NPP’s clean governance vow crumbles in scandal avalanche

Opinion
By Editor_1
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake speaks during the launching ceremony of the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ national program in Colombo on Jan. 1, 2025. The early initiatives of the Clean Lanka task force did not have the positive impact that was envisaged - President's Media Division

By Kassapa

The cornerstone of the National Peoples’ Power (NPP) election campaigns, both for the presidential and general elections in 2024 was clean and transparent government. Yes, they did promise to restructure the economy but the masses didn’t vote for them because of that; voters knew working economic miracles was simply not possible considering the dire state the country’s economy was in at that time.

For a while, the NPP was true to its word. Even when its first Speaker Ashoka Ranwala was unable to substantiate his doctorate, people made allowances. He resigned, didn’t he, they asked although the real story was that he was told if he didn’t, he would be sacked. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was reportedly livid that the squeaky-clean image of his government had been tarnished.

Now though, questionable events and transactions are slowly but surely emerging. First it was the release of more than three hundred containers from the Colombo Port. The issue is now mired in a series of inquiries and getting to the truth is near impossible. So much so that the opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) was able to claim that some of the released containers may have had narcotics in them!

Then came the coal tender fiasco. The media has examined this in great detail. The gist of the matter is, instead of asking then minister Kumara Jayakody to resign forthwith, the NPP dragged him through a no confidence motion and he then resigned giving the public a strong sense of déjà vu, a la Keheliya Rambukwella.

The coal tender drama had its supporting acts. There was the issue of a leaked telephone conversation where even the name of Dissanayake is mentioned. This was followed by the news that the government had paid 286 dollars for a barrel of fuel. It was later clarified this was for diesel, not petrol, but even so the price tag was excessive enough to raise eyebrows.

If the NPP hierarchy believed they would have some respite after that, they were sadly mistaken. The bombshell revelation that US$2.5 million was paid to someone pretending to represent the Australian government would have shocked even the most seasoned financier.

At first it was thought that the Treasury’s computer systems were hacked into. However, according to details that emerged at the Magisterial inquiry, it does not appear at first glance that the system was hacked. Rather, officials paid money following an e-mail trail that was slightly different to the correct one, a rookie error in the world of cyber security that even those who are not tech savvy are attuned to these days. This, despite an internal warning system alerting that there was a discrepancy in the channels of communication!

Once can of course blame officials for all this. That is not the issue here. The fraud was discovered in late March. Until a lawyer affiliated with the opposition raised the issue with Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne and also disclosed details to the media, the government kept silent, opting not to enlighten either the public, the Parliament which controls public funds or at the very least the Committee on Public Finance (COPF). Investigations did commence when the fraud was discovered but it is obvious the authorities did not wish to go public with the scandal.

Treasury Secretary Dr Harshana Suriyapperuma, like Ajith Nivaard Cabraal before him, is a politician turned government official, so his affiliations will always come under scrutiny. His lame explanation for the delay is that the issue was kept under wraps so as not to alert the fraudsters who could then take steps to cover their tracks. That defence is certainly worse than the offence.

This is not what you would expect from a government that promised good governance, a new political culture of accountability and responsibility instead of the previous practice of immunity and impunity and above all, transparency and sincerity in its actions. The Treasury scam, hot on the heels of the coal tender saga suggests that all of these lofty ideals have been forgotten by the NPP after being in office for less than two years.   

If you thought this is the end of the government’s litany of mistakes, you would be erring. Minister and Cabinet spokesman Nalinda Jayatissa revealed that an investigation has been launched into the disappearance of another US$600,000 paid to the United States Post by Sri Lanka Post. This was after the US Post had complained of non-payment when Sri Lanka Post had transferred the funds already.

Considering these series of events, it could be surmised that several factors are in play. The government obviously lacks competent persons in responsible positions to provide oversight into transactions that require not merely integrity and honesty but also professionalism and due diligence. Starved of this know-how, it stumbles from blunder to blunder, providing the opposition with fresh ammunition on a weekly basis.

Worse still, its attitude when a discovery is made is to try and hush it up, or so it seems, instead of going public, owning up to its mistakes and taking the people into its confidence. For instance, billion-dollar companies, tech giants and other government have all fallen victim to cyber-crimes. It has become an occupational hazard of being in government now. Most of them go public immediately.

Officials are, after all, human and mistakes are made. However, when governments or parties in power try to cover up the mess it eventually becomes an even bigger issue when it is eventually revealed. This is what has happened to the NPP now with details of the Treasury scam coming to light.

This ‘we will do this our way’ attitude has sadly been a persistent trait of this government. What began as a relatively minor transgression in the Ashoka Ranwala qualification issue has now grown exponentially. We are seeing the results, firstly with the stubborn resistance offered by Kumara Jayakody and now with the delayed revelation about the Treasury scam. If the NPP believes this is a sound strategy, they are mistaken. They only have to cast a glance at fate of the SLPP. Then, they will realize this.

-counterpoint.lk

Editor_1
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