Comment 1:
Making good on Elections promises is not easy, when you use the due process rules of law, which the previous govt. did away with. It simply takes time. In the case of MPs and their families it is the same like when a Policemen are taken in, fellow officers also think long and hard, and until there is a cast iron case they don’t take action at the same speed as for us mere mortals. That is not an excuse but there are things that can easily and not easily be proved in a court of law.Comment 2:
Take the case of Al Capone the notorious gangster, he was in the end indicted on MAIL FRAUD as that was more easily proved over the real crimes he had committed, due to witness tampering etc.
Remember our Parliamentary Gangsters have the best lawyers at their disposal, and there is nothing worse than the case failing in Court after all the obvious evidence. Think about it you lose respect for even the law then!
Under Gota’s Law, Duminda would have been locked up immediately, and would have been shot dead, whilst trying to run away, when he was taken to a spot where drugs would be found. Under Maithri’s law, the witness protection bill only just passed in Parliament last week offering a modicum of protection for those who are willing to testify against Duminda!
Then you have Govt. MPs who will also be implicated if Duminda squeals, you have his brother Raynor helping the Govt. and thereby seeking some respite, and then you have the evidence. It looks now that investigations are looking into the source of funds in the 60 bank accounts. Then under what law do you arrest him? It is how they hide their dirty deeds that make it difficult.
Then we have a Police and CID that is actually incompetent in finding financial fraud, and exchange control violations, so prosecution takes time.
THE PUBLIC IS IMPATIENT – Ranil will be voted out of office due to this impatience – and we are back to square one.
Who do we blame Ranil or the public? Or even the 100 day Govt! It is a real catch 22 if you are intelligent, and a no brainer if you have been brought up under the Rajapakse way of doing things and thereby have become their slaves without our realizing it. Think about it!
Comment 3
To me above all the Rajapakses destroyed Sri Lanka’s environment in their 10 year rule, more than the British did in 150 year rule. That is not reversible whilst most other actions can be reversed through time. So I am a member of the public that votes on that basis, though I blame the Sirisena family too for their complicity in the environmental destruction.
I am afraid that due to public impatience, and elections in the offing, the Govt will take kneejerk decisions in bringing these crooks to book to please the public but in reality allow them to escape from the worst excesses using their legal rights and legal advice.
Some Countries have taken decades to find stolen money, and in the case of the Philipines, the Marcos billions took decades to find and repatriate. It is no different in the Rajapakse case as all their loot is recycled through their proxies like Dammika, Nimal, Ashok, Sumal and others, which make it very difficult to find. So their sons can say the Rs20M watch collection is NOT theirs but someone elses! It is typical that the sycho sycophants of the Rajapakse Regime are relishing this inability to find the loot! Saying none exists.
It is important the full extent of theft is disclosed to the public, and educate them that it is NOT easy to find it in a day, to make them understand reality.
The key point is the rule of law, which disappeared under the previous administration. Everyone must start off with the presumption of innocence, just because information is received a person is not automatically guilty. Even to take someone into custody it is necessary to be able to charge them. The fact that a car or a luxury house is uncovered is not enough, it will be necessary to first prove ownership and then go to a more difficult level of proving that these were bought from the proceeds of bribery. For that it would be necessary to investigate the various deals done and then trying to trace where money was paid. There is a short guide here, which the gist what it takes to prove bribery.
Make no bones about the excesses of the Rajapakse Govt. It is clear as night follows day, and unbelievable that people cannot realize how he has completely destroyed Sri Lanka. You only have to look at his own Hambantotata, ruined beyond imagination, and let it be a lesson to all.
It is the word that Ranil a friend of Rajapakse’s for 40 years gave him upon leaving TT that bugs me, as he promised to protect his family!
If roles were reversed I doubt we could say the same, as one is a bandit, and the other whose word is his bond. Two different animals from two different worlds who happen to be friends. Perverse too because in politics Rajapakse destroyed Ranil’s credentials.
In this game of poker called politics, you have the nuts cases in the public, who think on their arses and in the end a minority of arses can determine the fate of a nation whether we hand it to crooks or crooks with a more altruistic intent!
This calls for, at a minimum forensic accounting skills and specialised legal expertise, which I doubt are in plentiful supply here. Wisely, they are seeking assistance from the World Bank to investigate, but all this takes time.
To some extent I think the Government has been overwhelmed by the mountain of corruption that is being unearthed-it was so widespread and blatant that people are simply tipping off the Government. The assets are being seized but gathering proof that will stand up in court is the problem.
People also need to realise that this is not the only problem that the Government needs to tackle.
They need to tackle this while trying to run the normal administration, fix the crisis in international relations, try to sort out some of the mess in public finances, all the while looking over their backs-with MR and the gang playing spoilers, especially within the SLFP.
A daunting task, that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Lets hope they can stay the course.
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