Return the loot

Tuesday 24th August, 2021

Several Opposition MPs have let out a howl of protest against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s recent statement that the public should be prepared to make more sacrifices if the current lockdown gets protracted. Politicians belonging to both the government and the Opposition are responsible for having caused the public coffers run dry by milking public funds over the years. It is they who must be made to make sacrifices before others.

Some ministers have decided to forgo their salaries in response to the national health crisis, we are told; their decision is welcome, and others must emulate them; but let them be told that they are not making any sacrifices, as such; they are only returning a fraction of what they have taken from the public. If they return everything they have stolen from the public purse and/or obtained at the expense of the country through corrupt deals, etc., perhaps there will be enough and more funds to feed and clothe the poor for decades. There are, of course, decent men and women in politics, but they can be counted on the fingers of one hand.

Most politicians, especially ministers, have risen from humble origins to amass immense wealth. They make it a point to speak frankly about their origins during election campaigns to identify themselves with the ordinary public and win popular support, but never do they explain how they have earned so much of money. Nothing is more farcical than the laws that require them to declare their assets and liabilities; they have not helped prevent the theft of public money. This is true of the Opposition politicians as well, although they have taken moral high ground. Their hands are as dirty as those of their ruling party counterparts because they also enriched themselves while in power.

The country would have had enough funds to look after the public during the pandemic but for the colossal losses the state coffers have suffered under successive governments. The Treasury bond scams during the yahapalana administration, and the sugar tax scandal under the present dispensation are some of the mega rackets that have deprived the country of billions, if not trillions, of rupees. The recent duty waiver for milk powder imports is also said to have caused a huge loss to the state. Massive losses the country suffers due to kickbacks politicians receive from development projects are simply incalculable. Those who have benefited from such corrupt deals will not mind donating their salaries, which are peanuts for them.

It will take many more years for Sri Lanka’s economy to recover even if the world succeeds in ridding itself of coronavirus or reducing the severity of Covid-19 to that of a seasonal flu. Therefore, those who have taken turns to plunder the public wealth and are leading the life of Riley will have to do much more than donating their salaries. They will have to return at least one half of their ill-gotten wealth. If the funds stashed away in their offshore accounts are brought back, the country’s forex woes will be a thing of the past, overnight. The yahapalana government undertook to do so, but instead of ‘catching thieves’, its leaders emulated their predecessors.

If the current ruling party MPs, and the yahapalana MPs and ministers in the present Opposition are genuinely desirous of sharing the suffering of the public and making some contribution towards the country’s economic recovery, they ought to stop being a burden on the people and follow their counterparts in countries like Sweden, where only the Prime Minister is given an official car. All ministers and the Speaker have to use public transport or travel in their private vehicles at their own expense. A Swedish MP’s salary is only twice more than that of an elementary school teacher, according to media reports, and the MPs’ official apartments are little boxes where they have to do their cooking and laundry themselves.

Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin found herself in the soup a few moons ago, having spent public funds on her family breakfast at her official residence. Finally, she had to reimburse the state for her breakfast expenses. This is how right-conscious, intelligent people treat their political representatives in advanced democracies.

The people who pay through the nose to maintain their representatives gain only when the latter are made to share the former’s woes, and stop wasting public funds. The MPs and ministers will never feel the need to develop public transport unless they travel in overcrowded buses and trains. Never will they care to do anything about the high cost of living unless they are paid less, and prevented from stealing from the public purse.

Thus, it may be seen that the Sri Lankan politicians have to do much more than forgoing their salaries during the pandemic. Let it be repeated that they have to return the loot or at least part of it.