More commissions and committees

The NPP administration is becoming a Government of committees and commissions, like many of its predecessors. Last week saw the appointment by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate coal imports. It came amidst growing allegations of corruption in the import of substandard coal into the country. However, instead of looking at the serious allegations against a Minister (the Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody has since stepped down but denies any wrongdoing), the President appointed the commission to inquire into whether any irregularities or unlawful acts may have occurred in all procurement processes undertaken by State-owned Lanka Coal Company Ltd. in the importation of coal into Sri Lanka during the period commencing from the initiation of coal-based electricity generation in Sri Lanka up to 16 April 2026. The message sent out by this move is clear: “If one of ours goes down, we take others down with him as well.”

That aside, this week Cabinet approved a proposal to appoint a committee to implement the recommendations made by the Presidential Commission appointed to inquire into the Easter Sunday attacks and to propose measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, as well as to implement the recommendations of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security. The decision to appoint a committee was taken as there is no systematic, formal, and sustainable mechanism in place to monitor the practical implementation and progress of these recommendations. The committee will comprise an expert in the field of counterterrorism and national security, along with representatives of the relevant ministries and institutes, and will function under the supervision of the Presidential Secretariat.

If these so-called mechanisms aren’t meant to send the public around in circles, what else are they for?

Presidential commissions have led to the abuse of power by the Executive ever since this system was introduced in 1978. The law has been used to settle scores with political opponents and distract from the Government’s weaknesses and shortcomings. When there are clear indications of corruption in the import of substandard coal, the President suddenly wakes up and realises that corrupt practices may have taken place in the past as well, and hence wants to probe all of them. But that is only because one of his party loyalists’ heads is on the block. Why set up a Presidential commission when there is the judiciary, a commission to investigate allegations of bribery and corruption, and a Police Department that can handle such cases?

Then the committee to implement the recommendations on the Easter Sunday terror attacks: this too is another time-buying exercise aimed at hoodwinking the public.

There is no need for such commissions and committees if the Government is sincere about implementing the recommendations of past commissions and committees. The President can direct the relevant ministries to take action, but instead what will happen is that such committees will meet from time to time, exchange pleasantries, and soon it will all be forgotten until April next year, when the heat begins to build over the Easter Sunday attacks.

Going by the performance of the Government in the past year and a half, it is becoming clear that what it lacks is sincerity. Much of the past 19 months or so has been spent defending its members when serious charges are levelled against them and digging up dirt from the past in the hope of burying the Government’s own missteps under that pile. It is not a tactic that will work in the long run. Already, people are beginning to question the Government’s commitment to the high standards of governance it pledged during the election campaigns. Despite the holier-than-thou rhetoric, the dirt is beginning to pile up on the NPP as well.