A cosmetic reshuffle

Tuesday 24th October, 2023

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has effected what may be called a mini Cabinet reshuffle. He has chosen to shift problems, as it were, instead of solving them. Keheliya Rambukwella, who failed as the Health Minister, and became a huge embarrassment to the government, has been appointed the Minister of Environment. Is it that the President is devoid of any concern for the health of the environment?

What the government ought to do is to eliminate the root causes of the problems in the health sector, and work out a long-term strategy to prevent the recurrence thereof, but President Wickremesinghe has adopted a whack-a mole approach to problem solving. This kind of reactive or patchwork management is bound to fail in the long-run.

Dr. Ramesh Pathirana has been sworn in as the Minister of Health. The health sector woes, which are legion, will not go away simply because a medical doctor has become the Health Minister. Most doctors and other Sri Lankan professionals in politics are like the wooden haft of an axe in the hands of a lumberjack; they assist in the destruction of their own kind. The Government Medical Officers’ Association has been out for the scalps of some doctors holding administrative positions in the Health Ministry over their disservice to the health sector and the medical profession. It is hoped that Dr. Pathirna will be different.

Some public officials are as corrupt as politicians. The Health Ministry is run by a corrupt bureaucratic Mafia consisting of some doctors. Their crooked deals bleed billions of rupees from the state coffers annually, as health workers’ trade unions have pointed out. It will be impossible to revitalise the health sector as long as corrupt officials remain in high posts.

Dr. Pathirana, a former government medical officer, must be au fait with affairs in the Health Ministry. He cannot be unaware that tackling the problem of corruption will be half the battle in straightening up the health sector. Transparency is the most efficacious antidote to corruption, and the chances of Dr. Pathirana’s success as the Health Minister will be greater if the affairs of his new ministry are conducted in a transparent manner with all allegations of malpractices being probed thoroughly and expeditiously. At present, the corrupt are enjoying free rein and enriching themselves at the expense of the public. Equally, Dr. Pathirana will have to get rid of the top-rung health officials as a matter of priority, and handpick some men and women of integrity to run his ministry. This country is not short of honest, efficient public officials, but the problem is that politicians surround themselves with crooked stooges in the garb of bureaucrats. Health workers’ trade unions have already exposed many corrupt deals in the Health Ministry. So have the parliamentary watchdog committees. What they have uncovered must be investigated and the culprits brought to justice. Whistleblowers play a pivotal role in battling waste and corruption effectively and must not be treated as enemies.

The environmental sector is already plagued with many issues, most of which are chronic, and now it has another problem to contend with! The Ministry of Environment has never been free from corruption. One can only hope that the situation therein will not take a turn for the worse owing to yesterday’s mini Cabinet reshuffle.

Some of the failed politicians responsible for the current economic crisis have managed to claw their way into the present Cabinet, and others are doing their darnedest to grab ministerial posts with the help of the SLPP leadership. They are bringing pressure to bear on President Wickremesinghe to accommodate them in the Cabinet. The latter has been resisting their pressure, but if the SLPP succeeds in wearing him down, more crooks will become ministers and undermine his position to compass their sinister ends at the expense of whatever gains so far made on the economic front. The Rajapaksas are desperate to make a comeback and will try every trick in the book to achieve that goal. If they succeed in their endeavour, the country will be the loser. The need for those elements to be kept at bay cannot be overstated.