Shouldn’t system change start with a conscientious public sector instead of politicians?

The bane of this country is not only the politicians but also bureaucrats. There are many officials holding high positions who have misled, connived and bowed down to their political masters ignoring the public whom they have been appointed to serve. 

This we have seen amply demonstrated by the several high-profile court cases against those who ignored all the rules and took political decisions while in office, which eventually landed them in trouble once the politicians of their flavour were out of office.

Along with former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, several senior health sector officials are in remand over for their involvement in the procurement of substandard human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) vials.

In the past, a former Secretary to the President Lalith Weeratunga and former Telecommunications Regulatory Commission Director General Anusha Pelpita, were among those who faced charges for misuse of State funds by diverting money to political campaigns, and while both were acquitted, there are serious questions raised on whether such cases have been prosecuted as thoroughly as they should have been.

Just recently, the Colombo High Court released former Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal, and four other defendants in a case filed against them for causing heavy financial losses to the country through investments in Greek treasury bonds in 2012.

The case was dismissed after lawyers for Cabraal argued that there were irregularities in the case filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) promoting the court decision.

We know that in Sri Lanka it is always the small fry that gets punished while the sharks get away when there are cases involving bribery and corruption. We are yet to see a corrupt bureaucrat or politician getting the due punishment because cases are filed in such a manner that the loopholes allow them to get away on so-called “technical points.”

In 2015, the Colombo High Court dismissed a case against then Minister Ravi Karunanayake in an Exchange Control Act violation and there again over a “technical point.” There have been many such cases as the tentacles of the politically influential, the rich and powerful reach every nook and corner which matters when they have the weight of the law brought against them.

It is difficult to put a date on when it started, but for too long Sri Lanka’s public officials have compromised themselves before politicians for their personal gain. The Attorney General’s Department has many times failed to successfully prosecute such cases by delaying them, changing officials handling such cases, etc. while the Police Department has failed to lead evidence in a manner that would lead to a successful conclusion of such cases.

This is why system change in Sri Lanka will not happen for a long time irrespective of which party takes power in the country. Politicians may come and go but bureaucrats who are well entrenched in the system stay on and are not willing to change for the better. They have adopted their survival mechanism which remains in place whichever political party takes power. Those who hold top positions rarely set a good example for those down the ladder and hence they also go about abusing whatever power they have showing no loyalty to their place of work or thinking twice of the fact that the salaries and perks that they enjoy as State sector employees come at a cost to the taxpayer.

For the country as a whole, it is a tragedy that the State sector that is in place to work for the benefit of the public, has turned its back on them and is busy pandering to politicians and fattening its wallet. Shouldn’t system change start with a conscientious public sector instead of politicians?