
In a
stinging attack on “certain media organizations, journalists and NGOs” and
“traitorous forces,” President Sirisena reaffirmed his confidence in armed
forces “no matter how much they criticize, oppose or attack me, I will never
lose confidence in the armed forces and will always be committed to do the
utmost for the welfare, honour and dignity of the three armed forces and our
heroic soldiers.” He added that “he was not ready to compromise national
security in order to please NGOs.”
The
President said though the government had successfully promoted reconciliation
between the communities to create an environment that strengthens
inter-communal harmony during the last one and half years, certain groups and
organizations ideologically in favour of separatism have not been destroyed.
And they were waiting for an opportunity to create trouble for Sri Lanka and
people must be on guard.
Reacting
strongly to President Sirisena’s stinging criticism, the CIABOC Director
General Dilrukshi Wickramasinghe tendered her resignation. In an interview, she
denied the Commission was politicized. She said there were 90 politicians under
investigation and none of the case files have been closed as alleged by some
politicians. She added that she did not select any investigation or interfered
with the investigations.
President
Sirisena’s statement was in direct contradiction of his own stand in the past on
corruption and financial misappropriation; other leaders of the ruling alliance
including Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have been plugging the line of
corruption free governance. The civil society and anti-Rajapaksa leaders have
already been peeved at the slow progress in bringing to book scam-tainted
leaders who thrived during the previous regime. They see the President’s
strident statement as an effort to cover up his cronies in SLFP involved in
scams. This could also test durability of the cohabitation rule of the SLFP and
the UNP unity government. Serious doubts have been raised about the government
sincerity in cleaning up governance where corruption has become part of life,
in keeping with what seems to be South Asian tradition.
Going
on a damage control mode, the cabinet spokesman and Health Minister Rajitha
Senaratne said President Sirisena never raised objections to Gotabaya Rajapaksa
or former military chiefs being questioned on fraud or corruption. He accused
the media of misreporting it and asked them to correct it. He further said the
President was not happy at some of the serious allegations of corruptions being
ignored.
Perhaps
as yet another damage control measure, the government tabled the report of the
Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) report on the alleged scam in the
Central Bank Treasury Bond issue in February 2015 to fulfill a long standing political
and civil society demand. PM Wickremesinghe had been accused of shielding the
former Central Bank governor Arjuna Mahendran’s, considered the PM’s protégé, suspected
of involvement in the scam. The investigation report ruled that Arjuna
Mahendran was “directly responsible for the transaction” which allowed a
company linked to his son-in-law to rake in large profits from the auction. The
PM has assured further action would be taken on the advice of the Attorney
General.
In
another shocking incident, the President’s claim of good governance and successfully promoting ethnic
reconciliation to strengthens inter-communal harmony has come under serious threat after
the police shot and killed two Jaffna youth undergraduates riding a motorcycle
in Kokkuvil (Jaffna peninsula). According to the police, they opened fire when
the youth did not obey their order to stop. The incident triggered protests not
only in Northern Province, but in the whole nation which has been living with police
excesses for long. University students all
over the island protested in solidarity with Jaffna university students who
went on a strike, indicating the issue was beyond the ethnic divide. Though the five policemen involved in
the incident were remanded to custody, the crude police attempts initially to
cover up the criminal act indicated that police reforms are still a work in
progress. PM Wickremesinghe has promised
an impartial inquiry would be carried out. Unless the government swiftly takes
follow up action the incident could provide yet another opportunity for
separatist elements to build up their support among Tamils.
President
Sirisena as a shrewd politician had probably made his statement with a lot of
deliberation to reinforce his constituency within the Sri Lanka Freedom Party
(SLFP) and to retain the support of some of the political leaders targeted in various
investigations. He also appears to be on the move to rebuild his fractured
relations with the army, which had been under stress for some time. In a bid to
put at rest speculations about the survival of the cohabitation government,
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe reiterated its importance to complete the reforms
process as agreed upon by the leaders.
In any case, the SLFP and UNP - the two major
cohabitation partners - have internal as well as external compulsions to
maintain their cohabitation. Any crack
could provide an opening for former president Mahinda Rajapaksa to stage a political
comeback. Unity would also help Sri
Lanka’s cause to face the international community with confidence at the UNHRC.
It could also enable the European Union to favourably consider Sri Lanka’s
request now under consideration for restoration of the Generalised Scheme of
Preferences (GSP+) scheme for duty waiver to Sri Lankan exports. The EU had
cancelled the GSP+ concession to Sri Lanka for aberrations in governance during
the Rajapaksa regime.
Written
on October 31, 2016
Col R Hariharan, a retired MI officer, served as
the head of Intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force from 1987 to 90. He
is associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies and the South Asia
Analysis Group. E-mail: haridirect@gmail.com
