The only publication that exclusively focuses on the status of governance in Sri Lanka ‘The Sri Lanka Governance Report 2012/13’ will be launched at BMICH, Colombo on 29th May 2014.
The Governance Report is a regular publication of Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) which brings into focus key governance issues and discusses the main incidents, trends and best practices pertaining to governance within a given year. This report covers 2012/2013 period and focuses on issues related to seven thematic areas of governance with balanced and unbiased content based on accurate and credible evidence.
The report begins with an overview of the governance status of the period under review. It critically examines with examples the instances where the rule of law has been undermined and how politicians have flouted the law with impunity. In addition to that chapter the report has six other chapters that focus on specific areas that are facing a crisis in governance. “The Increasing Burden of Public Debt” analyses the ever growing public debt, its macroeconomic impact and the extent of the total public debt. “Impeachment of the 43rd Chief Justice” of Sri Lanka covers the procedures followed by judicial and legislative bodies at various stages of the impeachment process that resulted in the removal of the incumbent Chief Justice from office.
The Chapter on ‘Illegal Dispossession of Land’ provides a synopsis of the current crisis of land dispossession in Sri Lanka and assesses the legality of the methods used to deal with land. It provides an overview of the legal and policy framework in Sri Lanka and seeks to address some of the key practices that remain inconsistent with a legal framework pertaining to the state land.
Sri Lanka’s reputation in sports has been tarnished with recent allegations of corruption and mal governance in sports administration. The article on “Sport and Corruption” shows how discrepancies in the general governance structure have adversely affected the integrity of sports in Sri Lanka.
The sixth chapter titled “The Dilemma of the Sri Lankan Media” broadly attempts to trace the changes in the media sphere from colonial times through its path of evolution in the post-independence era. The article reveals that the internal disorganization and the extent of corruption in the media organizations themselves have invariably made them vulnerable to direct and indirect control of the government.
The seventh and final chapter “The Problem of Governance in Sri Lanka; Do they really matter? An examination of governance indices” provides an exhaustive exploration into a selected set of governance indices, such as Corruption Perception Index (CPI), The Failed States Index (FSI), Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), Countries at the Crossroads Survey (CCS). It seeks to understand how Sri Lanka performs broadly in relation to many dimensions of governance and compares itself with other countries in the world.