By Achini Ediriweera – 

I still stand by my statement published on Janatha Mathaya in 2018. I see a dire need to educate the public on their role in eradicating corruption in politics and transforming the political culture in Sri Lanka just as much as the need to stand against corrupt politicians. The state must implement systems, processes and institutions to support this cause however, the public’s input in this equation is pivotal.

This becomes problematic because we are expecting ‘corrupt politicians’ to also implement systems and processes to prevent corruption.

We also expect these same corrupt politicians to develop society to the point where citizens are capable of understanding and asserting their rights. The very existence of the non-productive parliament over the years is an example of this. However, a fine vulgar example that comes to mind is the appointment of Rohitha Abeygunawardena as the chairman of the COPE committee. We then witnessed people thanking Ranil Wickremesinghe at the end of his tenure for what? Fixing something they are all responsible for? Feeding the public crumbs. No – not good enough for me, not at all. My strong opinion is that it was their responsibility to “fix matters” for the country was bound to arrive at such a tragic position following prolong corruption.

This is why I have taken an interest in educating the public, as well as speaking out against prejudice.

Good governance is a social contract between the people and the relevant state. With this understanding and proper identification of the parties involved, we can clarify each party’s obligations to achieve good governance.

I take this opportunity to state that, I see a lot of “dancing around” the issue of corruption/ corrupt politicians similar to any other important issues.   

If people enter politics with the intention of making easy money, to make (economical) decisions that benefit them personally and avoid accountability, for luxurious cars, free first-class flights, tax exemptions, luxury homes, free amenities and other extravagant privileges– would it not then make sense to remove these privileges first?? (Apologies for the redundant punctuation, but it’s warranted!)

This should be the preliminary measure taken towards the eradication of corruption – one before appointing persons such as Rohitha Abeygunawardena as the chairman of the COPE committee which oversees corruption – indeed this is in the past but, relevant!

This dancing around the problem is intentional – not stupidity.

I challenge politicians with the following questions:

Why do you need a first-class flight?

Why do you need luxury cars or multiple vehicles and homes?

Why should you be compensated for providing a public service?

How do you justify your extravagant expenditures when so many children are starving, animals are suffering, and people are living in poverty?

My plea to the current administration led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake:

If you are serious about eradicating corruption, development, and filtering out the wrong individuals, as a preliminary step you must remove all privileges that attract the wrong people to politics. This should be the primary measure, alongside addressing the root causes for a sustainable solution.

This is my personal note to Anura Kumara Dissanayake and his administration. I am hopeful that they will do a good job. I admire certain values this administration has demonstrated so far, and though my views are subject to change—because this is not loyalty—I remain optimistic. Truly, I am.

I emphasise on the following for the public to consider: 

When assessing one’s eligibility to run for elections or when choosing who to vote for, it is of paramount importance to evaluate individuals on a case-by-case basis.

While it is the responsibility of political parties to nominate competent candidates with good intentions, it is also the public’s responsibility to vote wisely. You, the people, set the standard for what is acceptable. It is important to remember this.

The current hype on one’s educational qualifications being the ‘absolute’ measure to deter corrupt individuals from entering politics is not going to lead to success in achieving the said goal.

‘Education’ as I always say, is merely an “instrument” a passionate individual would utilise to execute the duties of a  role they are responsible for. Whether in governance of a country or any other profession.

Education does not guarantee that someone is not going to be corrupt. There are many educated corrupt individuals in Sri Lanka and in the rest of the world too. Were all the people who defrauded you in your personal lives uneducated? With no qualification? -Food for thought. We know many examples that come to mind in this context in respect of politics. I have encountered them personally and professionally, and I’m sure you have too.

Education does not guarantee competence either. There are many educated incompetent professionals in the world. We can list many alongside various catastrophic examples of their incompetence. Whilst leaving reasonable room for mere human error and oversights-– all of which we must always allow room for (I make mistakes, you do too) – what I am highlighting here is “incompetence”.

Educational qualifications reflect discipline and commitment, but merely having a qualification does not make someone “educated” in the true sense.

When you say “educated” – you can obtain a qualification but are you “educated”? These are very separate notions.

There are many educated fools in this world as – educated people making decisions whether driven by incompetence or corrupt mind are plenty for the naked eye to see today. I experience this often even in the western world and there are overwhelming inefficiencies even in the western world too.

Therefore, what we should be looking for are passionate, ‘virtuous’, ‘ethical’ human-beings with a desire for development and reform. We must seek those with a vision, an action plan to support this vision, those who can identify existing problems and an action plan to address and resolve/ improve these problems.

