Political appointments, the bane of public institutions

The resignation of Priyantha Kariyapperuma from the post of Director General of the Telecom Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) has become the talk of the town.
According to Kariyapperuma, he has resigned from the post to pursue higher knowledge in satellite technology, a productive thought in terms of the country’s future, of course if the given reason is genuine. But, the talk among the political circles suggests something else. It is said that during the presidential election Kariyapperuma had allegedly pledged support to the common candidate put forward by the opposition alliance.
This editorial does not wish to discuss what Kariyapperuma did, whether it was right or wrong, but it wishes to be critical of the system which enabled Kariyapperuma to assume that post and his inclination to be in good terms with whoever assumes power. Here the writer is using Kariyapperuma as a symbol representing those who were appointed to high places in public institutions, not because of their merits but because of their political allegiances.
Kariyapperuma is a clear example of the politicisation of public institutions which was introduced by the late President J.R. Jayewardene. Since then, every leader, who assumed power, followed the footsteps of President Jayewardene and appointed their close confidantes to the key positions in public institutions such as corporations and boards.
If someone questions whether it is wrong to appoint a close confidante of the country’s leader to a key position, using the powers vested upon the leader of a country by its Constitution and other Acts, the answer should be, yes, he or she can. There is no argument about the legality of them appointing their people to positions for which they have a legal right to do so. But the question that remains is whether all these close confidants and staunch supporters are really suitable for the jobs to which they are appointed.
It is questionable how a person who doesn’t understand economics is made the head of a institution that is full of the country’s best economists. It is questionable how an accountant can be made the head of an institution which is driven by engineers. It is questionable how a businessman who was engaged in the fishing industry can regulate the country’s telecom industry.
While there are enough well-qualified, suitable professionals to head these institutions and revive the public sector which is currently performing haphazardly—robbing the people’s money—these professionals are being overlooked simply because they did not support and did not throw money for the campaigns of politicos. This is the plight of this country’s public sector.
A culture should be nurtured, at least now, for the professionals to head these institutions regardless of their politics views. The politicos should evade from the corrupt practice of placing their henchmen at top posts in public institutions. If they continue to show gratitude towards those who threw money at their political campaigns, public institutions in Sri Lanka will remain inefficient, corrupted and politicised, as they are now.
Let us come to the second part of our question. What urged Kariyapperuma to reportedly go to the opposition candidate and secretly pledge support to him? Here, Kariyapperuma has taken precautionary actions. If the leader, who had appointed him to the post lost the election, he wanted to continue in his post, even under the new leader who would be elected.
If he was a qualified person for the job he was appointed to, he did not have to worry about losing his chair along with the regime change, because whatever the regime that will come next, it needs able personnel to run public institutions properly.
It is no secret that it is the public institutions that eat up the majority of the budget every year and they have become an unbearable burden to the people and to the country. They are the culprits that widen the budget deficit Sri Lanka is inflicted with for years now.
Along with a highly anticipated constitutional and election system changes, the politicos governing the country should be mindful not to continue this besmirched practice, which has already done utter harm to country’s economy as well as the political culture of this country.