Faizal Salieh

Chairman – Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka

Q: What is your definition of ‘good governance’ – and how does Sri Lanka measure up to it, in your opinion?

A: Defining good governance and getting it right is a challenge. Governance has multiple dimensions and should be determined by how the state exercises its authority through formal and informal institutions in managing national resources.

The quality of governance is best measured by the impact of such exercise of power on the quality of life of the citizens.

A root cause of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is bad governance. The state of governance in the country is marred by institutional decay, excessive politicisation and corruption. The public administration system has a five layer governance structure at the national, provincial, district, divisional and village levels.

This multilevel structure functions under a strong centralised command system, and has resulted in complexities, and crises in governance and administration. The administrative culture remains powerful, and deep rooted in a culture of paternalistic norms, values and informal relations, with little regard for formal established good governance processes. This leads to abuse and malpractice.

As such, reforming policies alone is unlikely to result in major changes.

The public administration system has undergone several changes since independence with little improvements in the governance process – the changes appear to be cosmetic. We need to understand the existing correlation between the political regime, public administration culture and reforms, and their impact on governance.

These governance complexities should be addressed through an objective and holistic approach involving political will, administrative reforms and public trust – not merely by legislating policy and legal reforms.

To improve the quality of governance, there needs to be a strong political and bureaucratic commitment, system stability, institutional transformations, and independence of the judiciary and regulatory authorities.

Battling corruption is at the core of good governance therefore, sustained efforts are essential. Greater awareness is necessary among public officials, and in business boardrooms and all layers of civil society.

The present national crisis is testing the role and responsibilities of the state, business and citizens on the issue of corruption. We cannot be passive witnesses to history in our country; we must be the authors of our history. We can do this; and we must do it for ourselves and our country.