How does Govt. spend your money?

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Do you, as a citizen of this Republic, know exactly what governments do with your money – that you provide to the State through direct and indirect taxes? At long last, Sri Lankan legislators have passed into law a Bill that gives the citizens the ‘Right to Information’ about what Government, from top to bottom, does with public funds in the name of the citizens.

The Right to Information (RTI) Bill presented and passed in Parliament last week, provides for the setting up of a public information mechanism that empowers citizens to ask for information about a wide range of governmental and administrative activity using public funds.

Successive governments had previously introduced Bills for this purpose but failed to secure their passage in Parliament since 2004. With the passing into law of the RTI Bill, the Sunday Observer asked several parliamentarians for their comments on this new law which empowers citizens to inquire from government about its numerous activities using public funds.

Public funds are obtained through direct and indirect taxation from the citizens and the new law now gives citizens the right to ask for details how these funds are spent. While some parliamentarian hailed the new law as a progressing move, others questioned the capacity of the law and, the mechanism that it sets up, to enable citizens to comprehensively obtain government information.

Some thought it is somewhat retrogressive for according to them, it, far from opening the gates, restricts information relating to defence, bilateral or multilateral agreements and a few other selected areas.

The Government however argues, if not for certain constitutional limitations, this historic piece of legislation would have blossomed into perfection.

Observations

The Act is already listed as the seventh best in the world by the Canadian Centre for Law and Democracy.Here are the observations by some Parliamentarians on the RTI during the Second Reading debate in Parliament on Thursday and Friday.

Prime Minister Ranil WickremesingheThe RTI Bill would help consolidate democracy in the country and hold the Government accountable to the public.

Moving the RTI Bill for the Second Reading in Parliament, the Premier said, the move would be a giant step towards good governance as it would ensure public accountability of the government to citizens.

The RTI was a key pledge of the Government and a victory for all citizens including those who did not vote for it. It was not a party political agenda or issue.

It would take at least one year to fully implement the provisions of the RTI as the Government needed to recruit and train around 12,000 persons to carry out the task and said it is not an easy task to recruit and train such a large number, but steps will be taken to recruit half that number within six months.

In 2003, the UNP first attempted to introduce an RTI Bill but after it lost power in 2004, the Bill went into cold storage.

Legislation

At that time, the Bill was titled the Freedom of Information Bill. If the UPFA Government which came to power in 2004 enacted this legislation, Sri Lanka could have become the first country in South Asia to pass an RTI Bill. If the RTI law had been in place, some of the excesses of the previous Government which are only coming to light now would have been exposed a long time ago.

The country has suffered huge losses due to the suppression of vital information related to the economy over the last ten years of the previous regime. Despite the request by the civil society to go ahead and pass the RTI, the former Government deliberately avoided it and endorsed corruption.

This situation has since changed and no Government can conceal the information hereafter. Right to information is a fundamental right of the people and it helps to strengthen democracy.

Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Minister Gayantha Karunatilake said nearly 120 countries have ensured the right to information through such Bills. For the first time in the world, it was Sweden which gave the right to information to their people 250 years ago. Even though all countries in South Asia have introduced this important piece of legislation, we were lagging behind.

The importance of this kind of Bill had been discussed for a long time. In 1994, then Media Minister Dharmasiri Senanayake stressed the need to introduce such a Bill. Then President Chandrika Bandaranaike and her Government also stressed the need for such a bill and appointed a committee under the chairmanship of Attorney-at-Law R.K.W. Gunasekera. Several attempts by us to bring this legislation was thwarted by the previous regime.

Issues

After the UNF Government came to power in 2002, then Prime Minister drafted an RTI Bill and even got Cabinet approval. But that Government got defeated. The former Government had lots of issues to cover up. When we stressed the need for the RTI, the then Leader of the former Government questioned as to what was the need for such a law.

The former Government hid information from the people. In July, 2010, Premier Wickremesinghe, the then Opposition Leader attempted to bring the RTI Bill as a Private Members Motion.

