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An MP invited to a wedding at the Hilton Hotel gets drunk and goes berserk and starts shooting. It ends up with the bride's family having to pay the bill for 40 broken plates and 30 broken cups.

2. Contract killers murder a Provincial Council Minister in cold blood in a high security area and the killers get away scot-free.

3. The President of the country issues a gazette notification and in order to prevent the notification becoming public, thugs surround and setfire to the government printing press.

4. A politico assaults police officers who requested him to move his vehicles away from a dangerous position at a motor rally.

5. A reckless driver who runs over a cyclist is arrested by the police who are then forced to release him from remand under threats from a politico who objects to his 'men' being taken into custody.

6. A politico threatens Excise officers and releases the men who they have taken into custody for brewing illicit liquor.

These are not incidents from an African Republic. These are just a few examples of Sri Lankan politico using their power to save their henchmen engaged in criminal activities from being taken up before the courts of law. The PA government formerly in power cannot be exonerated from this situation.

They too had their excesses and links to criminal elements of the underworld. The crime rate in the country is soaring - and according to police statistics, in the first quarter of 2000 there were 171 kidnappings. This has increased to 215 in the first quarter of 2003. Rape has risen from 272 to 287 and robbery from 1181 to 1357 during the same period. The public are at the mercy of gangsters who operate with impunity because of the patronage of those in very high places. Even the law enforcement officers find themselves powerless when confronted with the crimes committed by these powerful criminal elements who make no secret of the source of their power.

The mores of the country changed drastically with the introduction of the open economic system. The materialistic motivations of this economic set up borrowed from the West were totally unsuited to the culture and values of the people of Sri Lanka. This brought about an environment where only the fittest survived. The new philosophy of the 'end justifying the means' and where political power swept aside the rule of law saw the increasing abuse of power by the politicians become the norm rather than the exception.

The emergence of Tamil Tiger terrorism that has been ravaging Sri Lanka for over twenty years is a factor that added fuel to this situation. Feeling threatened by the frequent suicide bombings of prominent members of the forces, the politicians thought they too would become targets of the Tamil Tigers. In order to feel more secure they recruited bodyguards from among their loyal supporters who had helped them to power by use of force during election time. This was also a good way of rewarding the loyal supporters with positions paid for by taxpayers.

Politics, anywhere in the world, has always been a dirty game but it has never been as dirty as this in any country. Sri Lankan politicians have surrounded themselves with gangsters and criminal elements posing as their bodyguards. Every two-bit criminal boasts of having the patronage of one politician or another. It is not impossible for politicians also to have a murky past connected to the underworld. Take the recent killing of a Minister from the Southern Provincial Council - M. K. Ranjith or Chandi Malli. Not only is his murder connected to an underworld gang, he himself was under orders to report to the CID monthly - a thing only criminals are required to do. The murder of this politician is not an isolated incident. The news media brings daily reports of some excess committed by a politico or one of his thugs against either an opponent or someone who would not bow done to their 'power'.

It is high time that the Government - which includes the executive, the legislative and the judiciary, took some steps to curb these excesses of the politicians whose abuse of power will give this Government the dubious distinction of being sordid. Plans are being formulated to put in place crime prevention measures, including citizens committees at grama sevaka level to work with police, publishing photographs of known underworld criminals in the police gazette and rewards offered for information about them. These measures, though laudable, will be to no avail unless the connections between the criminals and politicians are severed.

To decriminalise politics in Sri Lanka, the following steps should be taken by the Government:

* Enact laws to ensure that MPs once elected sever all connections with any private business interests they may have had previously, and put their shares in a blind trust.

* Empower the judiciary and the law enforcement institutions, separating them from the sphere of Government influence to ensure that all citizens are equal before the law and politicians cannot abuse their powers and circumvent the law.

* Remove all weapons from private hands, including the LTTE and PLOTE and disband all private armies, including the private bodyguards that form the entourage of politicians.

* Link promotions and bonuses of police officers to reduction of crime and not political patronage.

* Set up a separate Civilian Commission and an independent police unit answerable to the civilian commission to inquire into corruption within the police and other security personnel.

* Strengthen the Bribery Commission.

* Prior to being elected all candidates to declare their assets and all MPs to declare their assets annually after being elected to Parliament.

* Change the present PR system of elections to eliminate rivalries even within the party that lead to murders of candidates.

* Ensure the independence of the news media both the print and electronic. If politicians do not take action to curb their own excesses, the public will have to take matters into their own hands:

* No longer should politicians be invited as chief guests at various functions such as weddings, school prize-givings and sports meets. * Politicians should not be upheld as role models for young children. * The people should avoid politicians as though they carried a plague and instead invite more humble but worthy people to grace these functions.

If the politicians do not realise they are a burden on the people, it is up to the people themselves to send out this message.

In their turn, expatriate organisations who have successfully lobbied western governments to harden their attitude to the LTTE, will lobby these governments to link and packages with good governance and rectitude rather than structural adjustment.

(World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka)

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