Issues
Sri Lanka’s Expropriation Bill – Does it unmask the Private Sector?
“It is the tragedy of this country that those who should be in the forefront of espousing the public interest – mainly the corporate sector, the professionals and the religious clergy have by and large maintained a deafening silence in the face of the most heinous onslaught on the rule of law and abuse of power under successive administrations”
Although the “Revival of Under Performing and Under Utilized Assets” Bill has dire implications to the well-being of the country in general and the private sector in particular, our valiant captains of industry and commerce as reflected
JVP spokesperson Vijtiha Herath
in the leadership of the main business chambers are reportedly comfortable with this Bill except for “serious concern” over some of the entities included! The ‘Mirror Business’ of 7 November 2011 captures this aptly with its damning headline – “Gutless Chambers”!
Could not the stance of the corporate sector be attributable to fault lines in their own governance and dependence on the State for ‘hand-outs’ and patronage?
Could not the silence of the Organisation of Professional Associations (OPA) be attributed to the reality that egregious corruption is virtually impossible without professional complicity? Even in regard to the ‘Expropriation Bill’ has there not been a significant professional input?
Ironically, the JVP which the private sector loves to hate (not always without reason) appears to provide the strongest resistance to this Bill which it styles as a “‘rogue’ bill” (‘The Island’ 7 November 2011). Its spokesman goes on to state – “We mustered and rallied people against the controversial private sector pensions bill and defeated it and this time around we will do everything possible to defeat the take-over Bill,”
JVP's Vijitha Herath and UNP's Tissa Athanayake
Others who have come out strongly against the Bill are surprisingly sections of the Buddhist clergy one of whom has even filed a FR Petition against the Bill. The Christian clergy which until recently stood up in some instances in the public interest have now gone silent on this and other issues of governance.
It is the tragedy of this country that those who should be in the forefront of espousing the public interest – mainly the corporate sector, the professionals and the religious clergy have by and large maintained a deafening silence in the face of the most heinous onslaught on the rule of law and abuse of power under successive administrations.
Those concerned in the UNP who are now vociferous are blatantly selective and partisan in their approach to current excesses. They do not want to touch even with a ‘barge pole’ the terrible instances of corruption even under the most recent UNP government against which there are even Supreme Court judgments and strictures from Parliament’s COPE.
It would appear that the leadership of civil society for the most part have lost their moral authority to demand ‘good governance’ due to fault lines in their own accountability!
Amrit Muttukumaru
MA Econ. (Madras); MBM (Asian Inst. of Mgmt.)
2 Comments to “Sri Lanka’s Expropriation Bill – Does it unmask the Private Sector?”
April 2, 2012 at 5:13 pm
All of my questinos settled-thanks!
November 18, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Both UNP & SLFP are rouge. They do politics with the sole objective of making money through corrupt deals, commissions, bribery, abuse of power, misuse of power, illegal trades likes of narcotic drugs illicit alcohol etc. That’s why they spend unbelievable hundreds of millions for a general election. (For example one candidate for recent election for Colombo Municipal Council had reportedly spent Rs. One Million a day!) Just imagine why do they spend so much money? for good governance? because they love ordinary people so much? No they want to make more money once get elected.
So public properties privatized without any transparency & made billions of rupees, if not billions of US $ by politicians, some politicians got villas by the Nile River, some bought huge apple estates in Australia, some bought Royal Palaces from UK Royal Family, some got gifted with Villas in London, amounts in Swiss banks are unknown.
All those corruption was done with the Private Sector corporate bodies with “professional” help. Once public properties gone for a song , the state couldn’t do any thing, because it was guilty. So the “Corporate bodies” who bought those did whatever they ever wanted & state had to keep blind eye.
All those “OPA” “civil society” guys are supporters of either UNP or SLFP. Some leading OPA guys got top govt. jobs after successive General Elections. Corporate Bodies are equal or worse. All (monkeys) had eaten/drunk blood & flesh of nation & cannot vomit. Govt does whatever it wants.