Peace for the World World ! Your War Our Lives
The Dalai Lama
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
(Full Story)
Back to 500BC.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Appeal Court Issues Notice On Respondents In Cases By 2176 Jaffna Tamils Seeking Relief Against Land Grab By Rajapaksa Regime
May 30, 2013
The writ applications filed by 2176 Jaffna Tamils in a desparate bid to prevent their lands and homes being grabbed by the Rajapaksa regime were taken up for support in the Appeal Court today (30.05.2013), before Justice S. Sriskandaraja, President of the Court of Appeal.
Counsel for the petitioners were permitted by the Appeal Court to reserve and retain the right to press for interim relief.
CA (Writ) 125/2013 (with 1474 petitioners) and CA (Writ) 135/2013 (with
702 petitioners), both fixed for support today, were by petitioners who
set out in their petitions, the grave prejudice caused by the forcible
acquisition of an area of the Jaffna Peninsula equivalent to two-third
of the entire city of Colombo.
The petitioners in CA (Writ) 125/2013, who first came to court upon
learning of initial steps under section 2 of the Land Acquisition Act,
had amended their petition, to include the fact that thereafter, a
purported publication under section 38 Proviso A of the Land Acquisition
Act had been gazetted by the regime, making out that the land is needed
urgently.
The petitions in both cases ask the Appeal Court to quash both steps
taken – notice under section 2 and further decision to acquire under
section 38 Proviso A by writs of Certiorari and for writs of Prohibition
preventing further steps in that direction. The petitions stated the
grave and irreversible prejudice that would be caused to them, unless
the respondents were stayed from taking any further steps until the
cases are gone into by court.
The petitioners in both cases who say they are forcibly prevented from
accessing their lands, urge effectively that the steps to acquire their
traditional lands to perpetuate their illegal military occupation is
perverse and does not constitute a genuine or acceptable public purpose,
and that no steps under Section 38 Proviso A could be legitimately
taken in the given circumstances.
Among the prejudice complained of by the 2176 petitioners, is effective
erosion of the rights of Tamils of the Jaffna Peninsula under their
personal laws (known as “Tesawalamai”) which has been enjoyed and
applicable for hundreds of years.
The petitioners in both cases were represented by K. Kanag-Isvaran, PC
with M. A. Sumanthiran, Viran Corea, Lakshmanan Jeyakumar, Niran
Anketell and Bhavani Fonseka instructed by Suntheralingam &
Balendra, Attorneys-at-Law. Deputy Solicitor General Murdu Fernando
appeared for the respondents.
Related posts;
UIC physicist named White House Champion of Change
Siva Sivananthan at the Sivananthan Laboratories in Bolingbrook. (click on image for larger file size)
Sivalingam
Sivananthan, professor of physics at the University of Illinois at
Chicago, has been named a White House Champion of Change. He was
presented with the honor at a ceremony this morning at the White House.
The honor recognizes immigrant innovators and entrepreneurs—”the best
and brightest from around the world who are helping create American
jobs, grow the economy and make our nation competitive in the world,”
the White House said in a press release.
Sivananthan’s work with a semiconductor material, mercury cadmium
telluride or MCT, is at the heart of night vision technology and made
the raid that took down Osama Bin Laden on a moonless night possible.
Developing “technology that protects our protectors” has given him the
opportunity to give back to his adopted country, said Sivananthan.
“Immigrants have long made America more prosperous and innovative, and
the Champions we are celebrating today represent very best in
leadership, entrepreneurship, and public service,” said U.S. Chief
Technology Officer Todd Park. “We are proud to recognize these leaders
who work every day to grow our economy, advance science and technology,
and support their home communities.”
Sivananthan is the founder of the high-tech, Bell-Labs-styled incubator,
Sivananthan Laboratories, Inc. in Bolingbrook, Ill. The Laboratories’
focus is on infared technology, radiation detection, materials research
and biosensors.
Because, at its most fundamental, MCT technology is about transforming
light into electricity, Sivananthan is also leading an effort to develop
next-generation solar power. To that end, he helped found InSPIRE (the
non-profit Institute for Solar Photovoltaic Innovation, Research, and
Edu-training), whose mission is training Illinois’s workforce and
exciting Illinois undergraduate and high school students to create a
renewable energy and solar eco-system in Illinois.
