Favouritism over meritocracy

SELECTING the best and brightest individuals for the prominent positions in the public sector was one of the key pledges made by the Left-leaning National People’s Power (NPP) before taking over the Government.

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The NPP vowed to unleash a systemic change which is characterised by a culture of meritocracy by which people who possess talent, capacity, and experience are given the opportunity to take over the responsibilities of the influential posts in the public sector disregarding political as well as personal affiliations.

However, in clear contravention of the mandate received, the administration is doing exactly the opposite to what they promised to the public. Surprisingly, the level of politicisation the NPP Government is attempting in terms of filling the vacant leadership positions in critical state departments exceeds the extent to which it was practiced by the past Government, including the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, which was well known for appointing people who were connected to the leadership of the Government both personally and politically by disregarding credentials in addition to ignoring the requirement to preserve the independence of the institutions that are deemed integral to law and order apart from good governance.