Reinventing government, a most important global forum - Prime Minister

I consider this series of global forums on Reinventing Government, inaugurated in the closing year of last century as one of the most important international forums of our era, said Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse addressing the 6th Global Forum in Seoul, South Korea on Reinventing Government.

The Prime Minister further said: "It gives me great pleasure to participate in this 6th Global Forum on Reinventing Government, representing the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. I thank Your Excellency, Prime Minister of Korea for the gracious invitation extended to me, to attend this Forum.

"Let me also thank Your Excellencies, the President and Prime Minister of Korea, and through you, the Government and the people of this wonderful country, the Republic of Korea, for the warmth, with which you have received us. We are particularly delightful, to visit your lovely country, because of our common bonds of religion and culture, which go back to many centuries.

Today, we stand proud of the front rank position you have achieved, and the frontiers you have managed to reach, in a very competitive world, through your hard work. We wish you well, and I have much pleasure in conveying to the Korean people, through Your Excellency, the warm fraternal greetings of the people of Sri Lanka.

"I consider this series of Global Forums on Reinventing Government, inaugurated in the closing year of the last century, one of the most important international initiatives of our era. It stands along with other global initiatives on the many other concerns that we, in the contemporary world share in common.

I refer to concerns, such as, the protection of the environment, the eradication of poverty, the control of deadly diseases, such as HIV, AIDS, and the establishment of universal peace. Indeed, I would go, so far as to say, that the way governments function, holds the key to the satisfactory solution of most, if not, all these other issues.

"We do have to reinvent government to tackle these many issues. This is especially so in the case of most of us, in the developing countries. The great technological inventions of the last two centuries, have defined the future prospects of mankind. Now is the need for a different kind of invention, if especially we, in the Third World, are to bring the benefits of the age of technology to the vast masses of our people.

"Government itself, was an invention of our common ancestors of many millennia ago. Government evolved out of the needs of communal living. Through the long history of mankind on this planet, we have passed through many changes in the forms of governance, and still continue to do so. However our era, despite many obstacles, is decidedly the era of democracy 'people power' will triumph.

"However, democracy must not remain an empty slogan - mouthed from time to time for good effect, or even to 'feel good' piously. It must be made a living reality, in the day-to-day business of governance.

This would involve, what we have now come to call, the reinvention of government. Reinvention of government has many facets. If I may venture to delineate these, I can see at least three aspects. Of course, being the only different aspects of a single phenomenon, these merge into one another.

"One of these, is the structural aspect. That is, the re-examination and the consequent restructuring, of the machinery of government, so as to make it more responsive to the citizen, as well as to broad national needs. Such improvement of the structure of government should, I think, have yet another objective.

That is, to make government more accountable, and to ensure that such accountability is in fact realised in practice. I would include in the restructuring of government, not just internal improvements, but also the establishment of altogether new mechanisms of partnership and consultation.

"Next comes, the technical or procedural aspect. That is, to make government systems and procedures more citizen-friendly, efficient and effective. In the present day, we have the advantage of harnessing technology in this endeavour.

In this series of Global Forums, we have already had a forum on e-government, in the year 2001 in Naples, Italy. That is a new trend that we must encourage and foster. Recently, the well-known journal, the Economist, proclaimed that the Internet has at last made the consumer, the 'king' in the market.

One day, I am sure that we will be able to make a similar claim, on behalf of Information and Communication Technology, in relation to the citizen, in his dealings with government. That would be real 'people power'.

He said: "I would like to call the third aspect of re-inventing government, the psychological aspect. Some elements of this might even be termed, moral or ethical. Perhaps, this might be the most difficult of the three aspects, that I have been able to discern.

This is so because, it has to do with our mindset. Nothing is more difficult to change, than what exists in the realm of the mind. Conversely, nothing is more pervasive, and more influential, than a mental state.

"At the broadest level, the mindset that we should promote, is one which keeps the long term welfare of the people, centre stage, I am using the adjective 'long term' because, bitter experience teaches us that, quite often, populist measures which may appear to benefit the people in the short-term, may prove otherwise in the longer-term.

"When I referred to the need, for government building new partnerships with important stakeholder, I was having participatory governance in mind. The concept of participation in governance has today expanded, beyond the act of citizens, periodically electing a government of their choice.

Participation in governance, now embraces the continuous citizen intercession in the governing process, not only through individual representations, but, perhaps, more importantly, through organised stake holder bodies, such as civil society advocacy groups, professional bodies, think tanks, worker organisations and business chambers.

"The latter kind of engagement of organised bodies brings an indispensable input into the governing process. It brings in expert knowledge, practical wisdom and an independent perspective, to issues that confront the government. No government in the world today, genuinely interested in the public welfare, can afford to ignore such a rich resource.

"I referred to 'transparency' earlier on, as one of the most emphasised aspects of good governance, along with 'accountability'. No truly democratic government can be anything but transparent. The people who elect the government have a right to know how it functions.

Barring matters relating to national security, and other matters where premature public disclosure would affect the national interest, the people have a right to know exactly, what the government is doing, and how it is doing that. They have that right, simply because the government is only their agent.

" 'Transparency' in turn, serves the ensuring of 'accountability'. What is transparent, is accounted for. Transparency of governance processes has a global significance also. We are living in a globalised environment. We can no longer live in our isolated little cocoons. We must interact with the world outside.

Most importantly, we have to trade with other countries. We have to seek investment from, or invest in, other countries. There, the transparency of our governance processes, counts a great deal. Other countries should be able to deal with us, as trustworthy partners.

In an environment of global trust, international economic relations are bound to expand, to the mutual benefit of all partners. Therefore, transparency is not only about ethics and morals, it is about business and prosperity.

"Let me now briefly explain how Sri Lanka engages in the agenda of reforming public services.

The government of Sri Lanka has enunciated Good Governance as a policy guideline and expressed it in its National Development Strategy. It also considers, Good Governance as the major policy drive in architecting its public policy and economic policy.

In an era marked by incredible advances in globalisation, information technology and democratisation, the government has emphasized the importance of public sector reforms so as to gear up the country's political, economic and social development.

We have attached a great importance to re-invent the government sector, emphasizing its productivity while encouraging the private sector and civil society, to a great extent.

"With the intention of reinventing the state sector, the government has identified key administrative reforms, including the elimination of political interference in State administrative matters, and introduction of structural reforms to make public administration more efficient.

It will be the toughest challenge, but it is our mission to change and reform, through elimination of all weaknesses, such as deep-rooted delays, corruption, negligence, unethical transactions and place-related discomforts. In time and with reform it is possible to convert the centres of public service delivery to more modern efficient and corrupt-free places of respectable public relations.

"During the past few days, these subjects were discussed at greater length, and with deeper insight, informed by the collective wisdom of the glittering array of practitioners and scholars, gathered at this forum.

The outcome, I am hopeful, will be of immense practical use to all of us, entrusted as we are, with the destinies of so many millions, of our fellow human beings", said the Prime Minister.