In Sivananthan Laboratories Sivananthan is promoting economic growth by
fostering cutting-edge, fundamental research and development that
bridges the gap between academia and industry.
Sivananthan credits much of his success to the support he received from
UIC from his days as a student to his continuing engagement on the
faculty.
“UIC is a community of individuals that has treated me with respect for who I am,” he said.
“I have been blessed with having talented people around me,” said
Sivananthan. “I can take credit only for hiring them. Our success has
been and always will be a product of team work.”
Immigrants make America more prosperous and entrepreneurial. Immigrants
are more than twice as likely to start a business in the United States
as the native-born, and more than 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies –
from GE and Ford to Google and Yahoo! – were founded by immigrants or
the children of immigrants, according to the White House.
The White House ceremony can be viewed at the White House website.
Undoing Constitutional Tomfoolery
By Basil Fernando -
Basil Fernando
May 30, 2013
That the United National Party (UNP) has published a few ideas on
the changes to the constitution they would bring about if they come to
power is an indication that a serious critique that has been made about
the 1978 Constitution, can no longer be ignored. As it is good to have
even an inadequate debate on vital issues rather than nothing at all, it
would be better not to ignore the UNP proposals but rather to utilise
the occasion to raise all the vital issues that need to be addressed if
the mess created by what retired Justice C.V. Wigneswaran charaterised as tomfoolery with the constitution, is to be brought to an end.
What has to be asserted clearly and unequivocally is the fundamental
elements of the basic structure of the constitution. The notion of basic
structure implies that certain permanent notions are entrenched in the
constitution and that attempts by any government to change that basic
structure will be resisted. The tomfoolery with the constitution became
possible only because there was no agreement on such a basic structure
and because the judiciary did not consider it their fundamental
obligation to defend and to promote such a basic structure.
The basic structure of the constitution must recognise that the
inalienable sovereignty of the people is guaranteed by the recognition
of the following principles:
- That Sri Lanka is a secular democratic republic where all persons are equal.
- That the basic structure of the government envisaged in the constitution is organised on the principles of the rule of law.
- The recognition of the principle of the separation of powers.
- The recognition of the independence of the judiciary and the right of the judiciary to be the final arbiter on interpretations of the law and with the power of judicial review (as it existed before the 1972 Constitution).
- The independence of the public institutions within the framework of the rule of law.
- The recognition of human rights as expressed in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, with the recognition that everyone is entitled to the enforceable right to a legal remedy for violations of rights.
- That the peoples’ right to participation is guaranteed by free and fair elections held at fixed periods and through the freedom of expression.
- That the public accountability of all public servants must be guaranteed through public hearings before state organs created by the Constitution.
- That the character of the welfare state will be safeguarded.
The prime importance of agreeing on the basic structure
The making of a constitution or replacing a constitution is not just a
matter of writing a new essay. It is an historical act. In an historical
act addressing in the clearest terms possible the fundamental errors
that have led to the present impasse need to be clearly expressed. A new
constitution is a clear departure as well as a clear beginning.
Therefore it would require a prolonged and a sometimes painful
discussion in order to enable a clear agreement being expressed through
the basic laws of the country. This does not mean that all issues can be
finally settled through a constitution. A constitution is a dynamic
document and the problems of a nation are also dynamic. Resolving these
problems is a perpetual preoccupation. However, there are basic and
fundamental areas where the people recognise that things went wrong and
that these must not be allowed reoccur. Therefore a thorough reflection
of the past is an essential aspect of any serious attempt to develop the
country’s basic law for the future.
