The Right to Know

Changing the Culture of Secrecy within Govt… towards the Freedom of Information Bill

Right to Information is a fundamental right guaranteed in the international Human Rights (HR) law.

This means that the general public should have access to information, normally held by public authorities. In this highly technological era, Right to Information is vital, than in any other period. If the general public have sound access to information, it clearly displays the level of HR in a society. In reality, governments are more restrictive in releasing information to the general public. Successive governments in Sri Lanka, have failed to legislate and implement the right to information to the general public. The above views were highlighted at the 5th Sanvada/community meeting organised by the Pathfinder Foundation, held recently at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.

The objective of this meeting was to discuss the proposed Freedom of Information Bill, which has been considered by various Governments in the past, without being presented to Parliament for debate.
The panel for this Sanvada comprised of Executive Director, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Rohan Edrisinha, Executive Director, LIRNE Asia, Dr. Rohan Samarajiva - Moderator, and Special Correspondent, The Hindu, B. Muralidhar Reddy.

According to Dr. Rohan Samarajiva, the Moderator, such a Sanvada is timely, considering the need of civil society to see the presentation of the proposed Bill in Parliament for discussion and passing, understanding their Right to Information affecting their lives.

The first step towards discussion in Parliament is analysing and reviewing the current government structure, as regards supply of information and making recommendations for reforming the age-old secrecy laws and similar regulations governing public officials and institutions. It is evident that there is great reluctance on the part of the government, to release information pertaining to civil society. He further emphasised that such an important piece of legislation such as “Freedom of Information Bill” should be formulated in a transparent, just, consultative and participatory manner.

The main speaker, Rohan Edrisinha, stated that enactment of the Freedom of Information Bill, by any government, will strengthen democracy and ensure good governance in Sri Lanka. The process of formulating legislations should be done in a participatory manner, particularly, with civil society involvement. Unfortunately, this has not been the practice in Sri Lanka since independence. If at all, according to the panelists, there is a culture of authority, supremacy and secrecy among those who hold high positions in governments. With the implementation of the Freedom of Information legislation, which permits the public to obtain government information, the existing culture will change to one of justification and transparency.

Within the Sri Lankan Constitution, the provisions dealing with the release of official information, is drafted in such a way as to protect the interests of the government and not civil society. In his closing remarks, Mr. Edirisinghe stated that a reasonably acceptable draft of the Freedom of Information Bill is available for the government and other stakeholders to take up for debate in Parliament.

The Hindu Special Correspondent, Muralidhar Reddy commented that that the Freedom of Information Bill passed in India, is a remarkable piece of legislation, which has paved the way for positive changes in Right to Information to the general public. He cited the Indian provincial authorities prevention from implementing World Bank supported Water sector reforms, as an example. However, Mr. Reddy explained how the Indian central government has used certain provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to prevent accessing information, on the pretext of “national security.”

As a part of the Sanvada programme, the Pathfinder Foundation is planning to release briefing notes/newsletters on specific economic legislations analysing the cost and benefits. These newsletters will be circulated among parliamentarians, policymakers, trade unions and the industry chambers.