Monday, 10 March 2014 00:01
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As the days tick down for a vote on Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), President Mahinda Rajapaksa remained defiant of both foreign and local critics during the opening of the country’s latest highway on Saturday. Undeterred by continuous and possibly growing censure the President vowed to fight his external challenges and dismissed internal voices as “tale carriers”.
The usual thread of pushing ahead with internal development regardless of all dissent was voiced with vehemence as the President addressed a political rally right after opening of the Outer Circular Highway, throwing away all regard for election law banning the use of State development programs for political votes.
Ever the astute politician, Rajapaksa emphasised his development drive was uniting the country by bridging the gap between communities. Since he came to power “historical dates where new projects were opened have been sprinkled across the calendar,” to the extent where even the President cannot remember all of them, he insisted, and hinted detractors of such development were doing so merely to bump this progress towards unity. This unfairly disregards attempts made to protect public finance and prevent the country from being exploited by corrupt companies. The available deal is not necessarily the best deal for the country.
Sri Lanka targets over 7.5% annual economic growth in each of the next three years from this year’s revised down target of a minimum 7.2%. With such lofty goals in sight, perhaps Rajapaksa’s appeal for support from the Opposition was reasonable. But there are several points that seem to have escaped his notice.
For collaboration between the Government and the Opposition to be possible, there must exist an environment where dissent is allowed, and dare it be said, accepted and acted upon. Despite the Government’s grandiose schemes, there are many points of concern including an inadequate investment environment (Sri Lanka’s Doing Business Ranking went into freefall in 2013), blatant corruption and mismanagement over which little if anything is done, quashing of freedom of speech where even slapstick stage plays are banned and development policies that are deliberately skewered away from inclusivity.
The economy does not stand alone in a vacuum. It is deeply linked to law and order, transparency, good governance and civic rights. Other countries in South Asia, including India, have signed into law Right to Information acts, providing unprecedented power to fight corruption. Rajapaksa, in contrast, has steadfastly refused to even consider such basic legislation, effectively undermining the fight against corruption.
The centralisation of power within the Government, clearly reflected within the Budget, also hampers the formation of a level playing field. For unity to exist, the views and, more importantly, the issues of all stakeholders must be meaningfully listened to and addressed. Yet there are glaring discrepancies between promises and action, particularly regarding minorities in Sri Lanka. Therefore, Rajapaksa’s request for Tamil Parliamentarians to share a platform with the Government is hollow and likely to remain so until equal rights exist between all communities. The economy is central to such aspirations, therefore the idea that dissent is disloyalty must be dispelled.
Existing highways are already not providing enough revenue to pay back their hefty loans and need extra borrowings to maintain them. Good governance is as imperative to development as peace. One has been largely achieved, now it’s time to work on the other.
