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Will Pandora be a jack-in-the-box? 

06 Oct 2021

Amidst the unprecedented suffering resulting from the pandemic, we have once again been reminded of a more insidious illness that has plagued society – while some beg and starve, a select few continue to hoard enough wealth to make this insurmountable twin challenge of potential death and deprivations of poverty, seem insignificant.  This reminder came in the form of the Pandora Papers, a set of leaked records investigated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) that detailed tax evasive offshore dealings and revealed wealth hoarding by many of the leaders entrusted to protect the interests of the people. Sri Lanka saw its own representatives in these documents – former Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa, who is the cousin of the incumbent President, Prime Minister and Finance Minister, and her husband Thirukumar Nadesan.  The documents allege that the couple was involved in shell companies that obtained lucrative consulting contracts from foreign firms doing business with the Government of Sri Lanka. They further alleged that Nadesan’s wealth was estimated at $ 160 million in 2011, while one of the Singapore based offshore services providers he employed managed assets valued at about $ 18 million on his behalf. It was also alleged that these funds were directed, through the shell companies, towards acquiring artwork and luxury apartments in foreign countries, as well as securities and other assets.  The political response on the local front towards these allegations has been vocal. National People’s Power (NPP) Leader and Opposition Parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake claimed on 4 October that Nadesan was just a part of a corrupt ring of thieves within the country’s topmost level of leadership, and slammed the Government for not initiating a prompt investigation into the matter. In Parliament yesterday (5), Samagi Jana Balawegaya Opposition MP Thushara Indunil Amarasena similarly called on the Government to launch a probe into the same.  However, the Government has appeared somewhat reluctant to broach the issue, with Cabinet Co-Spokesman Udaya Gammanpila stating on 4 October that the alleged dealings only refer to “a retired politician from a business family”, and that the Commission to Investigate into Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) would be the agency to investigate the truth of such allegations. Whatever the case, these allegations only serve to cast negative optics over the nature of the dealings engaged in by individuals that held political power and are connected to the highest strata of Government. The first issue is that of tax evasion – should any public official be linked to, let alone engage in, offshore shell companies, which are typically utilised for the purpose of tax evasion and money laundering?  Another issue is the blatant conflict of interest that arises from a former public official acquiring consultancy fees from foreign companies engaged in Government contracts. However legitimate such funding may be, it is bound to be highly suspect unless publicly declared, and even if so, gives rise to further concerns. But tying it all back to the optics is one underlying thread – why the need for secrecy through so many offshore firms?  Now attention has been drawn to this incident, and it calls for appropriate action. An investigation is needed, not only by the CIABOC, but also by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s Financial Intelligence Unit, as well as all other relevant stakeholders, to acquire the information required. Nothing but a thorough investigation will suffice, not when international journalists managed to burrow through the documents to discover these skeletons in our political and corporate closets.  And this brings us to the final question: Why did it take an international investigation to bring these matters to light? Has Sri Lankan society grown so accustomed to a standard of corruption that such things slip beyond our notice? The same units we will rely on to investigate this issue should have been proactive enough to prevent it in the first place, but apparently failed at their task. At the same time, we have measures such as the Right to Information (RTI) Act to ensure transparency, but these have proven equally ineffective. This begs the question as to whether the media and anti-corruption watchdogs in civil society are also sleeping on the job. We must also remember that only a few years ago, the Panama Papers, which similarly brought forth allegations regarding shady dealings, featured more Sri Lankans than the recent leak, but our commotion over those subsided quickly – as we do with all things. So will this prove to be the same with Pandora’s box, where instead of serving as a harbinger of systemic change, it would turn out to be merely a jack-in-the-box, only to be wound up again and packed away for a future surprise and source of entertainment?  


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