No rule of law unless rule of men defeated

CHAIRING the late H.L. de Silva Memorial Events in 2012, the ex-Foreign Secretary H.M.G.S. Palihakkara openly questioned whether it is the rule of men or the rule of law which would usher prosperity to a nation. He answered his own question and opined that what was prevailing in Sri Lanka was not the rule of law but ‘a rule’ of men.

- 

For Sri Lanka to prosper, he said that the latter should be defeated. What he presented 13 years ago is valid for Sri Lanka even today.

Sri Lankans are fighting for the establishment of the rule of law within the country. However, their attempts are being foiled by some people in power or powerful people in society who twist the ideals of the rule of law in their favour showing that they are always above the law and its long arm cannot reach them. News reports are aplenty about top people, once sentenced to jail, seeking medical treatment in Prison Hospital or other national hospitals thereby thwarting the wishes of the courts.² Hence, the rule of law applies skewedly in societies like Sri Lanka. In Brazil, a famous political slogan is that for friends, everything favourable and for opponents, the harsh side of laws.³

Sri Lanka's high track record of observing rule of law in the ancient times