When will politicians take responsibility..?

(By Dr. Upul Wijayawardhana)

The judiciary has spoken loud and clear! In acquitting the former Defence Secretary and the IGP from the Easter Sunday carnage case, the three judges of the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar had commented “its unacceptable to file cases against government servants alone as politicians were above them”. They were indicted on an unprecedented 855 charges but the judges decided to acquit them on the basis of the prosecution evidence alone, without even the need to entertain the defence case! The judges have gone to the extent of stating that the arrest of these two public servants was highly problematic. Another implication of this verdict is the acceptance by the judiciary of the inability of public servants to perform their duties properly due to political interference. Will politicians get this message? I doubt.

A failed attempt had been made to scapegoat public servants to save politicians. One is reminded of the statement made by the former IGP indicating that the then President Maithripala Sirisena offered to send him on a diplomatic posting if he accepted responsibility! Against this background, what was remarkable was the dignified manner in which Messrs. Hemasiri Fernando and Pujith Jayasundara behaved after the verdict. They allowed their lawyers to comment than making triumphalist announcements, which surely would have been the case had politicians being involved!

This turn of events, naturally, has irked Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith. Shamindra Ferdinando in his news report in The Island of 21 January states “in a strongly-worded video message, Archbishop Ranjith accused the current political leadership, Attorney General Sanjay Rajatatnam, the AG’s Department, intelligence services and law enforcement authorities of badly letting down those who demanded justice”. As it is clearly stated later in the same news report, “The indictments were prepared by Rajaratnam’s predecessor Dappula de Livera, PC, who retired in May last year”, it is rather surprising why the Cardinal has decided to castigate the present AG.

It would be very interesting to see how the government responds to this remarkable judgement. I do not think President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is left with much choice. He has to forget about the two-thirds majority Pohottuwa is obsessed with. He has to face the threat of the SLFP leaving the government. He must publish the full report of the Presidential Commission, which the Cardinal and many others have been clamouring for from the time it was handed to him, and ensure the recommendations are implemented. If he does not do so, it would be his image that would be tainted most. His election was greeted with great enthusiasm as he was not a career politician and most felt that he would clean up the rotten political culture that was eroding our society. He has reiterated recently, too, that he is not afraid of hard decisions and the time is ripe for him to put his words into action!

Ranil Wickremesinghe, who manoeuvred the meteoric rise of Sirisena to presidency too should share the political responsibility of this debacle although Sirisena is the single person largely responsible for the failures. The infighting Minister endangered national security. Therefore, it is futile finding excuses. It was the Commission of Inquiry Sirisena himself appointed, as he was not satisfied with the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee which he considered was a white-wash, that recommended the AG should consider taking action against Sirisena. Surely, if he has nothing to fear, Sirisena should be prepared to face legal action.

Sirisena may be working under the delusion that his past executive actions cannot be challenged legally. Although he may not have expected to beat a war-winning president, the voters placed their trust in him and it is time he takes responsibility. It would be interesting to see how many from the SLFP would leave the government in case the government sanctions taking action against Sirisena. I greatly doubt that all of them would give up their ministerial positions. Of course, his other trump card is his brother. I distinctly remember Dudley stating in a TV interview that stern action would be taken if legal action was contemplated against his brother Maithri. Well, what more could he do now? He has already done enough damage to the government by manipulating the rice market and keeping prices extremely high.

Many presidents and prime ministers around the world have been prosecuted for their misdeeds, and what Sirisena is accused of is severer than what some are imprisoned for. For instance, Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France, from 2007 to 2012, was convicted of corruption in two separate trials in 2021; the first conviction resulted in him receiving a sentence of three years, two of them suspended and one to be served in prison but he has appealed against the ruling and for the second conviction, he received a one-year sentence, which he is allowed to serve under home confinement.

What was most reprehensible was Sirisena not accepting or showing any form of responsibility, at any stage but attempting to scapegoat others. When this dastardly attack occurred, he was in Singapore on a private visit, and did not make any attempt to return early, in spite of a grave national emergency. He made a fortress of the Hilton Hotel with SLTB buses for his son’s wedding whilst the country was weeping for 269 innocents killed and more than 500 injured from many nationalities. Although he cannot be expected to take responsibility, it is the duty of the present President to ensure that due process takes place, so that justice is served not only for Sirisena but also for others who shirked responsibility. Otherwise, he too would join the ranks of our politicians whose primary function seems to be protecting each other..!

-The Island-