Wednesday, 9 January 2002 |
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Accountability of politicians and bureaucrats by Sqn. Ldr. J T Rex Fernando During the pre-election period and immediately after, so much has been written and spoken about on the concept of 'Accountability', in relation to politicians and bureaucrats. This is also referred to as responsibility and transparency. Most of the problems we face as a nation today can be attributed to the lack of appreciation and understanding of the concept of accountability. The crisis that has bedevilled this country has been due to the absence of accountability, which in turn, is due to the curse of a largely unassertive and servile "Leadership" of civil society. Politicians and bureaucrats regrettably have failed to adequately realise that they are accountable and responsible for the actions and their official conduct to the people. The ultimate success or failure of politicians and bureaucrats is dependent on the degree of their commitment and responsibility to the people. Sir Winston Churchill said, "The price of greatness is responsibility" while Albert Schwieter maintained "Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment and learn to exercise his will, his personal responsibility in the realm of faith and morals." What it means Very simply 'accountability' implies responsibility and the requirement to account for one's action. In a democratic society control by parliament become imperative as any government in power becomes accountable automatically to the people. An essential feature of a democracy is that responsibility of rulers to the people unlike in an autocratic state. This is secured by the responsibility of the ministers to parliament. Democratic governments have continuously attempted to jealously maintain this responsibility or accountability of politicians and office holders to the people. This is the corner stone of democracy, those elected to govern are answerable to the people who elected them. Responsibility of politicians The office a politician holds is a sacred trust. it is as a trustee that he holds public office. Booker T. Washington explicitly conveyed this obligation of a politician when he said "Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and let him know that you trust him". While Dag Hammarksgold said "To let oneself be bound by a duty from the moment you see it approaching is part of the integrity that alone justifies responsibility. The deterioration of the quality of the politician and the public servant over the years has been of such a serious nature as to bring down governments. Both the politician and the public servant are to be blamed for this, the politician only wanting blind obedience and uncritical acceptance of his ideas and plans and the public servant only thinking of his personal position and future. In such an environment where the politician and the public servant are concerned only about their personal gains and the future, interest of the nation is of no concern. Bureaucracy 'Bureaucracy' means different things to different people. Whatever the meaning the word carries people are becoming increasingly aware of the growing significance of the bureaucracy. In simple terms bureaucracy can be defined as "a government by central administration", a "state or organisation so governed", "the officials of such a government." Very rarely do people think of the bureaucracy as an essential organisation to carry out complex activities in a more complex modern society. In a democracy to assist the political system which sits at the apex of government is the administrative sub system which is the "public service" or the bureaucracy as it is commonly described. The public service being so vast and defused it is no easy task to get it to translate the political will into administration and monitor its activities. If the public service does not perform efficiently and is not adequately responsive to the people's needs, it is those at the helm of the government in power who will have to finally answer to the people. Usually, the ruling political parties are blamed for bad policies and lack of accountability in turn they lose power. But the bureaucrats who were directly responsible for designing such policies manage to escape conveniently, despite their poor track record. Considering the vital role of the public service it is necessary for the public servant to always remember that the public servant has been created as servant of the primary group. A public servant is required to serve all members with no favouritism in an impersonal equitable and efficient manner. It is an undisputable fact that when the social aspiration of the masses are obstructed by bureaucratic interests and indifference as the 'servant' becoming the master, the consequent frustration in society may manifest itself in violent forms such as civil disturbances, revolutions and the overthrow of the government itself. In analysing the causes for the defeat of the PA government, political pundits may attribute it to many reasons. It is however an undisputed fact that the scant respect of the concept of accountability, in fact the complete disregard contributed in no small measure for the ignominious defeat of the PA government. It is the wish of every patriotic citizen today that the UNF will spell out the formula of accountability which will inevitably help to clean the public sector. A large majority of those elected to office as well as those in the public service regrettably tend to forget this sacred obligation by the people in that they are accountable to the people. This slowly but surely results in lethargy, neglect of duty, personal aggrandizement, corruption and nepotism. One of the fundamental problems with regard to the political culture was the incidence of bribery and corruption on an ever increasing scale in all sectors of our public life. This malaise which bedevilled Sri Lankan Society since independence assumed unprecedented proportions, during the last seven years. Crimes and misdeeds The precarious situation that was brought about by neglect of duty, abuse of power and incompetence was further aggravated by the condonation of misdeeds and crimes by incomprehensible reprieves granted essentially on the basis of political considerations. It must be noted that Sri Lanka is indeed a unique country despite the horrendous allegation of rampant corruption and abuse of power, many of which have been supported by documentation no one has ever been made really accountable. Despite severe mismanagement and rampant corruption of C.E.B. and the estimated loss of a sum of excess of Rs. 18 Billion to the economy, no one has been made truly accountable. Public service Sometime back in