Editorial

04th January 1998

For a better ‘98

We sincerely wish a happy New Year to our readers. However gloomy the outlook may seem, we must never lose hope that the New Year will be better than the last and the one before.

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ended 1997 with a bang, firing salvos all over, especially at her own team. Responding to questions in a stage-managed or state-managed TV interview, where her information chief allegedly reframed many of the leading questions, she let fly like a loose cannon. The worst hit was Attorney General Sarath N. Silva whom she had hand-picked for this vital job two years ago. The man who files indictments was severely indicted by the all-powerful executive President for not even replying her letters.

But it now seems that the letters were replied to by the Solicitor General and that the Presidential Secretariat had not briefed her. Thus the President seemed thoroughly exasperated with her own Attorney General for what she saw as slow progress in taking action on the Presidential commission reports relating to the Vijaya Kumaratunga assassination and other incidents.

Our political correspondent explains why Attorney General Sarath Silva did not personally act in the Kumaratunga case or reply the letter because as a judge of the Supreme Court he has headed the commission which probed the assassination and thus had deemed it unethical to act on his own report.

While that may be so, some senior AG’s department officials complain, “how can we attend to normal work when half the department is busy in courts, prosecuting newspaper editors or political opponents on behalf of the President.”

In relation to the sensational locomotive tender, the President has made sweeping allegations against the Treasury Secretary who works directly under her. Though this senior public servant is regarded by many as an officer of high integrity, the President virtually called the man who prepared the country’s budget as a ‘corrupt’ official. But she still keeps him.

She says that 80 percent — eight out of ten — of public officers are corrupt. That was like when she sweepingly said education in this country was in a mess because of the teachers.

Then she goes to Galle and says the government was taken for a ride by a consortium that entered into a contract to modernise the Galle harbour. The Ports Minister, as much as the Attorney General and the Finance Ministry Secretary must, to say the least, be very embarrassed men.

With the dawn of a new year, Sri Lanka prepares to celebrate the golden jubilee of Independence from nearly 400 years of colonial occupation and plunder.

This year will be as good as any to reflect on our performance as a free nation. In what areas have we progressed significantly and in what have we regressed? We have proved to be bad politicians and disastrous managers.

Our adventures into state control of the commanding heights of the economy have proved futile. And now we see ourselves running after bankrupt Koreans, Indians and Westerners to come and manage these public utility areas.

Economically, the prospects are not quite promising. Tea and garments which are largely instrumental in keeping our economy afloat face threats or stiff competition from factors such as El Nino and the emerging garment exports from East Europe.

The war is bleeding the nation further and the proposed political solution appears to be causing more divisions instead of building bridges.

It looks a gloomy year ahead unless the political leadership of this country becomes more efficient and less aggressive on its perceived enemies in the onerous task of nation-building.

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