The UNP in entering into this area of the national debate has done
itself a favour. However, in the very preamble of its declaration on the
basic constitutional issues it has done great harm to the credibility
of this initiative by being an apologist for the 1978 Constitution. The
UNP’s credibility will be tested by its capacity to unequivocally
condemn the enormous harm caused by the 1978 Constitution and the
practices which developed under that constitution. Accepting full
responsibility for the catastrophic consequences caused by introducing
this constitution is an essential step for establishing credibility for
its initiative for constitutional reforms.
| Jaffna University students stage protest on demanding to dismiss lecturer |
| [ Thursday, 30 May 2013, 09:14.23 AM GMT +05:30 ] |
  Arts
faculty students of Jaffna University stage protest on demanding to
dismiss economic lecturer S.Ilankumar on attempting to create sexual
disturbances to female students of the university. |
| Students
burned the effigy of Ilankumar. Large amount of students present at
this protest and hand over petition towards Vice Chancellor. Several army intelligence unit members deployed in the university compound to monitor protest campaign.     |
The Land Of The Indifferent
“That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third, Were axioms to him, who’d never heard. Of any world where promises were kept, Or one could weep because another wept” - Auden (The Shield of Achilles)
The Lankan crisis is a multi-dimensional one. There is the political
crisis which encompasses the crisis of democracy and the crisis of
peace-and-nation-building. There is the economic crisis.
There is also a psychological crisis, a moral-ethical crisis, a crisis
of values. This societal affliction was cast into sharp relief by two
incidents which happened during the Wesak season.
In today’s Sri Lanka, a militarised value system ensures that weakness
is scorned, strength worshipped and victims ignored. This is augmented
by religious brands which enthrone empty piety in place of real
kindness.
The state Wesak Festival was held in Buttala, under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
A few days previously, the local authorities poisoned 38 homeless dogs
in the area to prevent them from disturbing the Wesak celebration. Can
anything encapsulate the damning hypocrisy and the vacuous exhibitionism
which pass off as Buddhism today than this act? Killing living beings
in the name of celebrating the Birth, Enlightenment and the Final
Extinguishing of a teacher who placed compassion to all living beings at
the forefront of his teaching: is this what Buddhism is becoming in Sri
Lanka?
This week 35 families in Dambulla were
given 24 hours by the local authorities to vacate their homes of more
than 3 decades. That callous order was made supposedly in furtherance of
developing Dambulla as a Sacred City. As illegal occupants of state
lands, these families may not be entitled to any compensation; but as
human beings and as citizens, they are entitled to some sympathetic
consideration. Rendering men, women and children homeless and destitute
to protect a temple does not accord with the teachings of the Buddha.
According to another media report, 13 islands in Kalpitiya have been
sold to foreigners. This will deprive thousands of people of their homes
and their livelihoods. But this tragedy too will pass us by.
This is what happens to a country when pity dies.
When Pity dies
In October 2009, a man started throwing stones at passing vehicles in Bambalapitiya.
We all know, instinctively, that no sane man would throw stones at
passing vehicles; that a man who does so is indubitably an insane one.
The normal, ordinary, civilised reaction would be to restrain such a man
and ensure that he gets some medical attention.
But in Bambalapitiya, on that day, monsters reigned. A mob consisting of
policemen and civilians started chasing the stone-thrower. When he
waded into the sea to escape from his demented pursuers, two policemen
waded in after him and started beating him with stout poles. The footage
shows the victim begging for mercy, but his attackers, immeasurably
more unhinged than him, had none to give[ii]. In the end, he waded ever deeper into the sea in order to escape the savagery, and drowned.
Having caused a man’s death and watched him die, the two attackers and
the more than 100 spectators returned to their momentarily interrupted
ordinary lives.
Initially the police claimed that the victim died of drowning. But a
cameraman from a private TV station had videoed the tableau of
inhumanity. It was after the footage was made public that the police
admitted that a crime was committed.
Eventually it was discovered that the victim was indeed a mental patient.
That grisly incident, and the moral depravity and lawlessness it
embodied, was a forewarning of the rapid de-sensitisation and
brutalisation of Sri Lanka.
In commenting on the Holocaust, Hannah Arendt said, “The deeds were monstrous but the doer…quite ordinary, commonplace”[iii]. Clearly her observation has a relevance far beyond that time and that place:
The men and women who watched passively as a defenceless man was beaten
and forced to drown, the doctors and the nurses who ignored the plight
of a patient (and watched television amidst the Wesak decorations
honouring the Compassionate One) are not monsters; they are perfectly
ordinary people, and in all probability, good family men and women in
their private lives.
What does this say about our future?
