Politicos: Puncture these bloated egos

For all its modernising efforts, Britain still retains much of its pomp and pageantry. The other day Michael Martin, successor to Betty Boothroyd as Speaker of the Commons, turned up to preside minus the usual Speaker's wig.

It might have shocked the traditionalists into fits of apoplexy.

But fortunately or otherwise-depending on your point of view- nobody threatened to resign.

It was with much joy that I watched High Commissioner Mangala Moonesinghe and his wife Gnana return from Buckingham Palace in a horse drawn carriage after presenting his credentials to the Queen.

The carriage, with four horses and a heavily be-medalled official in uniform and an impressive hat (or whatever it is called) to accompany the couple came with the compliments of Buckingham Palace.

At a vin d'honneur the High Commissioner held for friends after the credentials ceremony, I was tempted to ask the British FO's Protocol Officer whether there is a speed limit for carriages.

But it was quickly forgotten as conversations naturally turned to the Sri Lankan elections held a few days earlier and the frenzy with which the main parties were trying to cobble together a government amid accusations of violence, vote rigging, thuggery and general shenanigans that have now become an intrinsic part of our elections.

It did not require much political wisdom or a degree from the London School of Economics to conclude that in Sri Lanka today the tail is more than wagging the political dog.

The peripheral parties from the minorities with a few seats to their credit have turned out to be more avaricious than Shylock.

If they were merely demanding a pound of flesh for their political support to prop up an alliance that was tottering, it was understandable.

But to turn up with lists demanding so many Cabinet posts, so many deputy ministries, so many ambassadorial and other positions, seems to me to reduce the dignity of such posts to the level of Mariakade haggling.

Were that all, one might have dismissed such political bargaining as a consequence of the first flush of political success.

But no. It is not only the small parties that are willing to sell their soul and principles for a mess of ministerial pottage.

Even veteran politicians were clamouring for a share of the departmental or corporation cake.

"I want the CWE, no he cannot have Salu Sala, give him Osu Sala and give me State Trading Corporation, I want aviation, so why does he want the Petroleum Corporation."

This is the manner in which agencies of the State that belong to the people who are said to be ultimately sovereign, are vulturised and virtually auctioned for personal aggrandisement.

It should be remembered that as a member of the Commonwealth, Sri Lanka has pledged to promote democracy and pursue the principles of democratic governance, including good governance and the rule of law.

Unfortunately politics has been converted to promoting self- and relatives and friends- and international and moral responsibilities are tossed aside like voters after an election.

Let me give one example. Shortly before the elections there was quite some consternation here in London at the news that the son of a person holding high and responsible office in the government, was to be planted in a Sri Lankan institution here. Suddenly, out of the blue, a high-sounding post had apparently been created with a huge salary. It shocked people here who heard of it.

If this is true and such a post was to be created and a hand-picked person parachuted to London, whether he had the necessary qualifications or not, it shows a terrible abuse of power and position.

It is time that the bloated egos of such persons were punctured and they are made to account for use and misuse of power.

The international community should seriously consider bringing to justice those in power-whether politicians or officials- who abuse and misuse power. This should become a new offence. For too long individuals have been allowed to get away with corruption and abuse of power.

When the Commonwealth leaders meet in Brisbane next October, they should seek to make such violations of a fundamental principle of the Commonwealth, as a rejection of good governance for which the country concerned should be admonished. If the country warned persists in its abuse then it should be shown the red card and suspended from the Commonwealth.

Rohan wins Rolex award

By Nilika de Silva

Conservationist Rohan Pethiyagoda, was last week recognised as an Associate Laureate winner at the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2000 for his work in creating rainforest microcosms in Agrapatana as living laboratories to protect a threatened bio-diversity.

Pethiyagoda is presently engaged in transforming tea plantations into rainforests, trying to recapture the bio-diversity present on these lands more than 200 years ago.

The founder of the Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka and author of several books, Pethiyagoda (44) says, "This is my hobby," adding that exploring jungles and making sure that all the animals living in our forests are well documented is his preliminary aim.

Together with a team of five full-time research people Pethiyagoda made a revolutionary discovery that our forests earlier known to contain 37 species of frogs actually contain as many as 200, by the time he finished his project in 1998.

"That is a record throughout the world", Pethiyagoda says, taking into account the size of the country. "Sri Lanka which is a hotspot for bio-diversity has proved to contain the highest frog species diversity in the whole world."

This has inspired the next World Congress of Herpetology to be held in SL with more than 1,400 scientists from all over the world, coming to experience our bio-diversity.

The magazine Nature published by the WildLife Heritage Trust was launched by Pethiyagoda who wanted to show the world that Sri Lanka is up there among the best. The glossy magazine with wonderful photographs provides a mine of information to nature enthusiasts and the funds it generates go towards financing the further exploration of forests in Sri Lanka.

In 1998 Sri Lankan Dr. Vijaya Godakumbura won a Rolex Award for his work on safe bottle lamps.

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