Campaign Finance (LK0020)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Sri Lanka National Action Plan 2016-2018
Action Plan Cycle: 2016
Status: Inactive
Institutions
Lead Institution: Office of the President, CIABOC (Independent Commission)
Support Institution(s): FCID, Attorney-General’s Department, All organizations and coalitions interested in anti-corruption efforts (Civil Society, Private Sector)
Policy Areas
Anti-Corruption, Anti-Corruption Institutions, Asset Disclosure, Legislation & Regulation, Legislative, Open Parliaments, Political IntegrityIRM Review
IRM Report: Sri Lanka End-of-Term Report 2016-2018, Sri Lanka Mid-Term Report 2016-2018
Starred: No
Early Results: Did Not Change
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Not Relevant
Implementation i
Description
Commitment: Strengthen the anti-corruption framework to increase constructive public participation
Freedom from corruption is a crucial and inseparable element of open government, and must be approached from the dual perspective of apprehension and prevention. The acknowledgment of the prevalence of corruption in the state sector and elsewhere serves as a necessary precedent to addressing the problem in a comprehensive fashion. A multi-stakeholder approach is necessary to ensure the method of addressing the problem is representative and participatory, while ensuring a strong legislative framework that is compliant with Sri Lanka’s UNCAC obligations.
Timeline: August 2016- June 2018
The enactment and implementation of the RTI Act
Lead Agency Office of the President, CIABOC (Independent Commission)
Other Actors FCID, Attorney-General’s Department, All organizations and coalitions interested in anti-corruption efforts (Civil Society, Private Sector)
Issues to be Addressed 1. To ensure conformity with the Constitution (Article 156A) and State’s UNCAC obligations, including the need for the inclusion of the private sector in the anti-corruption framework as referred to in Milestone 1.
2. To ensure coordination and information sharing among various anti-corruption agencies.
3. Lack of an assessment and the findings to be published on the requirement for a cadre of independent investigators on corruption issues.
4. Lack of a national corruption prevention strategy.
5. Need to regulate political campaign financing including disclosure of donors and resource providers.
6. Inability to disseminate asset declarations available to the public.
7. Address the disconnection in the mandate of corruption investigation and money laundering investigations.
8. The need to amend section 17 of the CIABOC Act to share information between corruption investigation bodies.
Main Objective To strengthen the anti-corruption framework and facilitate tri partite; public, private, civil society oversight and ownership of anti-corruption efforts.
OGP Challenge Improve public service deliveries, economical and effective management of state resources, constructive civic engagement in public decision making mechanisms and increase public integrity.
OGP Principles Transparency Accountability Public Participation6. Government to amendment the election laws to include a disclosure (declarations register) of the quantum and sources of campaign contributions. New Jan. 2017 Dec. 2018
IRM End of Term Status Summary
20. Regulation of Political Campaign Financing
Commitment Text:
Strengthen the anti-corruption framework to increase constructive public participation (Part V)
[…]
Main Objective:
Milestones:
- 1 Government to amend the election laws to include a disclosure (declarations register) of the quantum and sources of campaign contributions.
Responsible institutions: Elections Commission; Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC)
Supporting institutions: Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL)
Start date: January 2017 End date: December 2018
Editorial Note: The text of the commitment was abridged for formatting reasons. For full text of the commitment, see the Sri Lanka National Action Plan 2016–2018 at http://bit.ly/2wv3jXR. [272]
Commitment Aim:
This commitment aimed to strengthen the anti-corruption framework by amending elections laws to regulate and promote disclosure of information pertaining to political campaign financing. To do this, the commitment set out to amend elections laws to include a disclosure (declarations register) of the quantum and sources of campaign contributions.
However, it remained unclear as to whether this commitment was relevant to the values of open government. Public disclosure of the quantity and sources of campaign financing would ensure access to previously undisclosed government-held information. However, the commitment did not specify whether the declarations register would be made public and, if so, how it aimed to do so.
For more information, see the 2016–2017 IRM midterm progress report.
Status
Midterm: Limited
The commitment achieved limited completion by the midterm. According to a representative of Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), the Elections Commission developed a strong draft of a potential law pertaining to campaign financing, but had not yet publicised it (Milestone 20.1). [273]
Media reports [274] also confirmed that the government had received cabinet approval to draft legislation to control election expenses. It was unclear, however, whether this draft contained a provision to introduce and publish a declarations register, including information on the quantity and sources of campaign contributions.
End of term: Limited
Commitment implementation continued to be limited at the end of term.
Milestone 20.1: A representative of TISL confirmed that discussions on amendments to elections laws were still ongoing. [275] TISL noted that the Elections Commission had not publicly disclosed any related developments. [276] The Elections Commission, or the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Corruption or Bribery (CIABOC), could not be reached for comment. [277]
Did It Open Government?
Access to Information: Did Not Change
Civic Participation: Did Not Change
Public Accountability: Did Not Change
This commitment had unclear relevance to OGP values and thus did not open government.
At the outset of the action plan, none of the laws that exercise jurisdiction over the election of the President, [278] Parliament, [279] provincial councils, [280] or local government [281] contained regulations for political campaign financing. [282] The lack of such legislation can diminish the potential for free and fair elections. Campaign financing can determine who competes in elections, how well or widely they are able to disseminate their messaging, and therefore, potentially, who will be elected into office. [283] In Sri Lanka, candidates showering money on voters to sway voting had become a common feature of election campaigning. [284] In previous elections, presidential candidates have spent large amounts of money on elaborate public campaigns. [285]
Therefore, this commitment aimed to amend elections laws to regulate and promote disclosure of information on political campaign financing. However, the Elections Commission was not able to amend elections laws by the end of term; and information on political campaign financing was not made publicly available. In addition, the commitment, as written, did not specify whether, or how, the proposed declarations register intended to disclose government-held information to the public. There was no change in government practice.
