Tuesday 14th January, 2025

The Health Ministry is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. It has become a metaphor for corruption. Irrefutable evidence has emerged about how politicians at the helm of it have enriched themselves over the years at the expense of the sick, cutting as they did shady deals to procure substandard equipment and pharmaceuticals including fake cancer drugs. There is a widely-held misconception in this country that only politicians are corrupt; bureaucrats, save a few, are no better. The state service is as corrupt as the political authority.

What has been unfolding on the economic and political fronts, since last year’s regime change, does not hold out much hope for those who dreamt of a clean Sri Lanka under the new NPP dispensation. No room should, however, be left for pessimism where anti-corruption campaigns are concerned, for it has the potential to breed hopelessness and even conformism, but it is difficult to ignore the harsh reality.

On witnessing widespread malpractices in developing countries, one wonders whether governments may come and governments may go but the corrupt go on forever. Sri Lankans usually do not make informed decisions when they elect their representatives, far less fight for their rights the way they should; worse, all systems are geared towards serving the interests of the crooked. Thankfully, the current economic crisis jolted the Sri Lankan public into taking a long hard look at the way they had been exercising their franchise and ‘suffer crooks gladly,’ so to speak. Hence the mammoth mandate they delivered to the NPP in last year’s general election, expecting it to upend all compromised systems and install in their place new ones to eliminate corruption, which has stood in the way of national progress. Worryingly, things do not seem to be moving in the desired direction under the new dispensation as well.

The Doctors’ Trade Union Alliance for Medical and Civil Rights Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa has accused the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) of having decided to award a tender worth Rs. 36 million to a blacklisted Bangladeshi company for supplying 270,000 bottles of a mouth-cleaning antiseptic solution.

The SPC’s response to the allegation in question was not known at the time of writing. Some media reports said the SPC had asked for time to respond as an inquiry into the matter was underway. Health Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe has said the issue will be probed.

It is not difficult to get at the truth. The SPC only has to check whether the foreign company it has selected has been blacklisted. If the allegation is true, then all those who decided to award the aforesaid tender to that firm must be made to explain why they did so and whether they acted under duress. The controversial oral rinse deal has left a bad taste in many a mouth. It is a sad reflection on the new administration, which came to power, promising to root out the scourge of bribery and corruption.

When former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and some health officials were prosecuted over the procurement of a consignment of fake immunoglobulin, it was thought that the health authorities would act cautiously and make a serious effort to enforce transparency in its dealings and restore public trust in the state health sector. But the health officials do not seem to be willing to mend their ways if Dr. Sanjeewa’s serious allegation is any indication.

Let the government be urged to have the DTUAMCR President’s allegation thoroughly probed in an impartial and transparent manner. It should be able to do so promptly if it has nothing to hide. One can only hope that the government will not launch a vilification campaign against Dr. Sanjeewa instead of having the questionable tender deal investigated.

Monday 13th January, 2025

The JVP-led NPP government is drawing heavy flak for its vitriolic attacks on the media. It has taken umbrage at media reports critical of its MPs and much-advertised programmes like the Clean Sri Lanka initiative. It is apparently labouring under the misconception that the media is all out to sabotage its work and turn public opinion against it.

There is hardly any need for the media to do so; the government has amply demonstrated its inefficiency and incompetence much to the resentment of the public. The Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration also took on the media when it failed to make good on its promises, much less live up to the people’s expectations. Therefore, it may be said, with apologies to Bernard Shaw, that governments that can, do; those that cannot, fight with the media.

Governments in this country expect the media to behave as servilely as the timid curate who, not wanting to embarrass his host, declared that a rotten egg on his plate was good in parts. Sadly, they have the uncritical backing of a section of the media fraternity.

They have control over the state-media, which obsequiously pander to their whims and fancies and would admire their sartorial elegance even if they happened to walk the streets in the buff, but the problem is that they expect all other media organisations to grovel before them and entertain them with journalistic can-can, Raqs Sharqi and pole dancing. There’s the rub.

The NPP government owes its meteoric rise in national politics to the media, both mainstream and social, just like its predecessor, the SLPP, whose ascent to power was also possible owing to an effective media campaign. Goebbels would have done backflips in his grave if he had known that the NPP leaders and their propagandists outdid him in the so-called repetitive propaganda before last year’s elections. The media also served as a conduit for their misinformation and Machiavellian promises.

The NPP leaders are now doing exactly the opposite of what they said about the IMF bailout programme and denying that they ever promised huge power and energy price reductions. Prior to the presidential and parliamentary elections last year, the NPP rallied a great deal of popular support by promising to make rice freely available at affordable prices with a single stroke of the mighty presidential pen; the media gave such promises a lot of publicity. But rice is in short supply and the powerful millers are ruling the roost with the cantankerous NPP leaders tugging at their forelocks. The government has also baulked at going all out to tame the private bus and trishaw operators.

It is in fact the public who should take on the media outfits that collaborate with political parties to dupe them before elections.

Politicians’ love for the media is inversely proportional to power. Only the Opposition members fight for the rights of journalists. Role reversals occur following regime changes. Some members of the former Rajapaksa governments have taken up the cudgels for the rights of the media; they are hauling the NPP government over the coals for issuing threats to media institutions that refuse to toe the government line. When the NPP politicians were in opposition, they shed copious tears for journalists targeted by previous governments.