Sri Lanka has had her share of times when ordinary virtues which
underpin a liveable life such as decency, sympathy and kindness were in
abeyance. The Black July, in which the killers were ordinary people
rather than soldiers, militants or even terrorists, was an ideal case in
point. That was a time when crime became the norm and legality the
exception, when deeds of brutality were committed in the wide open, with
pride – often to the acclaim/approbation of onlookers – while acts of
mercy, of ordinary humanity were carried out in stealth. What made that
horror even more appalling was the way it continued, day after day –
every morning mobs would come out to burn, pillage and kill; every
evening the constituent individuals would go home to their families, and
to a few hours of normal existence; the same surreal process would be
repeated the next day.
But until recently such descents into savage amorality were incidental
and episodic; they flared up, lasted for a while, and died.
Today the germs have infused every fibre of Lankan society. Today no
corner ofSri Lanka, no aspect of Lankan life is immune to the disease.
The culprits are not just politicians, though they too bear their share
of blame in setting this devastating trend, especially by enthroning
impunity in the name of patriotism. Religion, as it is institutionally
practiced in Sri Lanka, is a part of the problem. It will build
magnificent edifices while helping to create people devoid of basic
human decencies.
The self-immolation by a Buddhist monk has merely added another layer of
deadly violence to a society already choking on violence.
In the past, after atrocities happened, there would be some shame and
guilt, and perhaps even some soul-searching. But that necessary,
civilising practice died with the Humanitarian Operation and the Welfare
Camps. Not only did we shut our hearts to natural human pity during the
war and in its immediate aftermath. Four years later, we still have no
pity to give; nor see a need for it.
Pitilessness is habit-forming; now it’s devouring our own.
The Rajapaksas can be ejected, democratically, someday. The political
and economic crises can be resolved, to some extent, in a post-Rajapaksa
Sri Lanka. But curing Lankan society of the plague of
ruthless-indifference will be far more difficult, if not impossible.
[iii] Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report of the Banality of Evil
Sri Lankan freed from Qld detention centre
news.com.au-May 29, 2013
KNEELING
before a statue of Jesus in a remote Queensland church on Sunday,
Jesurajah Vasanthan prayed to be freed from the detention centre where
he was held.
On Monday his prayers were answered.
Mr Vasanthan sailed for 14 days toward Australia from Sri Lanka earlier
this year before being captured by authorities on Christmas Island, off
Western Australia.
"I am Tamil (an ethnic minority group in Sri Lanka) and I was afraid for my life so I had to leave," he told AAP.
Mr Vasanthan, 38, has spent the past three months at the Scherger
Immigration Detention Centre, about 30km east of the Cape York mining
township of Weipa.
On Monday he was told he had been granted refugee status and the following day he flew to Perth to make a new life for himself.
He's only been granted a temporary visa which will be reviewed in six months.
He can't work until a permanent visa is granted.
Mr Vasanthan, a former IT worker, told AAP he hopes he can remain in
Australia and that one day his wife and eight-year-old child can join
him from Sri Lanka.
"I am very excited about my new life but I miss them very much," he said while waiting for his flight to Perth from Cairns.
Mr Vasanthan spoke to AAP after a church service in Weipa last Sunday,
days after seven Vietnamese men broke out of Scherger by climbing a
fence.
He said the other detainees had no idea the men were planning to escape and all were shocked by the breakout.
He was surprised anyone would want to break out of the centre as the detainees are treated very well, he said.
Six men, aged 23 to 32, managed to board a plane at the local airport last Thursday and fly to Cairns, 770 kilometres away.
They were nabbed at a popular backpackers' lodge in Cairns later that day.
The seventh man was stopped before he could get on the plane.
He has not been charged but police say investigations are ongoing.
Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor has ordered an independent review of the incident.
Mr O'Connor has asked Serco, the firm that runs Scherger, to explain how
the men were able to escape and what was being done to stop more
breakouts.
"Any escape from an immigration detention facility is unacceptable," he said.
Serco has not responded to requests for an interview.
However, a spokesman said in a statement that Serco was taking the
incident seriously and the firm was committed to providing a safe and
secure centre.
