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Parliament this week approved an amendment to the Commissions of Inquiry (CoI) Act, to give more teeth to the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIAOBC). However, the slow pace at which the Government has moved in the past four years to combat the twin evils shows that Legislation alone, without strong political will, will not help stop corruption.

The CoI (Amendment) Bill was first presented to Parliament in May last year and debated in October, but its passage was put off for several months. The delay in passing the Bill became a major bone of contention between the UNP and President Maithripala Sirisena who accused the UNP of deliberately delaying the passage of the Bill.

This Amendment empowers the Bribery Commission to institute criminal proceedings for offences under the Bribery Act and the Declaration of Assets & Liabilities Law, based on the material collected by a CoI. Accordingly, it will not be mandatory for CIABOC to re-record statements of witnesses who have already given evidence before a CoI, and will enable expeditious conclusions to CIABOC investigations.

Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana who opened the adjourned debate on Tuesday, said that several measures have been taken to strengthen the CIABOC by increasing its staff as well as giving the Commission more facilities. “This is a timely and important Amendment and at least, to some extent, help the CoI to carry out its work expeditiously,” he said.

JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti, who was reappointed Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), a post he’s held since 2015, was less optimistic about Laws alone being able to combat Bribery and Corruption. “We can have CoIs, we can have investigations but, if there is no follow up action, such exercises are useless. The CIABOC conducted an investigation into the Central Bank Bond Scam parallel to the COPE, but its outcome remains unknown,” he said.

Non-Cabinet Minister for Digital Infrastructure & Information Technology, Ajith P Perera said the onus is now on the President to forward the reports of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to Investigate and Inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption, and Abuse of Power (PRECIFAC), as well as the Bond Commission reports, so that, these can be taken up in the special High Court-at-Bar without further delay.

“The President need not wait. He can instruct the Attorney General. The President was keen on passing this Legislation and tried to say that we, in the Government, wanted to delay it. Nobody will oppose the Bill today and now it is up to the President to ensure that cases are filed against the offenders without delay,” he added.

The Government’s modus operandi of selectively dealing with those accused of Bribery and Corruption came in for criticism from several UPFA MPs.

UPFA MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage said there are serious questions about how independent the CIABOC is, as it is seen to work with political motives, than in an impartial manner.

“Today the Commission is only filing cases against Opposition Lawmakers, particularly, those who expose corruption within Government. We filed complaints before the Commission against 10 Ministers in this Government but none of them have been questioned. Not a single Minister has been charged or even asked to give a statement. It’s now 1 year and 3 months since we lodged the complaints, but no action,” he said.

The Bill was passed with the support of all parties in Parliament, but there is little hope that one more Law to strengthen the mechanism to deal with Bribery and Corruption will be able to make any significant contribution to deal with a menace that is deeply embedded in the social strata of the country. The difficulty for State intuitions entrusted with the task is more so because many of the very same politicians who are entrusted with enacting these Laws are among those facing serious charges of misappropriation of public funds running into billions of Rupees, and other related offences.