| Editorial | ||||
 |
||||
PM's
faux pas His decision to make a Fundamental Rights application to Court to stop the Police from proceeding with an inquiry into allegations of misappropriation of tsunami relief funds - in which his own conduct is the subject of that inquiry - is to say the least, an issue of very grave public concern. Public figures in any country have always been expected to abide by that age-old dictum; that they should, like Caesar's wife, be above suspicion. Unfortunately, what the PM has done is only to add fuel to allegations against him. It was this newspaper that gave detailed accounts of the PM's defence when allegations of corrupt practices first emerged against him. The defence seemed plausible enough and the PM's hand in whether public donations for tsunami relief work were siphoned off to private accounts for his personal ( or political ) benefit seemed to indicate that this was a bona fide error on the part of his Office. So, the best course of action for him would have been to allow - if not request an acceleration of - the investigations against him so that his name is cleared. The PM's advisers may have felt that there were political machinations by others in the Government who want to oust him from the Presidential race. And that, as the Penal Code says that even a temporary misappropriation of funds is a criminal act, he could be disqualified from contesting the Presidency if some interim court order is given against him before Nomination Day. A lawyer might advise him not to take chances, and to, therefore, seek redress from Court. But the PM is contesting for the biggest and most important job in the country. And he must win public confidence of the 13 million people who will vote on November 17. No doubt he has weighed the pros and cons of the move and decided that there is a greater need to ensure he is not technically disqualified. He also probably realises that the ordinary voter of this country does not care a damn about these niceties relating to corruption. He may be correct, judging by the way millions of rupees are being collected by all major political parties from all sections of the sleazy business world, and nobody seems overly concerned. But - if the PM is above board as he claims he is - then his decision has set a terrible precedent; a bad example - and is not the kind of leadership that the country would like to have. A
sop from the EU The LTTE in the meantime, reacting to the EU decision want sympathy for their cause while at the same time threaten war. Britain, it seems spearheaded the campaign for a strong statement from the EU, partly to coincide with Mr. Tony Blair's visit to New Delhi. But for all intents and purposes, the EU Statement - gung-ho as it may sound - is still quite cosmetic. In Britain itself, the TRO - the relief organisation of the Tamil diaspora has been found by the country's Charity Commissioner to be a front organisation for the LTTE, but was permitted to simply transfer all their funds to another organisation with a different name board. Sri Lanka's campaign was largely the work of the Minister-less Foreign Office, its officials in Colombo and its diplomats in Europe with the possible exception of two of them based in Scandinavia. There were many flaws though. For one, Brussels, the Headquarters of the EU has no Sri Lanka Ambassador to lobby anyone. No professional Aide Memoire or dossier containing the Police investigations into the murder of Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, or a legal analysis of international law was disseminated among EU members. EU Ambassadors in Colombo could have been given a ' walk through ' of the site of the killing to drive home the point. The
bigger question, however, is, what next ? . They have survived killing a Prime Minister of one of the most populous countries in the world. And of a President in Sri Lanka. A seafaring community, they know the vagaries of wind and sail. All they need to do is bide their time for calmer seas. |
||||
ADVERTISING
OFFICE
CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT No.
47, W.A.D. Ramanayake Mawatha, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka.
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
