The unity government has failed on one of its key election promises to end corruption and prosecute those previously responsible, this week's editorial in Sri Lanka's Sunday Times concluded. 

"One of the key promises of the electoral campaigns of the then Opposition in 2015 was that a new administration under Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe would, not only eliminate corruption, but hold those suspected of it in the past to account. On both counts, this Government has failed," the editorial, entitled 'Sri Lanka's going down, not up' noted. 

Pointing to ongoing lack of transparency in procurement, the paper concluded, "It is corruption, as usual."

"The Government promised to rectify obtaining and managing loans; to reassess mega projects and “punish those responsible for technical offences irrespective of the status of the offenders”. The Presidential manifesto also pledged a special programme to investigate big and small development activities throughout the country, procurements and transactions of institutions and fraudulent investment of Employees’ Provident Fund monies. None of this has come to bear."

"It is a damning indictment on this Government that is increasingly facing the wrath of its voters for protecting the rogues of the past who are well and truly ensconced with the present lot as well."

In its political column this week, the paper was scathing over the failure of the presidential task force set up to deal with the issue of corruption. 

"It is no secret that substantial amounts of money have been spent on foreign travel by some members. In one instance, Task Force members and other officials sought to file legal action in Dubai seeking secret bank details of the VVIP and members of his family not having a clue of how the Emirati kingdom works. Their ham-handed approach naturally angered senior officials in the Emirate. Subsequent measures to persuade them failed miserably. The entire exercise was botched. According to one source familiar with the workings of the Special Presidential Task Force, there has not been one instance of “illegally acquired illegal assets” of any politician or official been found out, leave alone those in the previous regime."

"This naturally raises questions of credibility for the Government. On the one hand, here is a Cabinet Minister who declares to his colleagues at a ministerial meeting chaired by President Sirisena that the VVIP held money in a Dubai Bank. He said he is in possession of documents. On the other, investigative agencies of the state including the Special Presidential Task Force have not been able to ferret out any evidence so far, more than two years after they were entrusted with the job."