Obscured info keeps real assets of politicians from public view
According to the asset declarations recently published online by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), many MPs have no cash in hand and just one Cabinet member–Health and Industries Minister Ramesh Pathirana–owns any assets abroad.
Dhammika Perera did not disclose his salary and allowances while several members of parliament answered “no” to some crucial questions while leaving others blank. TheSunday Times inspected 70 out of 236 asset declarations released, including all ministers.
Separately, the CIABOC is yet to receive the declarations of many other senior public officials. Only three out of nine governors of provinces, 133 out of 169 members of parliament without government portfolios, and 25 out of 36 state ministers have furnished details. Of the Cabinet, Fisheries Minister Douglas was the only one Minister whose declaration was not received by CIABOC as of June 30, 2024 deadline. They are required to declare assets up to March 31.
According to the Anti-Corruption Act (ACA) those who fail to declare their assets will be warned and charged a fine, and those who make false statements or wilfully omit information can be fined up to Rs. 200,000 and/or imprisoned for a year, or both.
The public release of senior officials’ asset declarations was a structural benchmark of the International Monetary Fund programme, in the interests of transparency and preventing corruption. It is enshrined in the ACA. However, there appears to be much under-reporting and CIABOC has redacted so much that the release hardly fulfils its stated functions.
Take for instance, bank accounts: CIABOC has only revealed the name of the bank, redacting the name of the account holder, account balance and the date on which the bank account was opened. Whom politicians borrowed money from is redacted as well as dates of when they purchased or acquired their immovable properties like land and apartment units. Besides redactions, some asset declarations are missing entire annexures.
An official at CIABOC who requested anonymity said they redacted bank account content in line with the ACA which states that declarations should not contain “deposit details,” among other personal information. “Some people believe we shouldn’t redact as much but during the parliamentary debate of the Anti-Corruption Act there was much worry among MPs about personal liberties and safety,” said the official. “We did this to protect their privacy and safety.” The official added that this year’s asset declaration form was the same as last year’s but that there are plans to request more comprehensive information in future ones.
Sankhitha Gunaratne, the head of Verite Research’s Governance and Anti-corruption Division said the redactions created “an asset declaration without the assets.” Gunaratne is urging an interpretation of the ACA that centres on its function of “preventing illicit enrichment and identifying conflicts of interest.”
|
Prominent candidates reveal shareholdings, multi-million rupee assets With what little information was available, the Sunday Times analysed the asset declarations of presidential candidates Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sajith Premadasa, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Namal Rajapaksa, and Wijayadasa Rajapakshe. Sarath Fonseka’s asset declaration had not yet been received by CIABOC. According to the declarations, none of the candidates nor their spouses and dependent children have bank accounts abroad except for Ranil Wickremesinghe’s wife, who has two accounts in London. W. Rajapakshe has a family business called Lotus Holdings Pvt. Ltd.; Wickremesinghe has shares in media, hotels, gems and financial institutions; Premadasa has shares in investment firms; Dissanayake has neither shares nor investments; N. Rajapaksa has a dowry consisting of a 50% share in multiple hotels and water sports centres from his wife’s family. According to a schedule attached to Premadasa’s asset declaration, he has borrowed over Rs. 100 million in twenty instalments since 2006. The 2024 balances in 17 of the loans are the same as the borrowed capital. W. Rajapakshe has immovables worth over Rs. 250 million, the values of which he was not required to declare but did anyway. N. Rajapaksa and his wife own jewellery valued over Rs. 160 million. The Wickremesinghe family has three vehicles and three properties, the Premadasas have five vehicles and two properties, the Dissanayakes have one vehicle and one property, the Rajapakshes have one vehicle and seven properties and the Rajapaksas have five vehicles and three properties (besides his dowry). |