The six men who escaped appeared in Cairns Magistrates Court on Tuesday where they were granted bail.
They were handed over to the Department of Immigration and will be transferred to an unspecified detention centre.
Five other Vietnamese men, two in Cairns and three in Weipa, have been charged with helping the escape.
Meanwhile, Mr Vasanthan has arrived in Perth and is coming to terms with life down under.
"I'm very excited and very happy," he said.
"I hope one day my wife and child can come here but at the moment what I
needed was protection so I had to come here (to Australia)."
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/national/sri-lankan-freed-from-qld-detention-centre/story-e6frfku9-1226653186008#ixzz2UnoP75Gb
Exclusive Expose: Serious Corruption Allegations Against Bribery Commissioner Jayantha Wickramaratne Hidden At Bribery Commission By Influence
May 30, 2013
Confirmed information obtained exclusively by The Colombo Telegraph points to two investigations pending against former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jayantha Wickramaratne at the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery & Corruption (commonly called ‘Bribery Commission’) being suppressed and covered up.
Jayantha Wickramaratne with Secretary to the Ministry of Difence
Two investigations bearing internal file Nos. 1571/2009 and 1574/2009
relate to Wickramaratne and certain corrupt procurements made by him,
for the “Deyata Kirula” Exhibition held in 2009 at the BMICH, Colombo.
The Colombo Telegraph is reliably informed that the serious allegations
that caused the files to be opened are not being acted on, due to undue
influence exerted through powerful persons in the ruling regime to sweep
these matters under the carpet.
Wickramaratne was widely considered a ‘hatchet man’ for the regime
during his time as IGP. Reliable sources also said his wife, Anoma
Goonetilleke, a lawyer also lost her standing within the legal
profession for failing to stand up for the independence of the legal
profession and the judiciary. In this way, they are both considered
unquestioning loyalists of the ruling regime.
The members of the Bribery Commission are not independent, after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution. They are chosen by the Executive President, Mahinda Rajapaksa without
any effective checks or balances. Many allegations have been made that
the Commission is merely a tool of the Rajapaksa regime to harass
political opponents or those seen as standing in the way of what the
regime wants to do.
Former Presidential Candidate, former General Sarath Fonseka and Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake have
both been hauled before the Commission. At the same time, the above two
files relating to Wickramaratne are gathering dust.
Doctors & staff at Karapitiya on strike
  THURSDAY, 30 MAY 2013
Medical
staff including doctors of Karapitiya Hospital engages in a strike
action since today (30th) morning protesting against an attack from
thugs on hospital employees who had attempted to prevent a group from
entering hospital without permission.
The
Deputy Director if the Hospital Dr. Jayampathy Senanayake said the
strike action was taken as police or authorities do not take any action
despite such attacks and threats are carried out by thugs and other
interested parties.
Only emergency and essential services are carried out in the hospital.
This government is not ours now – UPFA provincial minister
 THURSDAY, 30 MAY 2013
What
exists today is a government that has a majority of UNP
Parliamentarians and those who have crossed over to the government to
strengthen the hands of the President says the Minister of Fisheries and
Cooperative of the Southern Provincial Council Rohanapriya Upul.
He says the government has to gratify those who have come from the UNP but those of the SLFP have not been looked after.
Mr. Rohanapriya Upul made these observations at a media conference held in Provincial Ministry of Fisheries yesterday (29th).
Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane passes away THURSDAY, 30 MAY 2013 The
Main opposition United National Party (UNP) parliamentarian Dr.