Carried Forward?
Sri Lanka’s second action plan was not released at the time of this report.
In the 2016–2017 IRM midterm progress report, the IRM researcher recommended that this commitment be carried forward to the next action plan. However, the researcher also proposed a few measures to increase specificity and enhance the impact of this commitment. These include: defining and developing a mechanism through which disclosed information will be made publicly available; and introducing a robust accountability, or grievance redress mechanism, to hold candidates accountable for disclosed information on the financing of political campaigns.
[272] In the action plan, all milestones pertaining to corruption are listed under a single commitment. For clarity, these milestones have been separated in this report into six different commitments (see 16–21), each looking at distinct components of the anti-corruption framework.
[273] Sankhitha Gunaratne (Transparency International), interview by IRM researcher, 17 October 2017.
[274] Z. Imtiaz, “Ceiling on Election Campaign Financing” (Daily News, 18 October 2017) http://bit.ly/2ExPxG3.
[275] Maheshi Herat (Transparency International Sri Lanka), interview by IRM researcher, 27 September 2018.
[276] Id.
[277] The IRM researcher made several unsuccessful attempts to reach relevant representatives in August and September 2018. Attempts were made via telephone and email.
[278] Presidential Elections Act, No. 15 of 1981, http://bit.ly/2FCG2om.
[279] Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981, http://bit.ly/2nucdzE.
[280] Provincial Councils Elections Act, No. 2 of 1988, http://bit.ly/2nwnKhM.
[281] Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, No. 53 of 1946, http://bit.ly/2DTB0TO.
[282] Imtiaz.
[283] “Elections and Political Finance” (Themes, Open Government Partnership, 2017) http://bit.ly/2s22sx5.
[284] Imtiaz.
[285] “Former President Spent over Rs.2 bn. in State Funds on Election Ads” (The Sunday Times, 18 January 2015) http://bit.ly/1BdaI8j.
Commitments
-
Integrity Officers to Decrease Bribery and Corruption
LK0024, 2019, Capacity Building
-
Asset Declaration System
LK0025, 2019, Anti-Corruption
-
Increase Use of RTI
LK0026, 2019, Access to Information
-
Citizen Participation in Health
LK0027, 2019, E-Government
-
Campaign Against Youth Drug Use
LK0028, 2019, Education
-
Open Data
LK0029, 2019, Access to Information
-
Agriculture Support Policy
LK0030, 2019, Capacity Building
-
Participation for Persons with Disabilities
LK0031, 2019, Land Rights and Spatial Planning
-
Disability Rights Bill
LK0032, 2019, Legislation & Regulation
-
Disaster Management Planning
LK0033, 2019, Capacity Building
-
National Environmental Policy
LK0034, 2019, Environment and Climate
-
CEDAW Implementation
LK0035, 2019, Capacity Building
-
Local Service Delivery
LK0036, 2019, E-Government
-
Feedback on Public Bus
LK0037, 2019, E-Government
-
Implementing UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in a Participatory Manner
LK0038, 2019, Legislation & Regulation
-
Improving Public Access to Preventive and Curative Strategies to Combat Chronic Kidney Disease
LK0001, 2016, Health
-
Transparent Policy to Provide Safe and Affordable Medicines for All
LK0002, 2016, Capacity Building
-
National Health Performance
LK0003, 2016, Capacity Building
-
Ensuring Transparency and Impartiality in Teacher Recruitment Policy and Process in Sri Lanka
LK0004, 2016, Access to Information
-
Enhance the Services of Government Information Center (GIC- 1919) for Inclusive, Transparent, Accountable and Efficient Governance, Using ICT As Enabler
LK0005, 2016, Capacity Building
-
Promote the Open Data Concept and Delivering the Benefits to Citizens Through ICT
LK0006, 2016, Access to Information
-
National Environmental Act (NEA) Amendments
LK0007, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Coast Conservation
LK0008, 2016, Capacity Building
-
Flora and Fauna Protection
LK0009, 2016, Capacity Building
-
Transparent and Accountable Procurement System for Local Authorities in Sri Lanka
LK0010, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Local Authority Procurement System Implementation
LK0011, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Annual Work Plan of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs to Include a Transparent and Accountable Process to Implement Selected Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Concluding Observations.
LK0012, 2016, Gender
-
CEDAW Implementation – Accountability
LK0013, 2016, Gender
-
CEDAW – Inclusion
LK0014, 2016, Gender
-
Strengthening Women Participation in the Political Decision Making Process at the Local Level
LK0015, 2016, Capacity Building
-
Strengthen the Anti-Corruption Framework to Increase Constructive Public Participation
LK0016, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Implement UNCAC
LK0017, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Coordination Among Anti-Corruption Agencies
LK0018, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Corruption and Money Laundering
LK0019, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Campaign Finance
LK0020, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
Disseminate Asset Declaration
LK0021, 2016, Anti-Corruption
-
The Enactment and Implementation of the RTI Act
LK0022, 2016, Access to Information
-
Proactive Disclosure
LK0023, 2016, Access to Information