The inevitability of change

January 6, 2015
MY3s 100 days and the Chinthana
Even a cursory reading of the Mahinda Chinthana Path to Success bears
out in no uncertain terms the recognition of that basic unchallengeable fact
that change is inevitable. The manifesto is full of a variety of changes that
the ruling incumbent President promises to bring to fruition.
Among them, the more enlightening are teaching the world about national
security, introducing a foreign policy that is steadfast, giving food security
pride of place, introducing a good governance program in accordance with
the Indo-Lanka philosophical heritage, collective democracy and civil
administration, freedom of expression and assurance of media freedom,
supporting and promotion of religious development, stopping the abuse of
children and women, a permanent stop to the underworld and drug
menace, implementation of animal protection programs, a proud military
and an honourable Police, special benefits for workers abroad, the list goes
on and on.

Let us look at a few more highlights and then examine some of the
changes. Among the more imaginative ones is a river for Jaffna and a tank
for Elephant Pass (you need divine powers to do some of these things!), a
technology-based plantation sector is also a change which is promised.
Then theres the Silk Road dream. The milk industry is promised a white
revolution. The mathematics challenge is also to be met. A classic one is
Avoiding conflict with our elephant friends.
It ends up inevitably with that tired and much-abused promise of Wonder of
Asia. In this context TNA Leader Sampanthan had this to say: We would
rather repose our faith in joint Opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena
rather than expect what has not happened in the past to happen hereafter.
Mahindas manifesto
Lets start our critical analysis with the last wonderful promise, which has
been hanging fire over our heads for some time now. It is indeed a Wonder
that a Deputy Minister for whom an open warrant has been issued can
boldly embark on a flight to Singapore through the VIP lounge of the
countrys main international airport showing the metaphorical middle
finger to the Police, Immigration officers and the intelligence agents on duty
there! At least he has reportedly been arrested on his return and consigned
to the Remand Jail as a guest of the taxpayer.
If avoiding conflict with our elephant friends means that the criminal
kidnappers/snatchers of baby elephants from the wild, with support from
the highest levels, and those who falsely connive to register them as born
in captivity, and then do the Gogia Pasha vanishing trick to the register
itself, it is indeed welcome. But methinks it is something more mundane
and at the same time politically-corrupt, which the former Secretary of the
elephant party, allegedly in a new avatar of forger, recently manifested,
brazenly and shamelessly!
The mathematics challenge, which has to be met is puzzling, unless it
means that the various concocted opinion polls and survey reports on how
the people are going to vote on 8 January will be explained and clarified.
The white revolution, borrowing a phase from Indias Amul success story,
has been promised repeatedly for so long that it is no longer news.

The late Admiral Chen Ho, a eunuch, who commanded the Chinese
Emperors fleets of seagoing Sampans which visited Galle and left behind a
plaque, and also kidnapped the local satrap in the 1400s, will be happy
about the realisation of the Silk Road dream, since we are well on our way
to being so indebted to Chinese financial institutions and State that we
could easily, in terms of financial obligations, be converted to Chinas
virtual 25th state!

The technology-based plantation sector is intriguing to say the least! The

industry is facing critical labour shortages, may be robotic tea pluckers or
drones which could harvest the flush off the bush? Good governance is
recognised as a part of the Indo-Lanka heritage, the Dasa Raja Dharma is
finally accepted, not as a Western imperialist import, but as
something indigenous. The imperialist import theory was being hotly
promoted by a university academic, who was compared by another
venerable participant to a 500 kilo buffalo, the other night on a TV talk
show!
The introduction of pride into the military and honour into the Police service
is also welcomed, an acceptance of the fact that these attributes are sorely

lacking today. A steadfast foreign policy is promised. The dictionary

meaning of steadfast is firmly fixed or established: firm: constant:
resolute: steady. Indeed a change from the violent and irrational athin
payin behaviour we have seen in that area to date.
A collective democracy and civil administration is also promised, hopefully a
change from Samurdhi niyamakas who tie themselves to trees, Police OICs
who resign from service out of frustration in being unable to implement the
law and deputy ministers who raid Police stations, rescue suspects and
decamp to Singapore!
MY3s 100 days of change
The MY3 100 days also provides a schedule of changes. On 21 January the
process of abolishing the authoritarian executive presidential system and
replacing it with an executive of a Cabinet of Ministers responsible to
Parliament will begin. A Cabinet of not more than 25 members is welcome.
This will result in a substantial saving of money spent on the present
establishment. A National Advisory Council, including Civil Society
Representation, is something which will permit other alternative voices to
be heard in the decision-making process, other than the political hacks who
now decide everything for their own benefit.
Parliamentary oversight committees will provide a welcome democratic
check and balance on the absolute power ministers enjoy now, with a
subverted polity, administration, Police and Judiciary. The repeal of the
dynastic dictatorial 18th Amendment to the Constitution is the jewel in the
crown. The re-introduction of the electorates, tempered with district
representation also having a role, will bring back the essential link between
the elected representative and his constituents.

