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Waiting for the dawn of peace

bradmon

War is over but peace has not dawned. LTTE is eliminated yet the war situation continues. This seems to be the feeling in the country. Emergency remains and all the Emergency regulations are in force. For the people, it’s a state of war.” So said the distinguished civil servant Bradman Weerakoon at a discussion held recently on the ‘Sri Lanka Governance Report 2009’ released by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL).

Recalling that the Emergency had been in force at various times since 1972, he said that some governments did foolish things using the Emergency. Pointing out that the public is wondering why an emergency is still in force, he said that the prevalence of the Emergency hinders any protest activity. It is also possible to bring in new regulations any time. Emergency provides power to the elected public officials, he said, and questioned whether there is a need for them to get about in large convoys. “Do you need 13 cars? Is it necessary? Whom do they fear now?” he asked.

Mr Weerakoon was commenting on the contents of the Governance Report which he described as “clean, concise, factual, authentic, evidenced-based information backed by references.” He found it most interesting and picked up a lot of new information. He commended the Report as a good read.

In his opening remarks, Mr Weerakoon said that TISL deserves a commendation for courage at this particular time and stressed that the situation would be much worse if not for the work done by TISL.  Hailing TISL Executive Director J C Weliamuna as an outstanding public figure in Sri Lanka, he said that Mr Weliamuna has faced really serious challenges but continues with his service.

Continuing his views on salient features in the Report, he expressed his concern over the non-implementation of the 17th Amendment which he described as “a historical piece of legislation” which made the 1978 Constitution more democratic and took away most of the arbitrary powers that the Executive President is entrusted with. “Nobody knows what has happened to the 17th Amendment. It has just vanished. Probably it will vanish into thin air.”

He was also disturbed by the politicization in education and foreign affairs revealed in the Report which has highlighted that appointments are made not on merit but on political affiliations.

In what he termed as “an excellent article”, Mr Weerakoon was impressed with the analysis on ‘Post-conflict challenges of governance in the North & East’.

He found a great idea in the ‘Clean Hands’ movement spearheaded by the Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration & Home Affairs, which gives “a little bit of hope”, as Mr Weerakoon put it.

Free Media Movement Secretary Sunil Jayasekera spoke on the challenges faced by media in Sri Lanka and TISL Media Officer Ananda Jayasekera elaborated on his contribution to the Report on the decline of media freedom in the country.

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