Ask yourselves: “How do we ensure someone is a good human being?” “How can we be certain they have the right intentions”. I appreciate this is a difficult task and agree, that unfortunately we live in a world where we can barely trust our immediate neighbour (ie our friends, family, colleagues) to possess these virtues. However, notwithstanding the difficulty – this is the measurement we must use and not mere educational qualifications. The responsibility for assessing politicians’ character falls on us, the people.

To find genuine, ethical, noble, virtuous, passionate, visionaries in society – they must first exist > for such individuals to exist > we must first produce such people within society.

We must then understand we are the society for people make society. With that understanding we must query ourselves – then, are we good? Are we ethical? Are we virtuous? Do we value the very things we seek? Do we possess the very humanity we crave? What are we comfortable with? What are we not comfortable with? Are we guided by a moral compass especially when we are challenged? – are WE producing, contributing towards an ethical society? Are we cultivating virtues and ethics? Are we promoting passion over survival? Are we humane and compassionate?  – so good people are produced to choose from?

This must go to show that the onus to produce a good, virtuous, passionate society falls on us, the people. Secondary to that, parents, teachers, bare a good portion of this responsibility. Building society, I mean building a competent society that values the right things such as virtues, compassion and humanity is so important and has ripple effects on all affairs.

As parents, you must examine the values you are instilling in your children. What priorities are you teaching them? How are you guiding them through life?

One of my consistent observations:

One of my consistent observations is that Sri Lanka’s education system needs reform. This is one aspect I always highlight all my commentary.

The existing education system must shift from an ‘exam oriented’ system to a system that enables and triggers children to think freely. We need a system that promotes the idea that there is no one answer, there is no correct and wrong answer. We must carefully curate a system that encourages students to go out to the depths of the world, research and provide an answer which backs their reasoning as to why they support what they support. You will be surprised with the diverse findings a little child can come up with. This not only encourages children to think in a liberated manner, but it also contributes towards ‘competence’, and triggers passion. This is how a competent, passionate society is built. This is how visionaries are born!

I recall my conversations with a former chief justice of Sri Lanka that I worked very closely with. Someone I greatly respect, and you know I don’t say this often and lightly in respect of people. Especially in respect of people of power. We discussed the incompetence we witnessed in the legal profession in Sri Lanka along with various national issues that related to the specific projects we were working together on, and I was genuinely shocked.

While I truly respect those who endure hardships (breaks my heart at all times) to pursue their education, however my assertion remains: Sri Lanka’s education system must improve for all. I know these men and women go through so much, so much to pay for their education, some don’t have electricity or proper meals. I know many individuals like this. I need you to achieve more than you seem to be allowed to achieve not only for you, but the nation at large.

I highlight I do not hold these professionals mentioned above accountable nor am I shaming them. In this case, the state is accountable for their lack of efficiency, poor governance, structure and quality.

The issue here is -if a state produced passionate, competent, brave, liberated thinkers / professionals what would happen?

As a mere example let’s simply take into consideration, what happens if they produced passionate, ethical, competent, fierce legal professionals who can sit and compile a case against the state? What happens when they realise, they are being fed crumbs? – what happens? What happens when they understand their parents did not have to starve and that poverty is engineered?

Or what would happen to a corrupt state in the presence of a society that understands their rights? – the relevant state cannot sustain their corruption because society won’t accept that – that is what would happen.

People are intentionally kept in the dark and oppressed in order to sustain corruption and this is a predominant characteristic in countries with corruption and poverty of this nature.  Always remember the smarter, wiser and bolder the society becomes a corrupt state cannot sustain itself.

This is why developing society is essential for eradicating corruption and ensuring good governance.

Good governance is a contract between the people and the government. Eradicating ignorance and fostering rational, ethical, liberated thinkers should also be our goal.

For all the reasons mentioned, the measure of a candidate’s worth is not their education, pedigree, appearance, or background. The real measure is whether we have a noble, virtuous, and competent society that can distinguish good from bad and that values the right things, such as virtues.

It is incredibly difficult to assess whether a candidate is passionate, honest, and ethical, but this is our responsibility. With the right insight and awareness, we can recognize passion and integrity. The state should also facilitate this, though a corrupt state will resist because these acts deter corruption. We must move with this understanding in mind. We must address matters at root level for sustainable outcomes.

I look forward to seeing the great possibilities that can come to fruition for my people and my motherland. I am close to you all.

*Achini Ediriweera – Daughter of former minister Ediriweera Premaratne.