Some former SLPP politicians have issued hard-hitting statements in defence of media freedom. They would have us believe that they are even ready to risk their dear lives to protect journalists! They may be thanked for having pledged solidarity with journalists vis-à-vis the NPP’s hostile campaign against the media. But they need to be reminded that they had no qualms about being in oppressive regimes that were responsible for savage attacks on media institutions and journalists.

They must explain why they did not call for thorough probes into various crimes against media practitioners, such as the assassination of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge during the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in January 2009.

Journalists should realise that their liberation lies in themselves, and it is a mistake for them to rely on politicians to protect their rights and freedoms. All it takes for the Jekylls in the garb of opposition politicians to transmogrify into a bunch of Hydes is a mere chance to savour power.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake last week met four new ambassadors to Qatar, Russia, Kuwait and Egypt and our first high commissioner to New Zealand who will assume their assignments shortly. All of them are members of the Sri Lanka Overseas Service with no political appointee among them. The heads of mission were selected during the incumbency of the last regime and, in fact, had been cleared by the High Posts Committee of the last Parliament. The new Parliament has not yet appointed a committee to oversee senior government appointments requiring such clearance although, as we report in our news columns today, the ruling party has made its nominations and opposition nominations are awaited. Presumably there will be retroactive clearance of those already in office where necessary.

What the president told the new envoys about what is expected of them was all too obvious. No new thrust in the country’s diplomacy under the new order was revealed. President Dissanayake, while expressing his confidence in the newly appointed diplomats, emphasized the importance of their roles in strengthening Sri Lanka’s bilateral ties and fostering mutual cooperation with the countries to which they had been posted. Other matters covered included giving the best possible service to Lankan working in the countries of accreditation, something that is most important as we are heavily dependent on the remittances they send home. A large number of Lankans today work not only in the Middle East as during the early years of foreign employment but also in countries like South Korea and Japan and now Israel. Also the president urged pushing for more foreign investment, supporting the tourism industry, boosting exports etc.

There is reasonable cause for hope that the new administration, unlike its predecessors, will not make blatantly political diplomatic appointments, not only at ambassadorial level but in other positions in our missions overseas. Barely a month ago, Chief Government Whip Nalinda Jayatissa read out in parliament a list of names of politicians who have drawn money from the President’s Fund for whatever reason and promised to make more revelations. A similar list of progeny and close kith and kin of politicians posted to Sri Lanka’s overseas mission would be as revealing. We do not say that all appointments to Sri Lanka missions abroad should only be from the professional diplomatic service. There have been outstanding performances by those coming from outside, notably Mr. Shirley Amarasinghe, CCS, a former Secretary to the Treasury who chaired the UN Law of the Sea Conference with greatest distinction. So much so, when the 1977 JR Jayewardene government refused to keep him in New York as our Permanent Representative to the United Nations, the UN contrived to keep him in his Law of the Sea role.

Soon after the new regime took office, a total of 16 heads of diplomatic missions deemed political appointments were ordered to wind up their affairs and return to Colombo by December 1. As a state visit by the president to India was pending, the serving high commissioner in New Delhi was asked to remain until the visit was concluded. This was a sensible decision as a new appointee or a relatively junior officer may not have been able to competently handle the work involved at an important juncture. Also the high commissioner who was in place in India was a retired member of the Overseas Service with wide experience serving in important capitals. She was re-appointed post-retirement by the previous administration and this, among others, was apparently read as a “political appointment.” The single exception to the recall was former cabinet minister Mahinda Samarasinghe who quit his ministerial position to go to Washington as ambassador. This was purportedly in view of ongoing discussions with the IMF although it is well known that the embassy is little involved in this process.

However that be, several heads of mission positions, including in important capitals overseas like London and New Delhi as well as the UN in New York, remains to be filled. Whether the existing cadre in the Overseas Service has enough trained and experienced officers to meet this requirement is an open question. The late Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, unquestionably the best foreign minister this country ever had, made some imaginative appointments such as those of business leader SK Wickremesinghe posted to London and eminent lawyer H.L. de Silva who went to New York as our Permanent Representative to the UN. We also had Mr. Mangala Moonesinghe who served in Delhi and briefly in London. The other side of the coin was that there were some rank bad appointments, notably that of a cousin of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to Washington. He was caught with his pants down profiting from a property acquisition for the state and returned the loot. Nevertheless the then government proposed to appoint him high commissioner to Canada. Fortunately, Ottawa declined accreditation.

The current political leadership like all its predecessors will, no doubt be pressured by supporters, friends and fellow travelers to make various diplomatic appointments for which there is an insatiable greed in this country. An Additional Foreign Secretary in Mrs. Bandaranaike’s day, obtained cabinet approval to abolish the Sri Lanka Overseas Service and amalgamate it with the SLAS, opening the doors to a vast number of patronage appointments, Mr. Dharmasiri Pieris who functioned as Secretary to the Prime Minister has revealed in his autobiography of which we are running excerpts. This was fortunately nipped in the bud. Finding the right people for the jobs that must be done, not only in the diplomatic service but also in the local administration, will be a monumentally challenging task. Hopefully, there will at least some success in this regard.