Jayalath Jayawardena passed away on Wednesday after a brief illness in
Sigapore. He was 59.The Gampaha District parliamentarian was receiving treatment at hospital in Singapore at the time of his death. In April 2012, Dr. Jayawardena was admitted to East Surrey Hospital after being found unconscious at the Gatwick Airport in London. Specialist doctors at East Surrey hospital have recommended heart surgery for Dr. Jayawardena. Dr. Jayawardena, a medical doctor by profession was elected to the Parliament from the United National Party in 1994. Dr Jayalath Jayawardana was born in 1953 and obtained his MBBS Medical Degree from the Medical Faculty of the University of Colombo. He has also obtained several Postgraduate degrees from the USA, Russia, etc., He has been the Personal Medical Doctor to the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa and to his family. Dr Jayalath Jayawardana had shown a keen interest in social service since his young days and has been a volunteer of the Sri Lanka Red Cross and several Non-Governmental Organizations during his University days. He was elected to Parliament in 1994 and has been serving as a Parliamentarian for the last 15 years. He was the Minister of Rehabilitation, Resettlement & Refugees from 2002 to 2004. Dr Jayawardana is well known as a very enthusiastic, dynamic and active Parliamentarian. |
How Canada Became The Odd Man Out In Sri Lanka
Martin Collacott
Canadian
Foreign Minister John Baird has announced that he will not attend the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka this November
because of that country’s sub-par human rights record. No other members
of the Commonwealth, including Britain, Australia and New Zealand, have
followed Canada’s example.
There is no question that Sri Lanka has a poor human rights record — one
that might have been expected to improve after the long civil war ended
in 2009, but which did not. Judges have been threatened and impeached,
and many journalists murdered or driven from the country. There is
little tolerance for criticism of Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa’s government from any quarter.
Canada has the largest Sri Lankan Tamil community outside of South Asia,
and many of its members seek to raise awareness of the fact that the
government in Colombo is repressive and that Tamils in Sri Lanka are
persecuted. This helps explain why Stephen Harper’s government feels the
need to express its displeasure with Sri Lanka’s poor commitment to
human rights.
Many Tamils living in Canada came here as refugees. Indeed, in one year
alone (2003), Canada accepted far more Tamil refugee claimants than all
the other countries in the world combined. Some of these refugees had
ties to the Tamil Tigers military and terrorist group that was then
fighting against Sri Lanka’s government.
The voting power of these Tamils distorted Canadian policy: Liberal
governments repeatedly ignored CSIS recommendations that the Tamil
Tigers be designated as a terrorist organization, even though Britain
and the United States had done so. As a result, the Tigers were able to
use Canada as one of their principal bases for fundraising — a situation
that may well have contributed to prolonging the conflict and carnage
in Sri Lanka.
Even after the Conservatives took office in 2006, and wasted no time in
adding the Tamil Tigers to the official national list of terrorist
groups, Tiger supporters continued to exercise considerable influence
within the Liberal Party of Canada. At the Liberals’ December 2006
leadership convention, for example, a block of delegates pressing to
have the Tigers removed from the terrorist list played a key role in the
selection of the new leader.
The failure for many years of countries such as Canada to curtail Tamil
Tiger activities is, in all likelihood, a factor in Sri Lanka’s
continuing indifference to international entreaties to improve its human
rights record: Having turned a blind eye to the Tamil Tigers for so
many years, we no longer have credibility in lecturing Sri Lanka over
its post-war policies.
As for calls for an international investigation into the massacre of
Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the closing stages of
the civil war, this is another area where the Sri Lanka government feels
it is not being treated fairly.
While there is considerable evidence that such large-scale killings took
place, many occurred in large measure because the Tigers chose to use
their own population as human shields. The fact that there are no longer
identifiable high-level Tiger leaders around to blame for their
contribution to these massacres no doubt does little to encourage the
Sri Lankan government to expose itself to what it believes will be a
very one-sided investigation.
No doubt Britain, Australia and New Zealand share Canada’s concern over
the poor state of human rights in Sri Lanka. The fact that Canada alone
chose not to send its foreign minister to the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in Colombo, however, may be more the result of
domestic Canadian considerations — such as increasing political support
among Tamil voters — than anything else.
*Martin Collacott was the Canadian High Commissioner to Sri
Lanka when the civil war there began in earnest in 1983. He now lives in
Vancouver. This article is first appeared in the National Post
Sri Lanka missing world’s biggest trade party and it’s in her backyard
Once
upon a time, Sri Lanka was at the forefront of South Asian trade
liberalisation. Beginning in 1989, Sri Lanka made large reductions in
import duties and by 2001, Sri Lanka’s average applied import duty was
down to 9.1 percent compared to India’s 32 percent and Pakistan’s 20
percent.Sri Lanka was also the prime mover in South Asian trade agreements with the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 2000. It would have also been the first in South Asia to enter a trade agreement covering services and investment had it stuck with the 2004 deadline set by the Joint Study Group for the Indo-Lanka Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
All along economic analysts smiled upon these developments. Sri Lanka was seen as a beneficiary of its boldness.
