When the thieves go marching in – And fools rush in!

By Kassapa

If one were to ask the average voter of Sri Lanka why the Jathika Jana Balavegaya (JJB) won the presidential and general elections last year, most voters would say they wanted a change from the established two-party system which was corrupt to the core. For most such voters, ‘change’ also meant punishing those responsible for the rampant corruption that had invaded all corners of the state sector, not being confined to politicians alone.

During the first few months of the JJB’s tenure, there was a sense that ‘nothing was happening’ about corruption, apart from reading out lists in Parliament most of which referred to payments made to politicians that seemed grossly exaggerated but legal, nevertheless. There were fears that the battle against corruption may end in the same manner that it did during the now infamous ‘yahapalanaya’ era, where there was a lot of initial noise, but little follow-up action and almost no one prosecuted.

This sense of inertia prevailed for some time, so much so that Namal Rajapaksa was bold enough to say, ‘catch us if you can’. He claimed he and his family were very keen to face all the charges made against them, so they could ‘clear their name’. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake at that time responded publicly saying, ‘We will, but don’t whimper when that occurs’.

If the Rajapaksas and their assorted acolytes believed they could be complacent, they must be having second thoughts now. Two of their ministers, S.M. Ranjith and the more infamous Mahindananda Aluthgamage are both behind bars, the latter for a long twenty years. Unless he is pardoned or he wins an appeal, he will be eighty-one years of age when he tastes freedom. Arguably facing a worse plight is Keheliya Rambukwella, a minister in successive Rajapaksa Cabinets. His will be a trial that will be watched with great interest but he and his family members have so many different charges pending against them that the end seems nigh.

But for all this, the real alarm bells only began ringing last week. First came the news that Nishantha Wickremesinghe, brother of Shiranthi Rajapaksa, has been arrested. In sheer financial terms the loss he has caused the government is negligible but the message his detention sends is loud and clear: no one is now above the law, not even the Rajapaksa family.

With both Namal Rajapaksa and brother Yoshitha already indicted, the former over the alleged misappropriation of Rs. 70 million provided by the Krrish Company for the development of rugby in Sri Lanka and the latter for alleged money laundering amounting to Rs. 73 million, and even Shiranthi Rajapaksa being scrutinised for matters relating to a ‘Siriliya’ bank account, the coming months will be very busy for the Rajapaksa family’s lawyers.

Most of these issues have been unearthed by the Commission Investigating Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC). Under its new Director General Ranga Dissanayake, they have been working at full throttle to bring cases that were gathering dust for years to a speedy conclusion. In a government starved of efficient and competent people, President Dissanayake appears to have found in his namesake at least one officer fit for the job he does.  

Those implicated are not only politicians but officials as well: the suspended Inspector General of Police, the suspended Commissioner of Prisons, a former Controller of Immigration and a former Commissioner of Motor Traffic are all facing charges.   

The icing on the cake, so to speak, is the appointment of Shani Abeysekara as Director of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). An admired, respected and clever detective, Abeysekara led many of the investigations in the ‘yahapalanaya’ era until they were stalled by political interference. It is said that the first official act of Gotabaya Rajapaksa when he was elected President, even before he swore in his Cabinet of ministers, was to remove Abeysekara from the CID and send him as a personal assistant to the Deputy Inspector General of Police in the South.

Abeysekara is held in esteem even by his critics and opponents because of his integrity. The word now is that he will not let his business be unfinished a second time and that even Dissanayake would not be able to rein him in now.

What then could go wrong? The actions of some in the government, of course! For instance, a staffer from the President’s office, no less, took to the media to announce that the ‘next on the list’ is Chamal Rajapaksa, being investigated for fraudulently claiming compensation for a property that he allegedly did not own. Alerted by this announcement, the real owner of the property in question is now missing and the investigators have run into difficulties in tying up the loose ends of the case.

A similar story appeared on social media regrading Mahinda Rajapaksa requesting the Chief Priest of the Malwatte chapter to intervene to prevent Shiranthi Rajapaksa’s arrest. No less than the Chief Priest has now issued a stinging denial threatening legal action against those who propagate such stories. As a result, the credibility of the ‘Siriliya’ investigation has taken a hit and allowed room for allegations of the inquiry being political witch-hunt.

Those who voted for this government- and even some who didn’t- are waiting patiently for these investigations to end and for perpetrators of corruption, whatever their political standing, to be put behind bars. There is still quite a distance to travel before that judicial utopia is reached but the journey has certainly begun.

An encouraging feature is that the judiciary is also acting without fear or favour and with a fervour not witnessed in recent years. As Justice Minister, Harshana Nanayakkara should never have said ‘these verdicts would not have been reached under a different government’ but the underlying message of that statement, that not only the judiciary but also the Police and the Attorney General’s Department is now free of political meddling, is true.

Those who voted for the JJB did not expect an economic miracle from them and so will not judge them on that. They will however be judged on the battle against corruption and that alone could see the JJB through at the next election- because all their potential rival could still be serving time!