| Editorial | ||||
 |
||||
Tsunami
dictatorship Looking for transparency in the Government is like looking for that proverbial black cat in a dark room in the middle of the night that isn't there. And this is supposedly the most powerful office in the Republic - the Executive Presidency. Then, the President's Office made another hash of things. It promulgated the Emergency Regulations without getting parliamentary approval at the right time as is constitutionally required. So the regulations lapsed and Government officials were acting in violation of the law believing the regulations were in force, when in fact, they were not. This was like the Mad Hatter's tea party, and indeed symbolic of the way the Government was running the country in general, and the tsunami relief and reconstruction work, in particular. No wonder then, that the second biggest party in the ruling coalition distanced itself from the way things were being handled or mishandled as the case may be, at the highest levels of Government. One would have expected the Government to come out swiftly with Emergency Regulations in the first few days after the tsunami. Obviously, a state of emergency had arisen. The military had to be called in and given police powers, especially with early reports of robberies, looting, sketchy but fearful reports of rape, encroachments and the like. The Government was so lackadaisical in its approach to these reports and the non-introduction of a state of emergency showed how slow it was to react to the enormity of the crisis at hand. The President who had returned from her holiday in the UK was kept busy meeting visiting dignitaries while actual governance was in disarray. She thought the appointment of three Presidential task forces was the answer to all the problems, but infighting and sheer incompetence wrecked all such efforts. And now we know the reason for the delay in promulgating these regulations. The Government has brought in provisions that have nothing to do with tsunami relief and reconstruction work. There is no proper answer to why these wide-ranging provisions have been brought into force in 14 districts, many of which had nothing to do with the tsunami. There are clauses relating to causing 'disaffection' not only to those engaged in tsunami work, but even if it is prejudicial to national security. Since the 1971 JVP insurgency, this country has been under Emergency Regulations of some kind, maintaining only a mere facade of a democracy. A popular newspaper house critical at the time of the Government was closed in 1973 under the 1971 regulations. There was absolutely no co-relationship between the publishing house and the insurgency. Those who have experienced the wide interpretation given to 'national security' know how it can be used to browbeat normal democratic dissent. There is also the discriminatory manner in which these regulations are used. For instance, when the Commissioner General of Essential Services himself says that only 30 percent of the immediate relief measures were attended to in the first month after the tsunami, he will probably not be charged for causing 'disaffection' among the public service, but anyone else saying so, might well find himself in a spot of bother. There is a horrendous clause in the new regulations giving the President the power to appoint anyone, just anyone she likes, with police powers. And these are not just the normal police powers of arrest, but additionally fortified powers under these new Emergency Regulations to break into homes, question people and even detain them. This is tantamount to a police state in the making. Surely, there should have been some limitations to these sweeping powers vested with a political President? Fortunately, if the debate on these regulations reflected the views of the country, there were some sobering elements. The Public Security Minister admitted that there were flaws and said he hoped these regulations would not need to be extended for too long, and that even if they were, they would need to be amended. Many will be the persons in Government who will argue the need to maintain essential services through these Emergency Regulations. They will then get accustomed to the added power vested in them, and like with some stimulant, get addicted to it, and find they can't do without it. The abuses will inevitably begin and the foundations of democracy will begin to shake. |
||||
ADVERTISING
OFFICE
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT No.
47, W.A.D. Ramanayake Mawatha, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka.
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
