With corruption or tough anti-corruption laws being one of the key issues in the current intense campaign for the crucial presidential election on January 8, Sri Lanka joined the world in marking International Anti-corruption day on December 9—the theme being “break the corruption chain”. Appropriate indeed for Sri Lanka.

Cross-overs and rumours of cross-overs this way and that way with some doing long jumps, double or triple jumps have diverted attention from the key issues of the all-powerful executive presidential system which among other vices has brought about the worst-ever plunder  of public wealth and resources.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a message said “corruption is a global phenomenon that strikes hardest at the poor, hinders inclusive economic growth and robs essential services of badly needed funds. From the cradle to the grave, millions are touched by corruption’s shadow. On this year’s observance of the International Anti-Corruption Day, we call again on people everywhere to get involved in “Breaking the Corruption Chain”. We hope the people and the leaders of Sri Lanka  will take these guidelines seriously and come forward to fight corruption which, as we see in Sri Lanka, has made the poor poorer and the rich richer, creating a monsterous gap between the poor and the rich. Yet what we sow we reap and if we sow the wind, we reap the whirlwind. Thus we see the emergence of a situation where the monster might swallow those who created it.

In Sri Lanka one of the country’s most outspoken civic action groups Transparency International Sri Lanka held an important event on December 9 to mark anti-corruption day. It held a National Integrity Awards ceremony at the BMICH to felicitate an outstanding individual or an organisation for demonstrating exceptional integrity in public engagement. The prestigious award this year was given posthumously to the Deraniyagala Noori Estate Manager Nihal Perera for maintaining discipline in his profession and fighting against fraud. This eventually led to his murder last year—one of the hundreds of unsolved political crimes of recent years with VIPs only having files on them. A special mention award was presented to the now famous school teacher Susila Herath who was made to kneel before her class by a local politician in a headline hitting incident at Navodya Vidyalaya in Nawagaththegama.  Susila Herath was given the award for her unceasing fight for justice, with the politician being found guilty and thrown out of politics.  

The much respected lawyer Dr. Elmo Perera the chief guest of the event delivering the keynote address spoke on the right to information.

In his  address at the anti-corruption day ceremony, Dr. Perera  made what many in the audience described as one of the best speeches on anti-corruption, integrity, accountability and related issues. Dr. Perera emphasised the need for a Right to Information Act for the restoration of a democratic society.

He said the Right to Information was regarded as a fundamental human right in a number of international and national human rights instruments. “Information is the oxygen of democracy, if people cannot know what is taking place in society they cannot take a meaningful part in the affairs of that society. Sri Lanka urgently needs to have a Right to Information Act that needs to be in accordance with democratic traditions,” he said.

We join Dr. Perera and thousands of other civic rights activists in urging that both main contenders at  the presidential election should give a pledge in their manifestos that they would implement the Right to Information Act within hundred days. As UN Chief Ban Ki-moon says, “to dismantle corruption’s high walls, I urge every nation to ratify and implement the UN Convention against Corruption. Its ground-breaking measures in the areas of prevention, criminalisation, international co-operation and asset recovery have made important inroads, but there is much more to do. Public services must uphold the highest standards of integrity and ensure that appointments are given  by merit. Public servants, as well as elected officials, must be guided by ethics, transparency and accountability.”