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By Dinesh
Weerakkody A Prime Minister
of an Asian country once told his Administrative Service, that civil
servants must be politically sensitive. Some eyebrows, it seem,
were raised among those who saw it as an indication of the service
drawing closer to the government, and the line between public servants
and the political masters becoming blurred even more. Those who
say the public service should be politically sensitive fail to understand
how the public service operates. Theoretically speaking, yes, public
servants are politically neutral when they cast their votes during
election time. However, once the government is formed they have
to put aside their political allegiances and serve the government
of the day. That means carrying out the government's programme efficiently
and effectively, as well as formulating and refining policies. Realistically
speaking, if they have happened to have also personally voted for
the victorious party, well and good, if not, they must be professional
enough to put aside their differences and disappointments and do
the job they have been paid to do by the taxpayers. And if they
cannot bring themselves to do so, then they ought to look for other
jobs outside the service. However, there are also those who would
argue that there is a very clear line dividing the job of public
servants and their political masters. Cross the line, they say,
and you compromise the integrity of the civil service, making it
an extension of the party in power. However, in reality such a fine
line rarely exists. Public policies are not neatly packaged into
little compartments, some meant for politicians, others for civil
servants. For example, in Singapore when the government decided
on a quota scheme to control the car population, civil servants
must have been as closely involved as the political leaders in devising
the various intricacies of the scheme. Part of the work was to make
the scheme more acceptable to the public, such as giving existing
owners of cars more than 10 years old, a two-year grace period.
In short, make the scheme politically more palatable to the people.
Should public servants refrain from even thinking about these so-called
political matters? Now, I do not know who first thought of that
two-year grace period. However, I am positive a politically sensitive
public servant would have been just as proud to lay claim to it
as his minister. So, is there any real difference in the work of
ministers and senior public servants? There is at least one, and
it is that ministers are likely to spend a great deal more time
thinking about what they want to achieve, while public servants
devote greater attention to predicting the outcome of various alternative
policies and perhaps support some of his ministers political activities.
Take health policies for example. Ministers must settle basic questions
such as, how much of the cost of health care ought to be subsidized
by the state. Needless to say, this involves fundamental questions
about "values" - whether a heavily subsidized system such
as that in welfare states is preferable to one, which is largely
financed by the private sector. Realistically speaking, public servants
rarely think about these matters, taking them as given and set by
the politicians. They would ideally devote their attention to calculating
what different subsidy levels might cost the government and how
each of these levels would affect health cost for the public. Now
when ministers discuss questions of value, they invariably have
to think about what sort of society they want, taking into account
the existing values of the population. If there is broad agreement or consensus among the population on basic values that affect a particular policy, then ministers know they will have a relatively easy time selling them. Of course, this does not mean there will be no disagreement because those who even agree on basic values may differ over how these values get translated into, objectives and ultimately, programmes. However, the really tricky problems arise when there is no such consensus on fundamental issues. The population is divided and the government is stymied into bargaining to sell these policies to the people. Perhaps now, what are the policies that commonly fall into this category? Here is how I would classify some of the more controversial issues in a democratic country. Viz - those involved in a clash of fundamental values. Language: Like for example the 'Sinhala only policy' of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. Culture: Question
whether the different races/ethnic groups should go out of their
way to develop their own cultures or submerge them in an attempt
to develop a common Sri Lankan identity. Religion: The
need to maintain religious harmony, there is still a sharp disagreement
over how forceful religious groups ought to be when reacting to
pressing socio-economic issues of the day. Of course, these are also the main problems, which have proved to be insoluble for the past three or more decades. It is a very unfortunate fact that people who have been trying without success to solve these problems count among them the very persons who were partners in creating the problems in the first place. Others who are trying to solve those problems are persons who, for a long time, have tried and failed to solve those problems. They should admit their failure and fade out of the scene for good. "Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away". People, of maturity and dynamism, without a long track record of failure, and with a vision for the future should now be given the chance. In addition, the government should recruit a competent, commercially oriented technocratic cadre, and insulate it from day to day-political interference to devise a credible economic strategy and to establish a business friendly environment. That is the way to the future. UN Global Compact launched in Sri Lanka The prestigious
international business programme, The United Nations Global Compact,
was launched in Sri Lanka last week with the support of the Ceylon
Chamber of Commerce. Thilak de Zoysa, chairman of the chamber, said that they were very grateful to the US business delegation for deciding to come to Sri Lanka despite the prevailing situation in the Middle East and the outbreak of SARS in the Asian Region. He said the
visit was timely because, during the past 15 months of peace after
nearly two decades of conflict, Sri Lanka is now on the correct
path. "The ceasefire has held for over 14 months and during
this period the exchange rate has stabilized, inflation is down
to a single digit level, the interest rates have come down by nearly
6 to 7% and the all share price index has increased by 31% which
reflects a turnaround in the business confidence." De Zoysa said
this year's GDP growth rate would be around 5% and thereafter it
is projected to exceed 8%, which is achievable as Sri Lanka has
averaged a 5% growth even during the period of conflict. Bradman
Weerakoon, secretary to the Prime Minister, was the chief guest. A spokesman
for the visiting US delegation said that US businesses were taking
notice of the resurgence in Sri Lanka and are upbeat about prospects
for investment and trade. "US businesses
are watching with great interest the positive developments in this
beautiful country. We see an environment of growing stability and
the US businesses have taken note of future benefits of its involvement
in Sri Lanka," John Clark, co-chairman of the US Task Force
for Sri Lankan Investment and Development, said. Clark, a former
US public official and now in the private sector was heading a top
delegation of nearly 20 US businessmen to explore opportunities
both in the commercial area as well as in the reconstruction of
North and East. Miguel Bermeo, UNDP Representative in Sri Lanka also spoke at the meeting. Several leading companies in Sri Lanka have already received membership of the UN Global Compact. These include Aitken Spence and Co. Ltd, Ceylon Oxygen Co. Ltd, Cortex Ltd, Commercial bank of Ceylon Ltd, Forbes and Walkers Ltd, John Keells Holdings Ltd, and John Ward Ceylon Pvt. Ltd.
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