Friday, 5 December 2014 01:05
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Corruption has always been the sore point in Sri Lanka. Even though the country has improved its ranking on the Transparency International’s annual global Corruption Perception Index (CPI), scoring marginally better than last year, the deep need for reform is reflected in everything from reports to election promises.
Sri Lanka improved six notches in the CPI and ranked 85th place among 175 countries with a score of 38 points. Last year, with a score of 37 points, the island nation in South Asia ranked 91st among 177 countries.
According to the Berlin-based corruption watchdog, since Sri Lanka has scored below 50, the country has still not minimised the level of corruption in the public sector and there is a great need to strengthen anti-corruption mechanisms in the island nation.
Inching up the index must also be seen in the context of current political development where anti-corruption pledges have become the backbone of the common candidate’s campaign. So deep does dissatisfaction on this front run that President Mahinda Rajapaksa insinuating he has “files” on his detractors became a major talking point. Publically refusing to act on allegations of corruption has provided much fodder ahead of the 8 January polls.
Parliament was informed in October that since 2004 as many as 104 local government members and provincial councillors have faced allegations of corruption and abuse of power. The high numbers included politicians from all three main parties and is likely the tip of the iceberg.
Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) believes corruption within the public sector remains one of Sri Lanka’s biggest challenges, particularly in areas such as Police, education, lands and political parties. TISL believes that public institutions need to be more open about their work and officials must be more transparent in their decision-making. The Police, for example, are consistently seen as the most corrupt entity in the country by the public and as many as 64% of the people polled believe that Sri Lanka has become more corrupt since the beginning of this year.
It is therefore obvious whatever steps being taken by law enforcement authorities are being seen as cosmetic and undeserving of trust. This then results in serious crimes never coming to the forefront or being dealt with “jungle justice”.
Elsewhere in the world, Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia predictably make up the worst performers, scoring just eight points each. More than two-thirds of the 177 countries in the 2013 index scored below 50, on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean).
The Index, which focuses on corruption in the public sector, is conducted by Transparency International, the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption. The CPI, though perceptional, has been accepted as the most recognised and often-quoted international index on corruption.
Therefore, it is clear that Sri Lanka has its work cut out. Some economists have pointed out that even though Sri Lanka’s official debt to GDP ratio is below 80%, if the losses of State enterprises were added, it would soar closer to 90%. The socioeconomic cost will soon be too much to bear and the possibility of elections presents a make-or-break moment for the country in terms of accountability.
