Examining Facets of Corruption in Sri Lanka

LAKSIRI FERNANDO on 09/02/2017

Recent events have brought the issue of corruption into the spotlight. When you
open a daily newspaper, chances are there will be four or five cases involving
corruption within its pages, reported almost every day. Corruption derails
development, distorts the democratic system and decays the moral fabric of
society. The ultimate victims are ordinary people. Those who can make a major
contribution against corruption are not limited to one or two organisations. The
media, academics, journalists, civil society organisations, religious leaders and
leftists should make a concerted effort to oppose and expose corruption, without
bias to any one political party or regime.

The reason for pinpointing leftists, entirely independent of other political groups
and formations, is their declared commitment to combating corruption and
injustice. Whether this holds true in practice is still a controversial topic due to
various political alliances and ambiguous practices. Those who might make a
genuine effort (like the JVP perhaps) should not do it for pure political gain.
Selective neglect coupled with exaggeration do little to eliminate the problem.

Sri Lanka is in a precarious position as the present government was voted into
power in 2015 on the strength of a platform of good governance, committed to
combating corruption, among other social justice issues. This government has
nevertheless exposed themselves, with major deviations from this commitment
with the anomalies surrounding the Central Bank from the very beginning. One
may argue that this is a repetition of 1994, when there was much talk about
Dushanaya and Bhishanaya (corruption and terror), but no concrete action after
the government was elected to power.

Therefore, the public must rely more and more on independent sources to
identify, expose, prosecute and eliminate corruption. The independence of the
Criminal Investigations Department (CID), law enforcement (including the AGs
department) and crucially, the judiciary, are of paramount importance.

Defining Corruption

There are various definitions on the term. It is often grouped with bribery, but
corruption is a broader ailment. There are organisations, including anti-corruption
watchdog Transparency International, who make a distinction between petty and
grand corruption. Petty corruption refers to bribes that minor public servants
(peons, clerks) seek and obtain for survival, as they are grossly underpaid.
However, as the recent popular teledrama Nethu revealed about what normally
happens at a local council office, it would be difficult to distinguish between the
two. Jayatissa (a clerk) does not take bribes just for survival, but to live in luxury.

Corruption can involve the simple act of soliciting a bribe. It can also mean the
decay of society along those lines. What has happened, or is happening in Sri
Lanka are unfortunately not isolated incidents, but can be likened to a cancer in
society, akin to the Donoughmore Commissions reference to communalism as a
cancer on the body politic. Corruption involves surreptitious acquisition of
money, property, assets or power. Those acquisitions must be uncovered and
exposed. Corruption is illegal, however there can be weaknesses or loopholes in a
legal system that allows culprits to go scot-free. It is important to use a moral
compass particularly in the case of politicians.

A major reason for corruption is personal or family enrichment. It can even

become a habit at a personal level. Temptation to buy into a corrupt system can
only be combated through religion, socialisation, the law and education. In a
situation where most religious institutions are themselves corrupt, the only
effective deterrent is through punishment.

Corruption can become widespread in societies which suddenly become rich or

developed. The rat race for advancement is rampant influenced by consumerism
or the demonstration effect. While it is individuals who sustain a system mired in
corruption, the latter can be engineered by groups or political parties with the
intention of achieving and retaining political power. As Laurence Cockcroft argued
in (Global Corruption: Money, Power and Ethics in the Modern World), these
motives can be closely intertwined.

There is a UN Convention Against Corruption with 71 articles adopted in 2003

during Kofi Annans time. The following are Annans own words, in the foreword to
the Convention.

Corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on

societies. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of
human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organized
crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish. This evil
phenomenon is found in all countriesbig and small, rich and poorbut it is in
the developing world that its effects are most destructive. Corruption hurts the
poor disproportionately by diverting funds intended for development, undermining
a Governments ability to provide basic services, feeding inequality and injustice
and discouraging foreign aid and investment. Corruption is a key element in
economic underperformance and a major obstacle to poverty alleviation and
development.

