Losing hope

Sri Lanka’s window of opportunity for growth is narrowing fast with yet another index warning that the Government’s inability or disinterest in fixing key institutions to stamp out corruption is detracting from the country’s global image.

Sri Lanka’s ranking for economic freedom has worsened from last year and the integrity of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe Government has been rated 141st out of 180 countries.

It was reported over the weekend that the island’s malfunctioning judiciary has been ranked 80th in the world. The effectiveness of Sri Lanka’s judiciary fares worse than the world’s biggest gambling haven Macau, which is rated 44th. The judiciary in nearly-bankrupt Greece, in comparison, is rated 56th. Botswana’s judiciary ranks 61st.

These were among important findings in the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom compiled by the United States-based conservative Heritage Foundation. The report is published jointly with The Wall Street Journal.

The report places Sri Lanka at 112 in the world out of 180 countries for economic freedom with a score of 57.4 points, down by 2.5 points from 2016. Sri Lanka ranks well below countries such as Mali, Uganda, Benin, Swaziland, Nicaragua and Honduras.

Heavily-indebted Sri Lanka’s economic freedom is rated as ‘mostly unfree’ and the foundation cites the rule of law, fiscal health and investment freedom as concerns.

In Asia Pacific, Sri Lanka is rated 25th out of 43 countries, below countries such Cambodia, Fiji, Samoa, Azerbaijan and even Indonesia.

Corruption worsened in Sri Lanka as well. Just a month ago, Transparency International rated Sri Lanka at 95th place out of 176 countries in its Corruption Perceptions Index. The island scored 36 points, down from 37 points in 2015 and 38 points in 2014. It ranked below countries including Ghana, Mongolia, Panama and Indonesia. Transparency said lower-ranked countries “are plagued by untrustworthy and badly functioning public institutions like the police and judiciary.”

In the 2017 Index of Economic Freedom, Hong Kong, where business monopolies exist in sectors such as rice imports, supermarkets, retail and real estate, topped the world as the freest once again for the 23rd time, ahead of Singapore, which the Government has puportedly insisted it wants to emulate. 

The ranking seemed to resonate with growing public discontent with the Yahapalanaya administration on corruption issues. The Government’s failure to bring culprits in the February 2015 treasury bond scam to book and its inability to check corruption within its own ranks have fuelled accusations that the administration that was swept to power on an anti-corruption platform had lost its way. 

Corruption investigations involving members of the former Rajapaksa Government have also stalled, with no significant prosecutions or convictions to date. 

Given the furore in Parliament over the COPE report on the bond scam it is clear that the issue is far from over and activists and opposition members are likely to keep pressure on the Government. The inability of top Government leaders to take decisive measures to overhaul Sri Lanka’s clogged judiciary, investigate serious issues and actually put offenders behind bars has stripped away credibility. This has only been worsened by “sweetheart” deals with loyalists of the former Government who should have been investigated for corruption.     

Ultimately President Sirisena, preferring to focus on his party’s unity, and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, protecting his loyalists, has hollowed out the campaign promises made by the Government. Perhaps what is most disheartening is that the hope people had of restoring good governance to Sri Lanka’s democracy, severely cracked under the power of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is now also ebbing. 

Just two years ago Sri Lankans also rejoiced in hope that change was possible. Now it is abundantly clear that the struggle is harder than expected and possibly not the primary focus of this Government as it should be.