Corruption results

PRESIDENT Maithripala Sirisena has taken his message of anti-corruption to the world during his address at the Global Anti-Corruption Conference held in London this week. But the promises are big on broad generalisations and small on actual results. 

Sri Lanka, in a statement issued at the Anti-Corruption 2016 summit hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday set out the concrete actions the country will take in order to tackle corruption. In its effort to eliminate corruption, the Government of Sri Lanka will take measures to bring the legal and administrative framework in line with the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

The country will not tolerate impunity within and outside its jurisdiction and promises to cooperate with international partners to battle corruption wherever it exists. Sri Lanka will create an effective anti-corruption environment and will actively support global efforts to address corruption. The country will prioritise prosecutions of grand corruption and of money laundering and recovery of stolen assets, noted a rather terse release on Sirisena’s pledges. 

The London summit coming in the wake of the Panama Papers leak has focused world attention on the need to end tax havens and reduce inequality. Ironically, Britain and the US are two countries in the race to the bottom of loophole ridden regulations that allow corrupt lawyers, bankers and real estate moguls to profit from shell companies created elsewhere in the world. Even efforts by Cameron to get British territories such as the British Virgin Islands to introduce tougher laws have come a cropper so far and the one thing all 40 leaders participating in the conference can agree on is that the fight on tax evasion will take decades and would likely never be over. 

For Sri Lanka, the battle is on many fronts. Successive governments have bowed to powerful lobbies and each year increased indirect taxes that have deep impact on the poor but rarely affect the rich. As much as 80% of taxes are indirect resulting in progressively reducing government revenue that can be invested in housing, healthcare and education essential to a developing country. The more Sri Lanka struggles to introduce new skills and professional training that are accessible to a larger percentage of young people, the more the country will struggle to transition into a knowledge economy. This is one side of the problem. 

The other dimension is corrupt political leaders. Sri Lanka’s governance has become so riddled with corruption that the very system is now diseased and even a few officials who are trying to change “business as usual” attitude of politicians are struggling to make a dent in the corruption juggernaut. Corruption seeps into all levels of governance: lucrative contracts are handed out to businessmen linked to political parties, policies are made to benefit certain industries at the cost of others, and reforming state-owned enterprises is hampered by the appointment of loyalists to boards. The list is long and does not make for pretty reading. 

President Sirisena, who came to power promising to put corrupt officials of the previous government behind bars, is now facing a crisis of faith over lack of results. Almost every Government press conference is laced with questions over stalled investigations and delayed results. Having put anti-corruption on the table he and the Government are now struggling to honour the pledge. Corruption could well become the one platform that decides the fate and future of the Government.