Sri Lanka ratified this Convention in 2004. Apart from this, Sri Lanka has legal
provisions under the Criminal Code (since 1883) and other legislation in place to
prevent and punish bribery and corruption.

The Three Components of Corruption

According to the available information, there are three main types of corruption
prevalent in Sri Lanka: (1) Bribery or seeking money, gifts or rewards for rendering
public service
(2) Aiding and Abetting preferred or illicit businesses in exchange of monetary or
other benefits and
(3) The misuse of public funds for personal or political purposes.

Bribery. This category is about both politicians and public officials at the national,
provincial or local level. They seek monetary rewards in the form of bribes for
services rendered or to overlook official sanctions/duties, taxes and so on. Bribes
for public appointments by politicians is another manifestation of the problem.
Approval of contracts, including foreign deals, can be another. Even without
bribes, if appointments (i.e. foreign service, official positions and consultants) or
contracts are awarded without merit, this amounts to corruption. The Customs
Department and the Department of Inland Revenue are two places where major
corruption might prevail at the public servants level.

Bribery seems to be the oldest and most prevalent form of corruption. During the
state council period (1931-47), seven members were found guilty of rather petty
corruption, and forced to resign. SWRD Bandaranaike appointed
the Thalgodapitiya Commission in 1959, just before his assassination and six
parliamentarians were found guilty in 1960. They all had to leave politics,
although the alleged corruption was minor. During the 1970s, there were many
allegations, but no proper inquiries were conducted as politics prevailed over
public service.

Aiding and Abetting. This is about politicians or officials assisting preferred or

illicit businesses in seeking monetary or other rewards. The complicity in these
activities can be direct or in the form of policy waver, de-regulation and
information leaking. The recent controversy around the Central Bank bond
issue as well as the former Prime Minister allegedly issuing a letter to the
Customs
Department on behalf of a drug trafficker can be in this category. A direct
involvement was when a deputy minister after 1977 was arrested for attempting
to smuggle gold bars misusing his official status.

This type of corruption of aiding and abetting has become rampant under neo-
liberalism and with various attempts to promote the economy and the businesses
by any means deemed necessary. During the attempted impeachment against
President R. Premadasa, there were major allegations on both sides, but no action
was taken. The trend has continued until today. Some of the focal points where
these can happen are the Stock Exchange, Central Bank, other banks, bond sales
and the BOI. Most of the adverse effects are not only in the economy, but also in
the moral fabric of society.

Misuse of Public Funds. The Presidential system and the composition of Sri
Lankas Cabinet are major reasons for the waste and misuse of public funds. This
too helps further bribery. The Presidents office is expensive and prone to misuse.
Whether this has significantly changed is yet to be seen. Ministers and deputies
employ family and friends as entourage. Expense on and misuse of luxury
vehicles, fuel, security and travel expenses are colossal. There is no clear
demarcation between official work and party work. Some of the perks go even to
Opposition Members of Parliament. This appears to be a collective swindling of
public funds.

Continuity in office of presidents or governments, without change, is one reason

for this misuse with perceived impunity. The worst period of this misuse perhaps
was the second term of President Rajapaksa believing that he would win a third
term under the amended constitution. This was the case whether the former first
lady allegedly spending a staggering amount of money attending a UNESCO
celebration in Paris or the Presidents secretary distributing Sil Redi (white
cloth) from telecommunication funds for political purposes.

Attacking The Source

There seem to be three major sources that nourish the three manifestations of
corruption in the country. (1) Political degeneration accompanied by the
Presidential system and electoral procedures. (2) Neo-liberal economic policies.
(3) Moral degeneration of the society at large.

Political Degeneration. Whatever criteria you use to compare the early

independence period and present-day politics, the degeneration is quite marked
(from +2 to -6) on all fronts. The Presidential system or authoritarianism is at the
centre of this degeneration as the President usually protects (if not directly
indulges) the perpetrators. This can be the same under an Executive Prime
Ministerial system. Past Presidents (namely J. R Jayawardene and Mahinda
Rajapakse) allegedly kept files to politically control the perpetrators, without
taking action against them.

