Call for clean politics, clean candidates
View(s):Sri Lankan business chambers and professional groups came out strongly this week lending support to an ongoing campaign for clean government, a clean poll and clean politics. Joining a campaign launched by polls monitor PAFFREL and the Citizens Collective to collect a million signatures by July 6, the chambers also urged their members – through separate communication – to join the online signature campaign “by signing or forwarding this to your colleagues in the work place, family members, friends or any other contact and also by sharing the below link via your social media tools such as the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, etc”.
The eight chambers and allied groups including the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) were joined by the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka and the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, in this week’s call.
This is the third time this year that business chambers are joining civil society groups to call for accountability, transparency and good governance processes. The chambers have also been supportive of the 19th amendment to the Constitution which clipped the powers of the President and proposed electoral reforms.
In February, the chambers issued a statement to coincide with Independence Day urging the Government to introduce a Bill of Rights. “We call on the Government to introduce a robust Bill of Rights as part of the on-going reform process to further strengthen the constitutional amendments envisaged,” the joint statement said at the time, adding that, “with the Government committed to a process of reform that aims to establish institutionalized good governance, transparency and law and order, many of the challenges the country has faced in the past will be overcome”.
No explanation was given of what the chambers wanted in a Bill of Rights but according to international practice this is a declaration of rights or a charter of rights which contains the important rights of the citizens in a country. While espousing the cause of clean Government and clean politics, some civil society activists argue that calling for political parties to nominate ‘clean’ candidates is not good enough and that candidates should be asked to declare campaign contributions and who is funding their campaign which would go a long way in proving they are clean and untainted.
The chambers’ intervention in the politics of the country brings to the fore examples in the past two decades where the CCC in particular either made statements or were active in championing the call for peace talks or reconciliation of the ethnic conflict.
In the post-2009 era however the chambers have been rather quiet and seemingly reluctant to take any stand on political issues until 2013 when the joint chambers expressed concern over the impeachment of then Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake. Last year the chambers also joined the campaign against corruption which eventually led to an early presidential poll and the surprise defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa to his former Minister Maithripala Sirisena.
This column at various times has questioned the indecisiveness of the chambers in challenging the Government or challenging authority when wrongful acts have been resorted. Other than a mild statement, the chambers were also ineffective when the controversial Bill to Revive Underperforming or Under-utilized Assets was presented in 2011.
However all that became water under the bridge when the business community joined professionals groups and civil society last year in the powerful call against corruption. This week’s call for candidates with accountability and with clean records is yet another positive sign of business groups joining well-meaning civil society movements in driving change in society. Increasingly many chambers are not only installing more vibrant management structures and employing proven professionals to run these institutions, but taking a bold stand in the political developments in the country.
The chambers have not singled out any particular party in the call for the selection of ‘clean’ candidates’ to contest the August poll, but the underlining message is clear: “Don’t given nominations to politicians who are currently under investigation”.
Such public engagement by business chambers and professional groups in the campaign for clean politics and clean government must be applauded and encouraged.
The fact that the chambers are making a public appeal for the third time in just six months on an issue of national importance implies that the ‘clean’ business community has realized that ‘enough is enough’ and only a concerted effort by all Sri Lankans together would free the nation of corruption and evil.