Financial Times

Can political parties be allowed to destroy country? J-Biz chief
By Duruthu Edirimuni
Joint Business Forum chairman Mahendra Amarasuriya was sharply critical of the way corrupt politicians and political parties had ruined the country when he addressed senior corporate executives recently but he also dismissed calls for the private sector not to fund political parties as impractical.

"Can we remain silent and let the political parties destroy this country?" he asked at the eighth LBR-LBO CEO Forum held in Colombo recently. "Every effort made by the J-Biz and other sectors of society including the clergy failed to prevent a dissolution of parliament, during a most inappropriate time due to political considerations," Amarasuriya said. "Our experience of political parties since independence has been, to say the least, disastrous."

Amarasuriya said that J-Biz has been requested to make an appeal to private sector companies not to fund political parties. But this was of no avail as the private sector which consists of a vast number of companies and individuals will no doubt fund political parties and their political affiliates at various levels with the intention of investing in their own future, he added.

He said that bribery and corruption continues to be an ugly cancer and appears to be almost condoned by the political leadership. "They criticise the governing party when in opposition and when in power literally outperforms the previous leadership in the same vices," he said.

He pointed out that foreign aid is not a panacea for economic development issues mainly because the bulk of such aid comes in the form of loans.

"The US $ 4.5 billion granted at the Tokyo donor conference, last year should not be a burden to the economy in the long run and be used prudently," he said adding that government debt had been increasing for the last five years.

He brought examples from various sectors of industry and reiterated the importance of private sector organisations taking the initiative in driving them forward.

Among the challenges faced by the private sector are rapid economic growth and income distribution, rapid growth in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), balance of trade and the country's debt burden, infrastructure development, policies in industrial, agricultural and fisheries sectors, top foreign exchange earning sectors, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility.

He said that repeated elections in recent times had resulted in huge expenditure, as much as Rs. 45 billion as estimated by one newspaper. It was The Sunday Times FT which did a study on the cost of polls and provided a conservative estimate of Rs 45 billion.

Disruption to civil life, the confrontation and political animosity during election campaigns, the slowing down of an already battered economy and disruption of the peace process are only a few of the resulting consequences, he said.

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