The new Government has hit the ground running when it comes
to ‘show’. Allegations are a dime a
dozen so to speak, these days. There’s
a lot of ‘show’ but little to see, strangely.
Sure, the law doesn’t move as fast as the vengeful or the righteous want
it to. There is thing called ‘due
process’ after all. This does not
sanction the kind of vigilantism that thrills the likes of Ranjana Ramanayake,
however. A lot of the ‘showing’ can be
ignored and even forgiven, but that is only if the Government demonstrated the
same kind of energy when it comes to other pledges. It has not.
It is way behind schedule in enacting policy reforms pledged
to the people. There is talk of repealing the 19th
Amendment and this is good. However,
the National Executive Council appears
to be sleeping when it comes to electoral reform. Instead we have both major parties talking ‘elections’
at every turn. Elections without reform
only guarantees further democratic deformity.
But then again, how could one expect miracles from a body that has named
itself using the word ‘Executive’ without any ‘by-your-leave’ from the public,
eh?
It looks like the architects of the promise-list were either
deliberately hoodwinking the public or were ignorant about practicalities. Whatever the reason, ‘there’s a lot to do
that we didn’t anticipate’ seems to have become a pretty common excuse. What is disturbing is that this ‘lot to do’
excuse is shelved when it comes to ‘holding elections on promised schedule’. If they need time for reform then they can
take time over elections too, the public will not mind if it took them, say,
101 days or even 135 or 214.
In this context one must applaud the Media Ministry for
acknowledging practical difficulties but asserting that irrevocable steps will
be taken to get the Right to Information (RTI) Bill tabled and passed in
Parliament. The Secretary of the
Ministry, Karunaratne Paranavithana told the media that the Right to
Information will become a fundamental right, an eventuality which will force
the enactment of the Bill. The Bill was
not tabled on February 20, as scheduled, but it will see the light of day
within the much talked of ‘100 Days’ he promised.
As is true of other promised reforms, including electoral
reform, much of the spade work has already been done by various interest
groups. Tweaking is no big deal in the
year 2015 when templates are just a click away.
Those responsible for turning the RTI need of the people into a reality
by scripting it into the Constitution have enough working drafts. UNP
stalwart Karu Jayasuriya in fact came up with one in the capacity of a ‘Private
Member of Parliament’. The challenge is
to get it right the first time, even if it takes time.
The drafts that are floating around these days are too good
to be rejected. However, they remain
incomplete. Rights advocates have
pointed out that the Right to Information must cover all relevant institutions,
not just those of the state. The RTI
Acts of Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and South Africa give citizen the right to
demand information not just from state institutions but from private sector and
non-government organizations, essentially including any and every body obtaining
money directly from the Government, foreign governments or international
organizations.
The political will to get the RTI ‘done’ is certainly
greater than the will to enact electoral reforms. If that’s all that this Yahapaalana adventure is going to yield, then so be it. But, let us reiterate, it should be
comprehensive. The 17th
Amendment had holes. We don’t need the
RTI to have any.
The Nation
supports this Bill. We will suffer
delays that are unavoidable. We will
not, however, go along with a half-baked document that allows some outfits to
do the hanky-panky and get away with it.
It is good to make sure state institutions are held answerable to the
people, but if you also make sure you offer immunity from scrutiny to NGOs, for
example, you are cheating the citizen.
1 comments:
Given past (in)action I have very little faith that the manifesto proposals will be adhered to in letter or spirit. However, miracles do happen. The RTI should apply to civil society too. They are "reps" of society, after all.
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