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The process set in motion by the appointment of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate alleged political victimisation  during the time of the Yahapalana Government has raised questions with regard to its impact on the Rule of Law in particular and Democracy in general.

It has been a common practice in the history of our country after the change of any government, for the incoming administration to appoint a committee to inquire into and provide redress to public officials, who may have been victimised for political reasons. Usually these committees look into issues of transfers, denial of promotions and other disciplinary actions taken against government officials on purely political grounds. If the charges were proved, redress had been granted to such officials.

This is the first time a Presidential Commission of Inquiry has been appointed to inquire into the “political victimisation” of high profile politicians and their associates by a new Government.

The three-member commission was appointed on January 9, 2020 by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to inquire into complaints of political victimisation that occurred between January 8, 2015 and November 16, 2019.

The final report of the Commission of Inquiry was handed over to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa by its Chairman retired Supreme Court Judge Upali Abeyratne at the Presidential Secretariat on December 8, 2020.

The report was subsequently presented to the Cabinet by the President. The Cabinet which includes several persons in respect of whom the Upali Abeyratne Commission had made recommendations  granted approval for the recommendations to be implemented pointing to a clear conflict of interest.

At the end of January 2021, the President took the unusual step of appointing a special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into political victimisation.

The special Presidential Commission of Inquiry has been tasked with creating a suitable mechanism to implement the recommendations of the final report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into political victimisation.

The special Presidential Commission is required to submit a final report or interim report within three months after conducting investigations and  make the necessary  recommendations.

Usually the findings of a Commission of Inquiry are handed over to the Attorney General to examine the report and decide on whether further investigations are necessary and to initiate prosecutions thereafter if necessary.

In this case the President has chosen a different mechanism and appointed a special Presidential Commission to conduct further investigations.

Many of the allegations in respect of which political victimisation have been made are before the Courts while some cases have already been concluded. All these cases have been filed after intensive investigations and examination of the evidence  by the Attorney General’s Department.

Where such cases have been concluded they have gone through the judicial process in the country. Any reversal of these decisions except through the tested judicial process will result in an erosion of confidence in the judicial process as well as the Attorney General’s Department.

Implementing the recommendations of the Upali Abeyaratne Commission will create a bad precedent and another level of impunity in respect of the political elite.

The whole process set in motion by the Government also seems  to have another motive. The recommendations made to take action  in respect of several Opposition bigwigs are designed to weaken and eliminate all Opposition to the Government. A case of killing two birds with one stone.

There could be many other unanticipated consequences which  could impact on the country as well.  When the Government of President J. R. Jayewardene set in motion a process of removing the civic rights of MrsSirimavo Bandaranaike through the mechanism of a Presidential Commission of inquiry the country had to face disastrous consequences with a  far reaching impact.

After removing the SLFP leader’s civic rights in 1981, President J. R. Jayewardene decided to ‘roll up the electoral map’ and hold  a Referendum instead of the Parliamentary Elections scheduled for 1982.

Consequently  RohanaWijeweera  the JVP Leader and VelupillaiPrabakaran the LTTE Leader were deprived of the opportunity of contesting and coming into Parliament.  Parliament usually has a sobering effect on the most revolutionary of politicians but the undemocratic act of holding a Referendum instead of Parliamentary Elections pushed both the JVP and the LTTE out of the political mainstream.

The rest is history with the country getting embroiled in two insurrections which led to so many lives being lost and the country’s development lagging behind.

The process set in motion by the UpaliAbeyratne headed Commission heralds a dangerous  trajectory which impacts on democracy as a whole. Short term political gain should not be allowed to cause  long term harm to democratic governance.

Despite changing the goal posts and  enacting the 20th Amendment to the Constitution that centralises power in the Executive Presidency, there is a sense that the Government is still greatly insecure and is therefore targeting the Opposition.The Government has yet to table the UpaliAbeyratne Commission report in Parliament. However clearly some excerpts are in the public domain if various media reports are any indication. The sooner the report is made public the better in order to generate public discussion on a matter that can have far reaching implications for the Rule of Law and Democracy. (javidyusuf@gmail.com)