Editorial

President Maithripala Sirisena wanted something off his chest. Speaking at a military event, the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defence made it publicly known that he had nothing to do with the recent dragging of former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and one-time Service Commanders to court on bribery charges where they faced the indignity of languishing in a cell while their bail was furnished as the law demands.

For those already howling about these former war heroes having to face a possible War Crimes Tribunal at the behest of the UN Human Rights Council, here was the preview; coming events casting their shadows as it were.

The President’s outburst provoked a negative reaction from those running the day-to-day affairs of the Government as our Political Editor describes on this page. Was he right in saying what he said in public; independent institutions like the Bribery and Corruption Commission are appointed by him and therefore must keep him briefed before taking action? For someone who is fond of saying that he does not interfere in the law enforcement process, it is a contradiction that does not sit well.

His coalition partner, the United National Party leadership quickly sought clarification. Many felt that the President was reacting to three factors; popular sympathy for the war heroes, divisions within his Sri Lanka Freedom Party, and the possibility of resentment within sections of the Armed Forces.

The allegations surrounded the controversial Avant Garde floating armoury. Government members made a hue and cry about it in the run-up to the 2015 Presidential election and thereafter. For the President to raise objections to what the Bribery Commission chose to do has also come in for criticism from those who campaigned against corruption in the previous administration. In the proper scheme of things, it will be the duty of the courts to be the final arbiter of the rights and wrongs of that multimillion dollar exercise.

The entire question of bribery and corruption has raised its ugly head once again in this country – and this time, it is not just for the alleged misdeeds of the past administration, but also, for what is happening right now. Just last week, we begged the question why the national carrier’s chairman so casually dismissed a loss of as much as Rs. 25 billion the people of this country have to ultimately pocket out for the acts of a few influential people in the Mahinda Rajapaksa Government. Today, our Business section says the Government itself is dismissing the airline chairman’s flippant remarks and will probe the matter.

We said that those who bungled mega-contracts of yesteryear from the redesign of the Colombo Fort project during the Chandrika Kumaratunga administration, to the oil hedging debacle and the Greek bonds losses during the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration – and, the Airbus lease loss – have all been swept under the carpet over the years. The insider dealings of the Colombo Stock Exchange are all but forgotten. The long arm of the law seems not long enough to bring them to book, while those who seem to have indulged in ‘petty thefts’ are marched to court.

From the beginning, this Government that rode to office on the theme of the Rajapaksa era’s financial crimes, bungled its offensive in tackling this issue. It got off to the worst possible start when the Central Bank bond issue broke out — it is still dragging on — making a public mockery of the Government’s drive against corruption in high places. The President’s invitation to well-known ministerial rascals of yesteryear to join his Cabinet after last year’s parliamentary elections seemed a race to the bottom. Political agendas were prioritised over the battle against corruption.

Last year, on October 4, we wrote under the heading “Battle against Corruption is itself Corrupt”. We pointed out how the newly established Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) and the Attorney General’s Department were merely trading insults over the lackadaisical speed at roping in the crooks of the Rajapaksa regime. Self-righteous politicians were trooping in and out of the FCID and Bribery Commission carrying files, smiling to the press cameras. Over-enthusiastic Ministers and Deputies were saying how the World Bank’s Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative and US Federal investigators were identifying the Rajapaksa rogues. Even US Secretary of State John Kerry raised expectations promising to help in the search for illegal deposits abroad.

PRECIFAC, yet another Commission of Inquiry this time under the President, started its own investigations. One such investigation is following the paper trail on the monies siphoned through the then Central Bank to so-called US lobby firms without the knowledge of the then Cabinet or Parliament. We referred to the nexus between the Governors of the Central Bank under the Rajapaksa Government and the Sirisena Government at the time and how corruption is entrenched in the political system in Sri Lanka.

The Bribery Commission really should shut down. For more than a year and a half it has complained that it has “no teeth” and that it must await a complaint to start an inquiry; but what of the hundreds of complaints already made. It has neither fast-forwarded the amendments to get itself the ‘teeth’ it wants, nor processed the files before it. Going about the country pasting stickers on three-wheelers warning people against corruption, the commission stands accused of being selective in its investigations. The initial hype has all but evaporated. When some Customs men were nabbed, there were media conferences even before the accused were tried, but when questions are asked about the inquiry that began a year ago into the Central Bank bond scam, there are no media conferences while secrecy clauses in the law are quoted.

On November 8, 2015 when we wrote under the heading; “Corruption; the same difference”, we pointed out to a Deputy Minister making a speech overseas to a UN conference of “zero tolerance” for corruption by the new Government and then how ruling coalition politicians have got sucked into the fray by the big bucks of big business.

It is time to take a leaf out of India’s book and permit citizens to go direct to Court through FIRs (First Information Reports) and for judges to conduct suo moto inquiries on their own initiative. This, of course, is apart from the Right to Information Law that is in motion in India.
The monopoly of the FCID and the Bribery Commission in tackling bribery and corruption must cease because they cannot do their job partly due to competence factors and the lack of forensic skills, partly due to bribery and corruption itself, partly the lack of will, and partly due to political interference.

The President’s public comments have sent mixed signals. Quo Vadis the fight against corruption.