Politicians wanted colossal amounts of money to contest districts (not wards)

under the new electoral (preferential) system. The same goes for the presidential
candidates. This has created a close nexus between politicians and dubious
business dealers.

Politicians today are not the calibre of people that the country saw early after
independence or before. This is not an isolated result, but part and parcel of the
degeneration of the political party system. The interests of leaders and their
financial backers have become more predominant than party members or the
supporters. Party organizers are mostly thugs, almost by necessity. Party policies
and programmes have taken a backstage.

Neo-liberalism. At present economic thinking and neo-liberalism exonerates

politicians from public duty. Business is the only engine of growth, they argue.
Therefore, why not curry favour with businesses? The beneficiaries of such
political patronage are not the established or decent business establishments,
but the new and quick money makers in dubious businesses. Established
businesses are rather at a disadvantage; politicians are trying to exploit them.

The neglect of the public sector, the ministries and departments are justified
under neo-liberalism. De-regulation and political directives have given rise to the
misuse of budget allocations for ministries. Welfare funds
(Samurdhi or Divineguma) are often used for political purposes. Although the
government has changed, the neo-liberal ideology has not changed.

Most politicians today are money-minded. A doctrine has emerged that politics is
a major way of money making. As part of this process, after achieving power in
the national government, provincial councils or even local governments,
politicians misuse public funds to further their political advancement or party
activities. Neo-liberalism or neo-liberal thinking, in its Sri Lankan form, is largely to
blame for rampant corruption.

Moral Degeneration

A moral degeneration has penetrated society writ large. That is how corruption
survives. Instead of common good or social justice, self-preservation and
monetary advancement have taken priority among the people. Major
manifestations of this degeneration are increased interpersonal deception,
cheating, intolerance, conflicts, crime and violence. Newspapers and teledramas
portray an abundance of these stories. Some international trends have influenced
the situation. In addition, political and economic changes, as outlined before, and
the civil war (1983-2009) also influenced the breakdown. There is no difference in
the North or the South.

Religions are still dominant, but more in terms of identity or rituals, than of moral
doctrines. There are over 50,000 preachers or priests of all religions; most of them
are also corrupt. A population explosion, changes in vocations and employment
have made society more complex. A major failure has been in the educational
system and the institution of family. Value education has not progressed parallel
to the formal (market) education. There is a crisis in education. People may accept
that corruption is wrong, but still, opposition is lukewarm. Only recently were
there signs of change.
Stopping Impunity

The purpose of this article was to identify three main facets of corruption and the
three main socio-political sources that exacerbate them. It is beyond this attempt
to propose or identify solutions in a detailed fashion. Eternal vigilance however
can go a long way to countering corruption in any society. Education is also
necessary. This is a role that should be played by the media, journalists,
academics, civil society organizations and opposition political parties and groups.
The UN Convention Against Corruption (CAC) and the work of the Transparency
International (TI) can be considered a boon to these efforts. There are areas, like
money laundering and drug trafficking, where international cooperation is directly
necessary.

Sri Lanka now appears to have necessary institutional mechanisms to investigate

and punish the perpetrators. Impunity should be stopped. The number of major
cases at present however are over 100 and appear legally and politically
complicated. In addition to the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises
(COPE) and the Commission on Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), there is the
Financial Crimes Investigations Division (FCID) of the Police. The Presidential
Commission of Inquiry on the Central Bank Bond Issue has also proceeded, so far,
extremely well and could be a future model for politically related corruption
cases.

The major tasks, however, are with the Auditor Generals Department and the
Attorney Generals Department. These are and should be independent from
political interference. Nevertheless, they must respond positively to public
expectations on corruption investigations and due punishments to the
perpetrators. One concrete proposal could be to set up a Special Division on
Corruption at the Attorney Generals Department to expedite necessary
investigations and prosecutions.

Those who enjoyed this post might find #anticorruptlka: On Combating

Corruption and Complicity and The Monarch and the Hegemon: Tales of Suicidal
Folly enlightening reads.
Posted by Thavam