Public Service was regarded as the brain wave of the country - most efficiently run with dedicated officers who discharged their duties with the highest degree of integrity and loyalty. Any citizen had the confidence to approach government officials without fear, as they could expect a fair deal without being pushed from pillar to post. The difference was that they were always conscious of the fact of their accountability to their superiors and through the superiors to the public. Regrettably today most of the public servants are under the impression that they are doing an honorary job. They are not prepared to help the public whenever they call over at government departments for their legitimate dealings. They are cussed at times and the demands are ignored. Many people seek contact now to get their work attended to. We read in the newspapers with monotonous regularity of complaints, of inordinate delays, indifference and of frustrating experience with government departments in attempting to have legitimate and routine matters attended. What then is wrong with Public service and what are the contributory causes? The causes for this deterioration in efficiency and the general indifference can be attributed to - a) Political Interference; b) Wastage and Extravagance; c) Overtime; d) Bribery and Corruption. Political interference It must be accepted in theory that the public service is a neutral body that exists for the sake of the public. Unfortunately the golden rules have in the past been observed more in the breach. Politics has been a virulent cancer that has been eating into the public service. Both the politician and the public servant should be blamed for the sad state of the Public Service. The politician wanting only blind obedience and the public servant for thinking only about his personal position. The concept of accountability has been eroded by political interference and political alignment of public servants, rendering important and inefficient. Extravagance and wastage Sometime ago the former President made concerned effort to eradicate waste and extravagance in Government institutions. Boards and Corporations. Regrettably not much was achieved. Many government institutions continue unabated to spend lavishly and there have been no meaningful measures effected to curtail unnecessary expenditure, extravagance and waste. Many government, semi government departments Corporations and Boards have large fleets of vehicles of various makes which are used by them in a haphazard manner. The wide scale, blatant misuse of government and corporation vehicles for election propaganda, confounded even the election monitors. Most government departments are full of expensive furniture and equipment, some offices allocated to Directors luxuriously furnished but hardly used. It has also become a fashion for at least 3 or 4 telephones to be placed at the disposal of directors. It is preposterous for so many telephones to be used by a single individual considering the staggering expenditure on telephone bills. Overtime Overtime has become a veritable institution. It is very often manipulated by employees to supplement their normal monthly remuneration. There are adverse and harmful effects. Many studies on the subject indicate the adverse effect of excessive overtime. Low productivity, increased cost of production, inflationary tendencies deliberate time wasting, physical, nervous and mental stress complaints among the workers are some of the ill effects that have been identified as harmful both to the national economy and the workers. It must be appreciated that public officials today work in an acquisitive society where money is of paramount importance and people are hooked to consumerism. Therefore it is hardly fair to expect unquestionable integrity only from public officers weather at top or the bottom of the scale. What is necessary is to approach the problem not in isolation, but in the large' context of society the elected politician bureaucrats and the general public. New approach The New Government will be required to undertake massive development projects during its tenure of office. With the resources limitations, effective resource management is essential, a high level of efficiency will be required to be consistently maintained. Waste has to be eliminated, effective man power, budgeting ensured, overtime effectively controlled and reduced, the public service itself restructured and corrected and ethical recruitment procedures introduced. It is of little use to attribute the blame for the prevailing unsatisfactory situation and malaise solely to the previous regime. What is required is to learn by the mistake of previous governments and ensure that the weaknesses and inadequacies which have been identified are eliminated. In this context it is appropriate to emphatically re-iterate the words of John F. Kennedy "Our task is not to fix blame for the past, but fix the course for the future. The effective performance and maintenance of the public trust and confidence in the integrity of the public service, is crucial to the proper functioning of the government. The achievement of high standards of ethical conduct among public officials is central to the maintenance of public trust and confidence in the government. Adequate compensation A point often overlooked when considering the effectiveness of the public service is the virtual impossibility of improving the sense of discipline in an administrative unless its employees are adequately compensated in order to obtain an individual allegiance to the state service, public officers must be adequately compensated. Public salaries should be fixed in relation to their responsibilities and social prestige of the service attracting men of right calibre. It must however be appreciated that no government will be in a position to act as model employer by reason of its budgetary constraints. Training As important of more than compensation for making the public service effective and efficient are other factors as reward for good work and accountability for bad, participation and involvement in organisational and development activities commitment to the national development process and a national ideology. The importance of training to give all public servants the skills and knowledge required to perform their individual tasks and also the attitudinal and behavioral changes and correct values, cannot be over emphasised. The reasons why the material welfare of the people has been delayed and the causes which led the country to moral decay have been identified. The new government should endeavour to eliminate these weaknesses by restoring the dignity of the public servants. |
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