The dangers of a reckless leadership prone to making errors of judgement for reasons of political expediency are all too real for generations of Sri Lankans who have been at the receiving end of those errors, long after the politicians who made them have departed this world.
The present administration, which boasts of politicians who have been associated with the country’s governance for nearly half a century, ought to know well by now the consequences of such reckless actions and one can only hope that at a time when the country has hit rock bottom, at least now saner counsel will prevail and key appointments such as that of the soon-to-be-vacant Inspector General of Police position will be made with the interests of the nation in mind.
This is in light of the palpable sense of hopelessness felt by every right-thinking citizen who is hoping against hope that the meritocracy they hoped for and voted for in 2019 but which never materialised will at least emerge at this late hour from the ashes of the nation’s economic, moral, and social bankruptcy. Having said that, one can only lament the fate that has befallen the so-called independent commissions, which, over the last few months, have been reduced to dormancy through systematic manipulation. The current state of the Election Commission, Human Rights Commission, Public Utilities Commission, and Police Commission, among others, bear the unmistakable hallmarks of political manoeuvring that has rendered them all but redundant.
Political interference garbed in procedural manoeuvres is nothing new and is often effectively used to castrate State institutions that stand up to political pressure. But given the current state of the country, it is only fair for citizens to expect a departure from this shortsighted, visionless, and self-destructive path that has only succeeded in plunging the country deeper into the abyss, casting more burdens on the generations yet unborn.
One must realise why we are where we are at least at this ripe old time. To not do so is simply unforgivable. It is about this time last year that people collectively said enough is enough, which ultimately culminated in an unprecedented people’s revolt. It is clear that the incumbent leadership that became the sole beneficiary of that revolt is determined to wipe out every memory of it by persecuting those at the vanguard of that struggle, but what it does not realise is that with each politically-motivated decision it makes, people are reminded as to why it is necessary to continue the struggle for change.
Be that as it may, it is pertinent for the current interim leadership to keep in mind that we as a nation have this one last chance to get things right on the governance front because failure is no longer an option. This is why some of the news headlines of the past week are so very disconcerting and call for urgent action to keep politics out of at least the so-called independent commissions.
Some of the key stories that amply explain the status quo with these independent commissions include the queer and unprecedented stand of the Government Printer, who has seen it fit to dictate terms to the independent Election Commission on the releasing of already-printed ballot papers for the Local Government Polls and insist on seeking funds in advance for ballot printing. Meanwhile, top health officials thought it fit to boycott a meeting summoned by the Human Rights Commission to discuss the shortage of essential medicines in State hospitals last week. Previously, the Police Minister had arbitrarily decided not to show up at the HRCSL despite summons to do so.
This trend of impunity has rubbed off on the khakied gentry as well. The Police cannot be a law unto itself and continue to act on the dictates of politicians when there is such a thing as the Police Commission to oversee its functioning. Unfortunately this commission, like most others, seems dead as a dodo and rarely heard of.
For instance, what right does the Police have to disrespect an independent commission that has ordered it to comply with a request for information? This pertains to an order made by the Right to Information Commission to release information on the security accorded to former Head of the CID Shani Abeysekara. For reasons best known to it, the Police, which preaches the law to ordinary citizens via megaphone on street corners these days, has failed to abide by the order, forcing the RTI commission to seek legal recourse. The Police turned a similar deaf ear to a previous request by the RTI Commission to release the Lohan Ratwatte prison incident investigation report.
The latest affront to democratic governance is the speculated nominee for the post of IGP, the current DIG of the Western Province. Needless to say, he is one of the most controversial cops with multiple allegations against his name. One such is the allegation made by a Cabinet Minister of the current Government while he was in Opposition that a lorry suspected to have been transporting explosives for the Easter attacks and which had been detained at a Police checkpoint at an exit point on the Southern Expressway had allegedly been released on an order from the top. The incident is said to be recorded in the yet unreleased part of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry report into the Easter attacks.
More recently he was alleged to have paved the way for the brutal attack on peaceful protesters at ‘GotaGoGama’ at Galle Face last year by the marauding mob that came out of Temple Trees following a meeting with the then Prime Minister, by not blocking the Galle Road as allegedly ordered to by the deposed former President. It was this failure that resulted in the turmoil that followed.
Given the recent precedents and the likelihood of history repeating in politicians making bad choices for key positions, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka has written to the President requesting that the next IGP nominee should be an individual who is above board in order to restore confidence in the department. The association has stated that the nominee should be one who has no Fundamental Rights applications, criminal cases, or any other allegations of involvement in unlawful activity.
It is no secret that as of late the Police Department has been reduced to yet another political tool maintained at public expense while the independent commission tasked with overseeing its functioning conveniently looks the other way.
As we have repeatedly said, if Sri Lanka is to clean up its act and begin its economic, moral, and social revival, then the first thing that needs to be done is to clean up the top. While Sri Lankan politicians are fond of pointing to Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore for motivation, little or no attention is paid to the former’s work ethic, where one of the first things he did in order to restore confidence in the leadership was to clean up his own political stable by imprisoning those closest to him who were found to be corrupt.
If our political authority is unwilling to do the same, the least they can do is to at least appoint the right people to key positions so that they will at least help clean up our political legacy of what is today one of the most corrupt bureaucracies in the world. Pandering to political expediency even at this critical juncture is to seal our fate as a failed nation.