Ali Sabry says Govt risks neglecting governance by focusing on political opponents

Former Justice and Foreign Minister Ali Sabry has accused the government of allowing political retribution to overshadow governance, arguing that an excessive focus on arresting and prosecuting political opponents has diverted attention from the country’s pressing challenges. In a statement issued following the deadly clash at the Negombo Prison, Sabry said a government’s primary responsibility is to solve national problems rather than pursue its predecessors. “When the principal mission of a government becomes the pursuit, arrest, detention and prosecution of its political opponents and predecessors, it should surprise no one when the actual work of governing begins to suffer,” he said. Sabry questioned the government’s response to several key issues, including the spread of dengue, severe prison overcrowding, farmers’ demands for fair prices, and the rising cost of living, arguing that these are the real tests of governance. He said arrests and prosecutions may generate headlines but do not amount to public policy. “A handcuff is not a health policy. A remand order is not an agricultural policy. A prosecution is not an economic programme. And a prison cell is not evidence of good governance,” he said. While stressing that justice, accountability and the rule of law are essential, Sabry said investigations and prosecutions must be lawful, impartial and based on credible evidence rather than political motivations. He also warned against weakening institutional safeguards, saying governments should remember that political power is temporary while precedents endure. “The machinery of coercion you celebrate today may be inherited by someone else tomorrow,” he said. Sabry concluded that governments must not confuse vengeance with governance, warning that “when vengeance becomes the mission of government, governance becomes its first casualty.” (Newswire) Full Statement WHEN VENGEANCE BECOMES GOVERNANCE When the principal mission of a government becomes the pursuit, arrest, detention and prosecution of its political opponents and predecessors, it should surprise no one when the actual work of governing begins to suffer. There are only so many hours in a day. Only so much institutional capacity. Only so much political attention. If every waking hour is consumed by deciding who should be summoned next, who should be arrested, who should be detained, who should be prosecuted, who should be intimidated and who should be publicly humiliated, there will inevitably be little time, energy or imagination left for the far more difficult task of governing a country. Perhaps that explains much of what we see today. Dengue threatens lives and families across the country. Where is the urgency, coordination and national mobilisation that such a public health threat demands? Our prisons are bursting at the seams, overcrowded beyond dignity and reason. Where is the serious policy response? Farmers are clamouring for a reasonable price for their produce and a fair return for their labour. Where is the solution? Ordinary people continue to struggle with the cost of living, livelihoods and uncertainty. Where is the sustained focus? These are not distractions from governance. These are governance. Governance is difficult. It demands competence, discipline, prioritisation, imagination and relentless attention. It requires a government to solve problems rather than manufacture enemies. It requires ministers to deliver, institutions to function and the machinery of the State to serve the citizen. Vengeance is considerably easier. An arrest creates a headline. A detention creates a spectacle. A prosecution can be presented as performance. The public humiliation of an opponent may offer a moment of sardonic pleasure to those intoxicated by power. But a handcuff is not a health policy. A remand order is not an agricultural policy. A prosecution is not an economic programme. And a prison cell is not evidence of good governance. None of it eradicates dengue. None of it reduces prison overcrowding. None of it gives the farmer a fair price. None of it creates a job, improves a school, strengthens a hospital, grows an economy or makes life easier for a family struggling to survive. A government cannot indefinitely sell arrest, detention, imprisonment and prosecution as a substitute for performance. Nor can every act of political vengeance be repackaged forever in the language of accountability and good governance. By all means, let the law take its course. Where there is credible evidence, investigate. Where the law warrants prosecution, prosecute. Let independent courts decide. But the law must take its own course, not a course politically charted for it. Investigations must be lawful, professional and impartial. Prosecutions must be evidence based, not appetite driven. Due process must be respected. The presumption of innocence must have real meaning. The separation of powers must exist not merely as elegant words in a Constitution, but as a living restraint on those who temporarily exercise state power. The Executive is not the investigator, prosecutor, judge and jailer rolled into one. The Judiciary is not an extension of the Executive. It is not there to facilitate the political objectives of the government of the day. Its independence must be clearly understood, vigilantly protected and unreservedly respected. There is also a warning from history that no government should ignore. Power is temporary. Precedents endure. The machinery of coercion you celebrate today may be inherited by someone else tomorrow. The safeguards you weaken to punish your opponents will not miraculously reappear when you need their protection. The standards you destroy in the name of vengeance may one day become the standards by which you yourselves are treated. And there lies the greatest irony. A government so consumed by pursuing its predecessors may eventually discover that it neglected the country, disappointed the people and prepared the very instruments that may one day be turned against itself. You may then end up in a far worse place than the very predecessors you condemned. Justice is essential. Accountability is essential. The rule of law is non negotiable. But vengeance is not governance. And when vengeance becomes the mission of government, governance becomes its first casualty.