Former Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris yesterday criticized the removal of Acting Director-General of the Bribery Commission, Mr. Rienzie Arsekularatne, on the specious argument that a full time official was necessary for the job.

"He has already served for some 20 months. How come that it is only now that the need for a full time official has been felt?," Peiris asked.

"The rules which we articulated and stood for in 1994 are now being made to stand on their heads," he said. This is being done without the slightest tinge of remorse or embarrassment. This is why there is such deep public disenchantment on the cynical approach to governance.

"Arsekularatne’s removal is not simply a matter of individual grievance. It has much broader implications and far reaching repercussions on the independence of public officials and on the maintenance of standards of rectitude and integrity in public life."

He said that before 1994 when the Kumaratunga administration was elected, the Bribery Department was within the purview of the Justice Ministry and was susceptible to the minister’s influence. The PA’s 1994 manifesto promised to establish a fully fledged commission with the main objective of giving its chairman and members security of tenure for a 5-year period and all privileges and immunities of Supreme Court judges.

"They couldn’t be removed from office except by an address of parliament. I presented the bill to parliament which was the first piece of legislation presented by the PA government in 1994," Peiris said.

"The underlying theme of the speech made on that occasion was continuity, effectiveness and independence. This is important not only for the Commissioners but also for the Director-General who performs a vital function. It is he who is charged with the statutory responsibility for examining whether complaints are well founded and justifying indictment before the High Court."

Peiris said that the then Bribery Commissioner Nelum Gamage was the only person mentioned by name in the PA’s 1994 manifesto which stressed that officers performing such vital functions needed to be protected in the public interest. But today, Arsekularatne is being summarily removed from this vital position.

He said that the public perception was that his removal was related to the complaint regarding Mr. Ronnie Peiris that had been lodged before the commission.

Certain cases where the Director-General felt there was no prima facie evidence were being pushed and the authorities wanted to go easy on others.

In that context, Peiris made his remark on the rules they had articulated now being made "to stand on their heads."