Editorial

Editorial

Questions and answers
In case most Sri Lankans coming of age in these strange times have never noticed - - there is a principle in constitutional law called the doctrine of separation of powers. It means, to put it with as little decoration as possible, that the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary act totally independently of each other.

But with a constitution that has been structured on the principle of the intermingling of powers, Sri Lankans should be accorded separate honours if they even knew that the so-called separation of powers doctrine existed. So when the President stepped into the Legislature the other day and had a few fine words with her Ministers of Cabinet, nothing seemed to be amiss. Who cares that even an appearance of a separation of powers is absent - - when the entire principle has itself been summarily thrown overboard?

Forgetting therefore the niceties of appearance and the glamour of political cosmetics - - we need to ask the question "where are we headed in real and concrete terms in this country when a ceasefire agreement is dangerously close to ending, and the economic future of the country is at best just salvageable, maybe with a bit of luck?''

But, before we start nattering like the newspaper nabobs are, there needs to be some appraisal of the plus side. Months ago, there was no sign that this country will have anything that resembled a stable government. Now there is one. A budget has been presented and will be passed. The wheels of state are in motion.

But, now that we have figured out that we indeed have a functioning government, its natural that people come to the important question of what this government can do for us. Cut to the bone, the question is “can this President and her government salvage the peace -- and do at least what precious little can be done to revitalize aspects of governance such as the Rule of Law, and revamp the country's infrastructure for real - not cosmetic - economic development?''

On all counts, to put it very mildly, there are miles to go before this government can sleep. The inconvenient reality is that people do not have anything in terms of a solid answer for any of the above questions.

Our man in New York?
Sri Lanka is fielding Jayantha Dhanapala as a candidate for the United Nation's Secretary General's job, and the announcement is cause for some excitement, at least in the rarefied diplomatic community. Dhanapala is now vying for the post at a time when it is widely held that it's an Asian's turn to hold the job. So, there is a regional joust out there to secure the job, even though it may be couched in genteel diplomatic manoeuvre. Among likely candidates are Sashi Tharoor for instance, a UN under Secretary of Information who is also an author of a set of somewhat racy though engaging novels, among them "Show Business'' about the Bollywood film culture.

Judging by the quality of diplomats in contention, Dhanapala's candidacy may almost be a long shot, but that's not the issue. His nomination has to be looked at in the backdrop of the country's hoary history of candidates for international posts losing out to competitors due to the utter ineptness of the 'campaigns' launched on their behalf. The late H. W. Jayewardene unsuccessfully ran for a slot in the International Court of Justice. Senaka Bandarnaike lost by two votes in his high profile run for the UNSESCO Secretary General's spot.

Tyronne Fernando's self-propelled bid for the top job in the UN set a modern record in terms of hyperbole -- and financial excess. Foreign Ministry money was spent on a jet setting campaign run, in what can be described as a candidature which was dead on arrival because no one gave Mr. Fernando any realistic chance with his lack of experience in international diplomacy. When Mr Lakshman Kadirgarmar ran for the Commonwealth Secretary Generalship his candidacy was not supported either in terms of funds or savvy. In this context, Dhanapals's run would be an uphill task, unless a ruthlessly efficient effort is launched to win the support of friendly countries. All this needs financial backing of no mean order, and it is highly questionable whether the government has the wherewithal for that.

It is possible that Mr Dhanapala's nomination would however receive a serious look-in from the regional allies, because this is a time that the UN Secretary General's job is of great import to the developing world. Most of the noises for instance demanding that the incumbent Kofi Anan be coughed-out seem to be coming from the United States where Mr Annan in his own stubborn way made a nuisance of himself with his upright comments on the issue of the invasion of Iraq.

In the current mood of George W. Bush the US President, this may have sounded like rank insubordination, even though Mr. Annan is a paid international civil servant carrying out the duties of the world's most important independent diplomatic posting. Though it maybe time for a Kofi break - the best man should win in UN the succession stakes.

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