Restricting abuse of ministerial resources for

political advantage rather than executive

work
Letter to Minister Karu Jayasuriya:

Karu Jayasuriya-February 26, 2015,

The measures below were suggested by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha to the
Minister of Good Governance, along with the schedule beneath it.
Dear Mr Jayasuirya
I have written to you before about simple measures that could be taken to
promote Good Governance and I hope we might be able to meet soon to
take things forward, There seems to be too little interest in this at present,
and that might lead to the people losing faith in us.
I gather the JVP has already drafted a Code of Conduct, and I am sorry
this has not been shared with party leaders and with parliamentarians in
general. But pending that, I will send you some ideas which I hope will be
incorporated. My first suggestions are with regard to Personal Staff and
perks given to Ministers, which are often not used for Ministry work. I
realized how bad the situation was when the Secretary of the Ministry I
held commended my staff. None of them is related to me, and they have
all been working full time at the Ministry since I took up responsibilities.
Let me add that, if the changes I suggest below in the Schedule are made,
I will not take advantage of the additional support for Parliamentarians.
Otherwise it will be claimed that I would like to get back some of the
advantages I have given up in resigning from the Ministry though
obviously I do not need them since I do not have a constituency.
The cost to the country will be about the same, and more Parliamentarians
will have less incentive to obtain executive office for the sake of the perks

and privileges.
Yours sincerely
Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, MP
Schedule
One of the reasons for everyone wanting to be a Minister is the perks
Ministers enjoy. These are often used for personal gain, but in addition
they are used for political advantage. This also badly affects productive
work. The general principle followed it seems, in forming a Cabinet, is not
to select those who understand the subjects allocated to them, but rather
to give portfolios for the purpose of ensuring electoral success both to
keep people happy so they will not change sides, and to give them
resources to fight elections.
The Minister for Good Governance thought we have an unfortunate political
culture and that it would be difficult to change, but we must start now. I
would suggest therefore that we adopt a principle of distinguishing
between the executive and the Parliamentary roles of politicians and limit
them using Ministry resources for electoral or personal purposes. I believe
there will be less need of excessive resources when we change the
electoral system. But even then, what we should do is give ordinary
Parliamentarians a bit more, while cutting down on the waste now.
These measures will also reduce the assumption that the main purpose of
a Ministry is to be able to give jobs to people, with little regard for
qualifications or ability.
I therefore suggest the following:
1. Members of the Executive shall not use their offices or the equipment
and services they are given for electoral purposes
2. The personal staff of Ministers shall be limited to only such numbers as
are essential for the fulfilment of their executive responsibilities. All such
staff will be required to provide monthly reports on their productivity to the
Secretary of the Ministry which pays their salaries.
3. However, given the personal and political needs of all Parliamentarians,
their personal staff may be increased as follows

2 coordinating secretaries instead of 1

1 research officer as now
1 private secretary as now
2 drivers instead of 1
1 office aide as now 1
This gives them a total of 7 instead of 5.
They should also be given a vehicle for their use. This should take the
place of the permits which are now readily abused.
4. The personal staff of Ministers should be reduced as follows, and they
must all be expected to report to work in the Ministry unless the Minister
had given them leave, as informed to the Secretary
1 private secretary as now
1 coordinating secretary instead of 2
1 public relations secretary
No media secretary, the work should be done by the Ministry media
personnel, who should be selected in accordance with clear criteria
2 drivers, without provision for a driver for a back up vehicle. If needed,
such a driver should be taken from the Ministry pool.
1 office aide instead of 2, since the Ministry staff can be allocated if
needed.
2 management assistants instead of 5. At least one of those should be
functional in the Official Language which is not that of the Minister. Any
further assistance may be provided by regular Ministry staff.
This gives them a total of 8 instead of 13.
The Minister should have at most 2 vehicles. Personal staff should have at
most 2 vehicles rather than the 5 that are now available.

The qualifications of all personal staff paid by government Ministries should

be made known to the public, along with the responsibilities entrusted to
them.
Posted by Thavam