Sri Lanka has changed direction
But that was the past. The times have changed and so have the economists (what came first?).
Sri Lanka still has the lowest average import duty in South Asia but the effective protection has been increasing. Ad hoc levies such as the special commodity levy, port and airport levy and import cess have been on the rise in the last decade.
The gaps are also narrowing. In 2011, the average import duty of Sri Lanka stood at 10.2 (higher than 2001 levels), India at 12.6 percent and Pakistan at 13.9 percent.
If that seems little bit odd, here is where it becomes downright puzzling. Free trade agreements with Asian countries have been dancing up in the last 10 years and Sri Lanka has been missing at the party.
World’s trade agreement party has moved to Asia
By the beginning of 2013, there were 546 World Trade Organisation (WTO)-notified trade agreements, of which 354 were in force and others being negotiated. In the last 10 years, with nearly 100 operational agreements and another 150 under negotiations, Asia has surged to account for nearly half of the global trade agreements (see figure 2).
This proliferation of trade agreements is driven both by Asian economies trying to tap each other’s markets, as well as non-Asian economies, attempting to expand in Asia’s large and fast growing consumer markets. This means, Asia is fast closing in on the developed countries in terms of its share in global trade. By 2012, just six Asian countries accounted for nearly a quarter of global trade (see table 1).
Sri Lanka is sitting out of party
Once a prime mover in terms of trade agreements, Sri Lanka is now getting left behind in Asia. It is only doing better than those classified as least developed countries (LDCs) in South Asia (see figure 1).
Since 2005, India has signed Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements with Singapore, ASEAN, South Korea, Japan and Malaysia. Many more are being negotiated. Overall, India has 13 agreements that are operational and 21 under negotiation. But the Indo-Lanka CEPA is on the backburner without a deadline.
Not having fun with trade
The puzzle deepens. Not only is Sri Lanka lagging behind in trade agreements, it is not getting much out of the agreements it has either.
Sri Lanka has five trade agreements that are operational and three agreements under negotiation. All of them are with Asian countries including India, South Korea and even China (see table 2).
Yet, the exports to these countries, other than India, are rather small. For example, as a percentage of total exports, Pakistan accounts for just 0.8 percent, Bangladesh 0.6 percent, Maldives and South Korea just 0.5 percent each and China 1.2 percent.
Even more discouraging to Sri Lanka is the fact that it imports heavily from Asia and exports so little (see table 3). Among the top ten countries from which Sri Lanka imports, eight are Asian countries and they account for 57 percent of total imports. But only 13 percent of Sri Lankan exports reach these same markets leading to a trade deficit with them that can be as high as US $ 10 billion.
Why is Sri Lanka missing out?
There are two reasons why existing agreements have not delivered.
First is low coverage and limited depth of concessions of existing agreements (other than the agreement with India). APTA’s product coverage in which South Korea and China are members is poor and the preferential margin is low. The GSTP is even more restrictive than APTA both in terms of product coverage and concession levels. SAFTA has very long tariff phase out periods for LDCs and relatively large negative lists (see table 2).
Second, Sri Lanka’s trade agreements are still restricted to trade in goods. All recent agreements signed by both developed and developing countries go beyond trade in goods to cover a number of other areas such as services, investment, competition, intellectual property, etc. For example, to date, there are 117 agreements notified to the WTO covering both trade in goods and services.
Time to take stock
There can be good reasons to not liberalise trade. For instance, it can be important to protect vulnerable farming sectors and develop nascent industries. But there is no evidence that Sri Lanka’s direction change in trade liberalisation is resulting in such positive benefits. Sri Lanka has gone from prime mover in Asia to a laggard in trade agreements. Its export access to Asia (except India) is anaemic relative to its imports. What is the policy direction for trade and what are the positive benefits being pursued? The data says that it is time to take stock and re-evaluate.
(Verité Research provides strategic analysis and advice for governments and the private sector in Asia)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)