Anti-corruption bill in letter and spirit

As a result of the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout package, the Government is expected to present an anti-corruption bill to the Parliament in the coming days. Such a bill is long overdue and should have ideally come as a result of the domestic compulsions rather than an international compulsion. Irrespective of motive the bill must be welcomed and should be used as an opportunity to address systemic corruption that is now endemic in Sri Lanka in a multitude of spheres.

The IMF is expected to release its $ 2.9 billion assistance package in the coming weeks. Financing assurances from all major bilateral creditors have been received in recent weeks which should suffice for the IMF Board to finalise the Extended Fund Facility. In order to secure these funds it is imperative that the Government demonstrate its willingness for fiscal transparency and reduction in corruption in order to gain a degree of credibility with international financial partners. A strong anti-corruption legal framework would in this regard be an absolute necessity. 

President Wickremesinghe had promised the introduction of an Anti-Corruption Bill that will include the ‘Stolen Assets Recovery’ (StAR) initiative, together with the assistance of the World Bank and the United Nations.

While the legislation is vital in addressing corruption, political will would be the determinant factor in addressing the issue. In this regard there is little hope of tangible action. If President Wickremesinghe was interested in addressing corruption, a good confidence building measure would have been appointing a Cabinet of Ministers who would have inspired confidence among the stakeholders as having financial integrity. Instead, the current Cabinet of Ministers is filled with individuals who are, for a lack of a better word, crooks. 

Prasanna Ranatunga who was recently convicted for soliciting a bribe and handed a suspended sentence continues as a Cabinet Minister, Tiran Alles, the Minister now in charge of the department of Police had himself claimed that he acted as an intermediary in providing hundreds of millions of rupees to the LTTE in 2005 to ensure a boycott of the presidential election, and Minister of Trade Nalin Fernando was arrested in 2018 while attempting to flee the country over accusations of misappropriating Rs. 39 million while serving as the Chairman of State-owned Sathosa.

There is no doubt that in addition to mismanagement, systemic corruption contributed significantly to Sri Lanka’s current economic predicament. The same individuals who were the perpetrators, enablers and beneficiaries of these corrupt dealings continue to hold positions of power and are entrusted with the recovery. International partners, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have a responsibility towards their own stakeholders and more importantly towards the people of Sri Lanka that any financial assistance provided to the Government is done so in a transparent manner with demands for checks on corruption. International partners must impose strict measures to ensure transparency in the disbursement of any financial assistance and prevent siphoning of such funds meant as assistance to the general public.

The anti-corruption bill should not be a simple box ticking exercise in order to access international funds. It must be an opportunity to address the engrained, institutional corruption that has not only enabled the political elites to be corrupt but incentivised their corruption and granted them immunity for their deeds.