But then Government completely thwarted the attempt citing that an Opposition Leader cannot move Private Member Motions. After that, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya as an Opposition MP moved the RTI Bill as a Private Member Motion.

However, the then Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena told Parliament that the Government is in the process of drafting an RTI bill and it would be presented before the House very soon.

Therefore, MP Jayasuriya was not allowed to move the motion. Six months later, he once again attempted to move a Private Member Motion. But the then Government went for a vote and defeated it by using its steamroller majority in Parliament. This historic Bill became a reality as a result of the silent revolution that broke out on January 8, 2015.

Countries like India had to bring this kind of legislation due to protests by the people. In Sri Lanka, the Yahapalana Government itself came forward and moved the bill.

The Centre for Law and Democracy in Canada has ranked the RTI as the seventh best in the world coming second only to India.

Sri Lanka is the last country in South Asia to move an RTI bill.Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan.The Government is the trustee of the people for a stipulated period of time.

Corruption

Therefore, the public should be well informed about its functions. Earlier, the Governments were not answerable to the people but answerable to themselves only. However, this new piece of legislation has reversed this trend. This new law would help prevent waste and corruption.

In the past, state institutions were politicized while the impartiality of the judiciary faced serious threats. Today, there is a demand for foreign judges. The state institutions should be allowed to function freely. Most of the countries where the RTI Bill has been implemented, have exempted certain matters.

The RTI bill passed in India in 2005 has also exempted certain areas in the bill. There is a need to exempt certain activities in the national interest of the country. The institutions established under the RTI have a responsible task. The Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) in a document submitted to me has highlighted certain discrepancies in the Sinhala and English texts of the RTI Bill.UPFA Colombo District Parliamentarian Wimal WeerawansaEverybody thinks the RTI Bill would empower people’s right to information, minimize corruption and add a new feature to people’s sovereign power.

Before all these, the Government should have held the Local Government Elections on time and it would at least safeguard the existing power of the people.

At present, all Local Government institutions have been made ineffective due to postponing the elections, bringing them under the control of a bureaucracy.

Holding elections on time is a characteristic feature of people’s sovereign power. The Government, by completely ignoring this salient feature says they have added more features to people’s sovereign power. At present, the right to information is implemented in two ways without having even an RTI bill.

Right to information

Two hundred and twenty five Parliamentarians have the right to access information on any Government affair. It is the Government’s bounden duty to respond to queries raised on various issues. When we look at the perspective from the media and the people, there is a possibility to informally obtain certain information from Government officials and institutions without disclosing the source.Some frauds and malpractices on the purchase of arms were exposed by the media during the war. Even today, there is a system to access information informally, without facing serious constraints.

However, the Government has denied even that. For example, information relating to any overseas trade agreement where the negotiations have not been concluded even after a lapse of ten years shall not be disclosed.

Sometimes, such international trade agreements may have serious impacts on the country’s future. The RTI Bill has deliberately blocked the issues which have serious consequences on the country’s future. The opportunity to obtain such information informally and place it before the public has been completely done away with.

To minimize or prevent corruption, the Audit Bill should be passed in Parliament. If somebody through the implementation of a government project has caused a damage or loss, the Auditor General should be given powers to personally recover the money from that particular person.

Amendments

The Joint Opposition has proposed some amendments on certain sectors which have denied access to information.

JVP Kalutara District Parliamentarian Nalinda JayatissaThe RTI is a stepping stone to strengthen democracy. Former regimes which ruled the country always attempted to suppress the people. In the context of governance, the right to information is very vital.

Presenting the RTI is a victory achieved by the people themselves. But we regret over the long delay of moving this bill.

Although most of the countries introduced such legislation many years ago, we were lagging behind. Sri Lanka becomes the last country in South Asia to pass the RTI. During the last ten years, democracy in the country worked anti-clockwise. Journalists who attempted to divulge important information were either killed or assaulted or disappeared. In addition, some media institutions were set on fire.

Under these circumstances, there was inordinate delay to bring up this important piece of legislation. Today, the opportunity provided to discus this legislation is victory for the people. The RTI would pave the way to strengthen democracy and prevent fraud and malpractices.