Being a democracy is more than just being an electocracy, each adult, one
vote, periodically! The survival of a democratic system requires and entails
a complex web of rights, obligations, powers and most importantly
constraints. Basically a democracy is the political expression of free
individuals acting in concert, otherwise it simply cannot exist.
Fundamentally, those who have won an election do not have the right to do

as they please. That is not democracy, but merely an electocracy, an

elected dictatorship! We have witnessed this in operation. Without the four
fundamental requirements of true citizens, honest guardians, functioning
markets and just laws, there cannot exist a liberal democratic system of
governance
The Code of Conduct and Rules of Ethical Behaviour for elected
representatives is very welcome, to stop the abuse of power which is
rampant now. The reestablishment of truly independent commissions to
manage the Administrative Service, the Police, the Foreign Service, the
Judiciary, and Human Rights, etc. is essential. The autonomous National
Audit Commission is to be legislated within three weeks from 19 February;
the Right to Information Bill legislated within three weeks from 20 February;
by 23 March, the Constitutional Council will be established; the present
Parliament will be dissolved on 23 April.

These are changes the nation is crying for.

The MY3 100 days program also promises a plethora of financial benefits to
the general public, public servants, those who receive hand-outs from
Government, etc.; it also promises a variety of financial incentives to
primary produces in agriculture and fisheries.
The nutrition crisis facing the country is addressed by a financial payment
to pregnant mothers; this is welcome, as it has been scientifically proved
that permanent damage can be done to the brain development of the child
if the mother is anaemic and malnourished, during pregnancy. The debt
trap in which the majority of the poor and marginalised and even some
wage earning families find themselves presently will be alleviated by better
prudential control of financial service providers.
For micro finance a regulatory institution to develop the sector is promised.
This is a very welcome step for taking the nation towards Total Financial
Inclusion (TFI), and to provide support and protection for the thousands of
depositors and borrowers in rural cooperative banks and microfinance
institutions. This sector has been neglected by design by current
policymakers, responding to pressure from certain exploitative institutions
in the financial services sector, primarily the Sakvithi type pyramid/Ponzi

schemers and their connivers.

The pivotal role young people should play in an emerging economy is
recognised by the MY3 proposals promising dedicated financial resources
for the Youth Parliament, which first was set up in 1983 at the Pulasthipura
(Polonnaruwa) Yovun Pura, which is the political base of presidential
candidate Maithripala Sirisena. Legislation will be introduced to ensure a
minimum of 25% representation in Provincial Council and Local Government
institutions. (There is no reason to exclude the Parliament.)
The current consolidation of the financial services sector will be reviewed;
this is a process which is detrimental to the borrowers and depositors as it
reduces competition among financial service sector providers and result in
cartelisation and a sellers market. Drug abuse, casinos and ethanol
racketeers are specifically referred to and will get short shrift with the full
force of the law being thrown against them. The shameless politicisation of
higher education and the UGC will be halted and reversed.
Voters faced with many promises
The voters on 8 January are faced with a whole series of promises for
change. For the incumbent whose dynasty has been calling the shots for
around a decade, and who has held positions of responsibility even before
that, it is a list of things I should have done but sadly could not do! With
the kind of absolute power the incumbent has, with all aspects of
Government including all the estates, Executive, Legislative, Judicial, even
the Fourth Estate the media firmly under his thumb and civil society
muted, by various devices, except for a few strong souls, it is indeed a sad
indictment.
For the challenger MY3, the question arises as to what he was doing as a
part of the process of Government for long years, when all he and his
coalition are promising to change was put in place? The answer that the
dictatorial autocrat brooked no dissent is credible. The only way to change
was to sit and wait (eating hoppers an option), until an over-confident,
dictatorial, arrogant, pumped up and overbearing dynastic family kitchen
cabinet urged on by a plethora of greedy, self-serving ass liquors

contemptuously surmised that they were unassailable and unchallengeable

and then to stun them by calling their bluff. That has happened.
Politicians on all sides, the jumpers, are selling their souls over and over
again for the proverbial mess of pottage or jarawa! There is a substantial
amount of grand standing; for example, one deputy minister promises to
announce which horse he is backing by his own deadline and then bolts to
Singapore! He suddenly returns and declares support for the challenger! As
the pithy Sinhala saying aptly puts it, how can such people wear clothes
and walk the streets?
Sri Lanka is at a stage of its development at which good governance in a
liberal democratic environment is fundamental. Whatever is proposed must
result in good governance (including the Dasa Raja Dharma) in a liberal
democracy. Lets examine the fundamental requirements for an
accountable liberal democratic system of government. The most
fundamental factors which are required to ensure a democratic system is
two sets of restraints. One restraint, among the people, and the other,
between the people and the state. These restraints rest on four basic
features, all essential.
Capacity to tolerate dissent
First of all, a democracy needs citizens who have the capacity to tolerate
dissent. Dissent, that is, which operates within the law. There must be
space for what has been described as a loyal opposition. Loyalty of the
citizen to the democratic political process must override their loyalty to
their own particular political point of view. Bureaucrats, the Judiciary, law
enforcers must be independent and be able to tell the politicians the limits
of their power. Citizens must accept the legitimacy of a government run by
their opponents. They must have the confidence that they, who oppose the
present administration, will in time have their own turn in government.
While the legitimacy of dissent is accepted, the use of force must be ruled
out.
Democracies need guardians

