How do you solve a problem like Diana?

The Court of Appeal this week directed the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration to submit all documents pertaining to the citizenship of State Minister Diana Gamage. She is accused of serious crimes pertaining to the Citizenship Act including the falsification of passports, birth certificates and national identity cards. It is alleged that she is not a Sri Lankan citizen, not even a dual citizen of Sri Lanka and alleged to have forged documents to obtain identity documents to impersonate citizenship. The case is to be taken up on 12 December 2022.  

Gamage was nominated through the national list of the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party in 2020 only to immediately cross over to the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Government after entering Parliament.

The accusations against the state minister must be considered in all its seriousness. Until now the Attorney General has not initiated action against what is undoubtedly one of the most serious crimes committed against the Sri Lankan electorate. A member of the Government falsifying identity documents and becoming a member of parliament while not even being a citizen is nothing short of an extraordinary development. If proven this could be tantamount to treason against the Republic. Yet, in Sri Lanka, the situation and standards expected of elected officials are so low that this revelation has not even resulted in a demand of a resignation from the minister concerned. President Ranil Wickremesinghe should have immediately requested the state minister to step down, at least until the legal proceedings are concluded. 

Clearly such basic levels of morality or democratic standards cannot be expected from the current political regime. The minister concerned has also not seen it suitable to resign from public office, until she clears her name. While being accused of such a high crime, Gamage continues to play a role in decision making within the executive, in recent weeks entering into numerous agreements concerning public finances. As a member of parliament, Gamage and others are expected to uphold the public trust that has been temporarily entrusted to them through an electoral mandate.

By continuing to provide immunity to criminal activities for those in the highest strata of political authority the current administration is undermining its own credibility, both in the eyes of the electorate and the international community. The mass protests that erupted across the island earlier this year was a clear indication that the public was not aware but had enough of the systemic corruption and impunity provided for such corruption within the governance apparatus. The call to oust the Rajapaksa was not only about their incompetence in handling the economy but their blatant stealing from the public coffers that had bankrupted the country. 

As Sri Lanka faces its worst economic crisis in history it will be needing assistance both bilaterally and through multilateral agencies such as the International Monetary Fund. It does not bode well for the Government to shield criminality within its ranks when seeking such assistance.

Irrespective of the low bar set by the current executive, it is the duty of the public to aspire to higher standards and demand from their elected representatives in the bare minimum an adherence to the rule of law. Diana Gamage is clearly unsuitable to be a member of parliament let alone a member of the Government. If this Government is interested in saving an iota of dignity and integrity she must either be sacked or made to resign immediately.