By

Rasika Jayakody

Media Ministry Secretary Nimal Bopage ran into a storm recently when he sent out a press communiqué cautioning the media over the term ‘Joint Opposition’.

Even the highest echelons of the political sphere were perturbed over Bopage’s press conference as they thought the move would boomerang on the government, in some way or another.

However, Bopage’s press communiqué – intentionally or not – was a manifestation of the ruling coalition’s political concerns. Although the Joint Opposition group does not have a significant stake in Parliament, they make a lot of noise on the government, causing trouble for the government on multiple issues. They hold press conferences on a daily basis and ensure a strong presence in the media space. This, needless to say, may be a worry for the ruling coalition which is already grappling with a number of economic and political issues.

Many thought Bopage’s press communiqué would contribute to the government’s problems rather than solving them. Some said Bopage should have complained to the Speaker over the matter, without the media directly. Some opined that Bopage should have kept silent on the matter, allowing the media to exercise its will over the ‘controversial’ term.

It was in this context that former Minister Mervyn Silva, a strange political creature of our time, convened a ‘special press conference’ on Monday. A day before the press conference, Silva was present before the Police Financial Crimes Investigations and many assumed that the press conference might have a connection with the FCID matter.

However, the journalists who went to cover Silva’s press conference were surprised to see a giant banner displaying the name ‘the Joint Opposition.’ For a moment they thought Silva was going to extend his support to the ‘Joint Opposition’ group whose leader is former President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

What unfolded a few minutes later was pure entertainment. In an interesting turn of event, Silva said he was launching the authentic ‘Joint Opposition’ and identified himself as the leader of the movement. He said the other Joint Opposition, formed by a group of UPFA Parliamentarians, was a garbage bin.
He described the ‘Joint Opposition’ supporting former President Rajapaksa as something “unnecessary”, similar to the appendix in a human body.

He added that those who claim to be the ‘Joint Opposition’ cannot use the term as they are Parliamentarians of the UPFA – an alliance led by President Sirisena.
Commenting on the strength of his nascent political movement, Silva said a large number of supporters would be joining hands with him in the near future.

Silva’s intentions, at this point, are quite clear. It can be assumed that a group in the ruling alliance has influenced Silva to ‘troll’ the term ‘joint opposition’ and turn into a joke in the eyes of the media. That will, eventually, force Rajapaksa’s Joint Opposition to change its name or to adopt a different propaganda strategy.

Despite his longstanding affiliation with the Rajapaksas, Silva started having doubts about his clout in the previous administration when his son got assaulted at a car park of a famous shopping outlet, three years ago. It was common knowledge that a certain VVIP son was behind the assault and that was the reason why the Police failed to carry out investigations. This incident left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he was not in a position to openly challenge the seemingly invincible Rajapaksa administration.

Even after Maithripala Sirisena defected from the government to become the common candidate of the Opposition, Silva did not support him openly. He thought it was a too much of a gamble to support Sirisena as there were fears that the Rajapaksas would use armed forces to retain power in the face of a defeat. However, he constantly maintained ties with the likes of Rajitha Senaratne who were stalwarts of the Sirisena camp.

Mervyn Silva is not a nincompoop in terms of ‘electoral politics.’ He is a man who has perfectly figured out his strengths and weaknesses. He knows he is not cut out for mainstream, politically correct politics. He knows his credentials do not project him as a suave policymaker or a political strategist. So, he found his niche in his own peculiar way. It produced him desired results as he secured over 150,000 preferential votes at the Parliamentary election 2010, contesting from the Gampaha district.

He willingly jumped into controversies knowing they would ensure his constant presence in the media space. He was a jester in the eyes of his bosses and a hooligan in the eyes of his opponents. He was a taskmaster in his electorate and he knew how to get things done. He never allowed government circulations, ARs and FRs to stand in his way. His ‘warped’ public image always allowed him to cut through bureaucracy and make things happen. His political masters had no qualms about making use of his skills when dealing with difficult people and difficult situations. The current ruling coalition is no exception. They are now using Mervyn Silva to troubleshoot the ‘Joint Opposition’ issue.

Battle against corruption hits a snag

While the ruling coalition was using Mervyn Silva to troubleshoot the Joint Opposition issue, the civil society groups met Minister Rajitha Senaratne last week to voice their concerns over the government’s lethargic approach on bribery and corruption.

They reminded the Minister that the battle against corruption was the main rallying point for the common opposition at the last Presidential election and the government over the past 15 months, had failed to achieve any progress on the matter.

“It is quite clear that various deals are standing in the way of investigations. If the government is hell-bent on taking this path, the civil society groups too will have no option, but to declare war on the new government,” they asserted.
The Minister patiently listened to their concerns and assured that he would raise this matter at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He also promised to discuss the issue with President Sirisena before the next Cabinet meeting.

However, the patience of the civil society groups is now wearing thin. They convened a press conference in Colombo on Monday and lashed out at the government for soft-pedaling the investigations. They held the press conference as the Anti-Corruption Front, an umbrella organization for all civil society initiatives instrumental in President Sirisena’s campaign, in January, last year.

“The civil society groups who ensured the ruling coalition’s victory were keen on implementing a mechanism to prevent corruption because an election victory and a change of a regime were not adequate to end the culture of corruption. However, the anti-corruption drive has slowed down shattering the hope of those who voted for them,” Anti-Corruption Front stalwart Ulapane Sumangala Thera said, addressing the press conference.

The Thera said his own organisation had tendered 512 complaints to six institutions dealing with corruption, including the FCID, the CID, the Bribery Commission and PRECIFAC.
“However, the progress of investigations on these complaints is slow. Our inquiries have shown that many investigations into allegations of financial crimes have not reached the second stage of inquiry,” the Thera said.

The law enforcement authorities and the Attorney General’s Department, over the past few months, attributed this problem to their limited resources. The Attorney General’s Department even took measures to hire 51 new States Counsel to fast track anti-corruption investigations. But, it is now evident that the problem is larger than ‘limited resources’.

“There is a serious question over the political will. Political expediency has taken precedence over battling corruption. It is all too evident that ‘deals’ have affected the progress of the investigations. This situation has compelled the civil society to exert pressure on the government,” a prominent civil society activist who was instrumental in President Sirisena’s campaign last year, told the Daily News.
The civil society is agitated over the slow progress of the investigations against a backdrop where certain Sri Lankan names have been mentioned in connection Panama Papers.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said investigations would be carried out against all the Sri Lankans whose names were revealed in the Panama Papers. According to the Finance Minister, the Department of Inland Revenue and the Exchange Control Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka are supposed to carry out the investigation.

“I kindly requested to return the capital outflow to the country as our money is required for the development of our country. There is no need to invest our money in developing foreign countries other than Sri Lanka. Now the opportunity has been given to correct these faults,” he said.
The problem, however, is that the public is losing their trust in the law enforcement mechanism when it comes to matters involving bribery and corruption. To restore their trust, the government has to fast track anti-corruption investigations and take stern action against the culprits. That will, in return, allow the public to take their claims and assurances about Panama Papers seriously!

Courtesy:Daily News