Secondly, democracies need guardians. Those who hold positions of

political, bureaucratic, judicial or military and police power, must be

independent and free to act according to their conscience, within the law,
recognising the need to comply with constitutional limitations placed on
their behaviour and that the citizens have the right to challenge excesses or
abuse of power, through recourse to an independent Judiciary. The role of
an independent media to draw attention and communicate such abusive
behaviour is also essential.
The guardians are different, from those who are referred to as bandits, in
that the guardians use their powers not for their own material or political
advantage, but act according to law, observing the legal limitations on their
authority, and act in favour of a nation for the benefit of the nation as a
whole and not in a partisan manner. The Constitutional Council and the
Independent Commissions to manage the public administration, the Police,
the Military and the Judiciary, the State-controlled media, are essential.
One may, perhaps, contra distinguish a statesman from a mere politician
in this context. Today we have far too many of the latter type!
Unfortunately, throughout the history of mankind, and in the recent past
here, power and wealth have been conjoined! The idea that the two should
be separate is a relatively new and revolutionary concept, which is the
fundamental principle in the MY3 100 days policy.
Concepts of constitutional law such as the Rule of Law and the Separation
of Powers, and the Independence of the Judiciary and Fundamental Human
Rights and Freedoms, have all evolved in the context of empowering and
institutionalising, this separation of power from pecuniary wealth.
Fundamentally, the loot, shoot and scoot tendency in undemocratic
regimes, which we have been witnesses to, is the very antithesis of this
concept of guardianship.
Properly-functioning markets, well-functioning State
Thirdly, democracies need properly-functioning markets, supported by a
well-functioning State. By a functioning market, analysts definitely do not
mean the abuse of power by the State to turn ordinary citizens assets into
ruling classes private wealth. So-called entrepreneurs who build their

fortunes on such blatant theft are no more legitimate than the politicians
who connive with them; we well know these types. Properly functioning
markets support prosperity.
A social system which is able to ensure a decent and reasonably secure
standard of living is also most likely to ensure a stable society. This enables
citizens to place trust in the rational economic behaviour of their fellow
citizens and in a stable and predictable economic future. Most importantly,
effectively functioning markets loosen the connection between financial
prosperity and political power, which is now enmeshed in one dictatorial,
corrupt and racketeering achcharu.
Effectively functioning markets make it possible for people to regard the
outcomes of elections as important, but most importantly, not as a matter
of life and death either for themselves or for their families. Some regimes
cannot imagine life without power! This lowers the temperature of politics
to a bearable level, rather than to one of basic survival.
A commonly-accepted legal regime
Fourthly, democracies need a commonly-accepted legal regime. Most
importantly, Constitutional laws and conventions. Such laws, enacted and
implemented in accordance with accepted procedures, shape the rules of
political, social and economic activities within the State.
A country that lacks the Rule of Law is permanently on the verge of
anarchy, chaos or tyranny. As succinctly stated by Lord Bingham, former
Lord Chief Justice of England, described as the greatest English judge since
World War II, the Rule of Law implies that all persons and authorities within
the State, whether public or private, should be bound by and entitled to the
benefit of laws publicly made, taking effect (generally) in the future and
publicly administered in the courts.
Sri Lankan Buddhists have a long tradition of the Dasa Raj Dharma,
Buddhist rules of good governance, which the latest avatar of the
Chinthana, seems rather belatedly to recognise, albeit in terms of an IndoLanka philosophical heritage!
Survival of a democratic system
The four principles enunciated above should make it abundantly clear, that

being a democracy is more than just being an electocracy, each adult, one
vote, periodically! The survival of a democratic system requires and entails
a complex web of rights, obligations, powers and most importantly
constraints.
Basically a democracy is the political expression of free individuals acting in
concert, otherwise it simply cannot exist. Fundamentally, those who have
won an election do not have the right to do as they please. That is not
democracy, but merely an electocracy, an elected dictatorship! We have
witnessed this in operation.
Without the four fundamental requirements of true citizens, honest
guardians, functioning markets and just laws, there cannot exist a liberal
democratic system of governance, which the MY3 100 day proposals aspire
to. Such a rules-based liberal democratic system is a bulwark against
corrupt, abusive and autocratic governments.
Liberal democracies are on average richer than non-democracies. They are
less likely to go to war and have a better record for fighting corruption.
More fundamentally a liberal democratic environment gives citizens the
space to speak their minds freely and shape their own and their childrens
futures.
The choice, before the voter, on 8 January is stark. The dynastic incumbent,
who is now incredibly promising changes he has not done for almost a
decade in absolute power (remember Lord Acton Power corrupts, absolute
power corrupts absolutely), or the challenger who leads a credible
coalition, promising change. Remember, eternal vigilance is the price of
Liberty.
(The writer is a lawyer, who has over 30 years of experience as a CEO in
both State and private sectors. He retired from the office of Secretary,
Ministry of Finance and currently is the Managing Director of the Sri Lanka
Business Development Centre.)
Posted by Thavam