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This paper aims to examine the present Sri Lankan political-economic crisis and its connection to corruption. The paper will discuss the autocratic rule, elite domination of state extractive systems, which have been moulded and configured by Sri Lanka’s political environment over decades. Elite capture has become a significant factor. Sri Lanka’s authoritarian model exercised by Gotabaya Rajapaksa reduced competitive mode and shifted towards a monopolistic corruption structure, centralising on the first family and military rule where powerful elites supported the model. The paper attempts to find the connection between dysfunctional political model and economic crimes committed through several case studies.

The paper discusses five case studies using qualitative analysis using secondary data. The insider trading case study is discussed with quantitative data. Several political and social analyses were carried out with primary data captured from field research by the author.

Sri Lankan economic crisis was triggered because of high-level corruption. The autocratic model introduced by the political authority failed to fight corruption. Transnational mechanisms will fail if there is no credibility and commitment in their own respective nations such as in the USA. External factors such as China in Sri Lanka did have an impact for elite capture.

This study is limited only to five case studies. Transnational mechanism and recommendations require a lengthy study. Only one external factor was assessed because of its significance; there could be other external factors for elite capture.

This study has limited access to capture primary data because of sensitivity during a heavy autocratic regime. Because of state and self-censorship, secondary data had to be tested.

Economic crisis in Sri Lanka is an example to many developing nations fighting corruption. The autocratic family rule supported by external forces crippled the state anti-corruption processes. Economic crime is a key driver for poverty and economic crisis.

This is a unique paper that examines Sri Lanka’s present economic crisis and its political model and economic crime. The paper will discuss transnational mechanisms for anti-corruption and attempt to apply to the Sri Lankan crisis.

The purpose of this paper will attempt to depict the importance of meaningful co-operation in preventing and interdicting economically motivated crime and misconduct in Sri Lanka while exploring the challenges faced by the state, its bureaucracy, extremist threat, war on drugs and anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) mechanisms.

Qualitative and secondary data.

While mechanisms to introduce legislation and implement the national actions plan on combating bribery and corruption will add significant value to the entire system, Sri Lanka will need to improve co-operation among domestic and international agencies to overcome the challenges. For domestic co-operation educating the bureaucracy is essential in this regard who would take a central role in advising the policymakers.

Sri Lankan perspective has not been discussed on challenges faced by the state, its bureaucracy, extremist threat, war on drugs and AML/CFT mechanisms. Paper was presented at the Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime 2019.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the dual crisis in Sri Lanka during the pandemic. The health crisis was followed by democratic backsliding which directly impacted the fight for economic crime. The pre-pandemic political commitment to fight corruption is assessed with the pandemic environment and the policy decisions by the Government. Sri Lanka was a detailed case study of how politicians exploited the pandemic environment to suppress democracy and move their semi-autocratic agenda forward. However, Sri Lanka was not the only nation that faced such autocratic sentiments losing the democratic values. This paper discusses recommendations for improving the resources and investment to address economic crime in Sri Lanka.

Secondary data was used for the analysis introducing a theoretical framework referring to the work of Michel Foucault and Francis Fukuyama. The secondary data was used to develop an argument aligning political science with economic crime.

The Government disciplinary project launched during the pandemic directly impacted Sri Lankan democracy and structural changes made to the constitution. The heavy militarization was a sign of departure of long-cherished values of democracy in the country. Political clientelism backed by nepotism interfered with judicial independence and the fight against economic crime. Many accused, including those responsible for the largest corruption scandal, were not punished. The trust deficit has widened significantly between authorities and the public on fighting corruption in Sri Lanka.

There are more factors for democratic backsliding than what is presented in this paper. The economic crime environment in Sri Lanka has many dimensions and the paper only highlights a few areas limiting to the secondary data available.

The paper discusses a unique perspective on how a pandemic could be misused to strengthen the autocratic rule and make structural changes to a nation, including constitution amendments. The pandemic environment was used to commit economic crime and suppress public opinion projecting the health crisis in the lockdown environment.

Explore perspective from Sri Lanka on unexplained wealth and why it should be taken as a pivotal measure to fight corruption in the society.

Qualitative and referenced work to explain the viewpoint.

The prevailing political will in achieving goals to fight economic crime is questionable. The entire society has a role to play when fighting corruption, which is not only limited to regulators, bribery commissions and the state sector. Private sector and individual voices in the society, including whistle blowers, could play a leading role in combating cases of unexplained wealth.

This study highlights political corruption in Sri Lanka with a unique viewpoint connecting political lobbying and unexplained wealth.