Sri Lanka Human Development Report 2012.pdf

the public sector in policy reform processes, rather than
merely voicing their concerns. Both the government and
the private sector could work with each other for the benefit
of the country as a whole. If the government alienates
the private sector, or if the private sector is unwilling to
participate except on its own terms, public policy-making
becomes one-sided, and democracy is shortchanged.
The two are working together in Sri Lanka, though the
pace is slow. The Asia Foundation has sponsored dialogues
where public officials and private citizens, including small
business people, traders’ associations, citizens groups and
other local stakeholders, work collaboratively to address
regulatory issues that affect businesses at the local level.
Aimed at building a ‘culture of dialogue’, the initiative is a
model of participatory local governance that could help to
accelerate reforms through grass-roots pressure.
Dialogues can also provide accurate diagnoses of problems
affecting private investment and public service delivery. As
such, they could be used as part of designing appropriate
policy reforms tailored to local circumstances, and in
promoting transparency by disseminating information and
creating conditions for improved public scrutiny. Over the
longer term, they might contribute to stimulating growth,
increasing job creation and spreading the fruits of growth
more equitably. But they would need to move into the
mainstream of public policy-making to be fully effective.
Public-private dialogues are working especially well in
conflict-affected areas, where social capital and statecitizen
relations need much focus. One dialogue convened
in Polonnaruwa in 2010 addressed issues constraining
enterprise growth in the Eastern Province and made progress
towards durable solutions. Participants from Batticaloa,
for instance, agreed that while the tourism potential for
their district is high, local actors had very little input in
tourism development plans. Through discussions, private
and public sector participants worked together to develop
their own strategies, taking into account local constraints,
concerns and opportunities. Since then, the group has
formalized a Batticaloa Town Tourism Development Plan,
which is used by the Batticaloa Municipal Council in its
development activities.
In contrast, the absence of genuine and continual
stakeholder engagement with public policy-making can
lead to a breakdown in state-citizen relations. A good
example was the fallout surrounding the introduction of
a new national pension scheme—the Employees’ Pension
Benefit Scheme—in May 2011. A spate of protests against
it culminated in the death of a free trade zone worker and
a severe public relations backlash for the Government.
It was later learned that the bill creating the scheme
was rushed through, without a robust and inclusive
consultative process. The backlash was more on the way
the scheme was developed, and on some key elements of
the benefits, while the stakeholders in principle did not
oppose the concept of the new pension scheme. The bill
was withdrawn eventually, but the experience underscored
the need for inclusive consultation.
Despite the withdrawal of bills under political pressure,
the Government could do more to strengthen consultative
policy-making mechanisms. This leaves room for easy
opposition by interest groups, which can force quick
backtracking by the Government - a vicious cycle for which
a precedent has now been set. This stalemate could be
broken through the introduction of genuine and inclusive
consultations, with the Government demonstrating that it
has learned from previous experiences.
While consultation is a hallmark of a thriving democracy,
it needs to be genuine, rather than a mere formality to
rubberstamp official positions. A major problem in Sri
Lanka is the tendency for the private sector to toe the line
of every political regime to minimize ‘political risks’. This
opportunism could be reduced through strategic incentives
that allow the private sector to be less dependent and more
competitive. Small and medium enterprises in particular
need to participate in higher-level policy engagement,
possibly using the private-public dialogue model to foster
a bottom-up push for reform.
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sri lanka Human Development report 2012