Sri Lanka's Half-Empty Democracy

We join the chorus in condemning the cowardly assassination of the Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickeramatunga and the attack against MTV/Sirasa TV. These two crimes are just the latest in a series of incidents and unresolved crimes clearly designed to intimidate the free media. Free media is an essential part of democracy. Thus this is a suitable time to reflect on the nature of our “democracy.”

All governments, past and present, market Sri Lanka's democracy to solicit assistance from western democracies. We also canvass international support on the grounds that the country's democracy is under threat from the LTTE. If Sri Lanka's democracy is substantive the case we make is justified. Unfortunately, our case has looked less and less credible in the past three decades.

The rot set in with the second Sirima Bandaranaike administration extension of the life parliament by two years, some features of the First Republican Constitution are examples - greatly accelerated during the Jayewardene administration the referendum and the executive presidency are only two examples and, fueled by the war, has deteriorated further since then.
The country today lacks some of the most basic features of democracy. Freedom of the private media is being undermined. The state media is used at the tax payers' expense to prop up the party in power.

Accountability is virtually non-existent. The wastage of colossal amounts of public funds on dead-end projects demonstrates lack of financial accountability. The persistent failure to implement the 17th amendment that had unanimous backing when it was originally written into the constitution demonstrates lack of political accountability.

Transparency is an almost alien concept to Sri Lanka's democracy as practiced today. In many areas of public policy transparency is totally lacking.
Read More>>