A minister’s removal cannot heal the ‘beggars wound’ of high corruption

Sunday, August 27, 2017

The agitated pleas of the ruling United National Party (UNP) parliamentarians that they became ‘fully aware’ of former Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapakshe allegedly stalling corruption cases against the Rajapaksa clan only now, must be taken with more than a pinch of that proverbial salt.

Overstepping the line a long time ago


That explanation, as rich as it is, is a tad too disingenuous to swallow in one gulp. Let me be clear. If the basis for the ejection of the Minister was the violation of the principle of collective Cabinet responsibility, that is another matter altogether. But the Government should not try to ride high on the removal and hold out that the one obstacle to a successful anti-corruption drive has now been disposed of. That will only be accepted by the exceedingly naïve.


For if one fact was clear in this messy saga, it was that the former Justice Minister was overstepping the line a long time ago, with little consequences from the party hierarchy. There are many examples. Six months into the new Government being installed for instance, he questioned if it would be correct to allow former Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa to be arrested under anti-terror legislation as this was a ‘law implemented against Prabhakaran.’ His claim was that, if so, this would be to ‘make a Prabhakaran’ out of the former Defence Secretary (Hiru talkshow programme, Salakuna, December 15, 2015).

The personal partiality and categorical bias reflected in that exchange was unbelievable. It is not the business of a Justice Minister to declare as to what individuals a particular law should apply to. That is the function of the courts. And in any event, the sham ‘patriotic’ fervor in that question is contradicted in a practical sense. The Rajapaksas themselves had little compunction in using anti-terror laws against the celebrated ‘war-winning’ Army Commander Sarath Fonseka. Several of his body guards were arrested under emergency law.

Is the dismissal too little, too late?

So there is no impunity protecting the former Secretary of Defence and the former President’s brother from arrest under the law which applies to whatever offence that an individual is accused of. The law is the standard as applied/investigated/prosecuted by the very institutions that the former Minister pleads with considerable fervor that he could not have ‘interfered with.’ He cannot hide behind that cover and privilege some over others. The same reasoning was evidenced in his defence of the private maritime security firm Avant Garde, accused of maintaining a floating armoury of purportedly illegal weapons in the Galle harbour, when investigations were ongoing.

So this behaviour on his part was certainly not of recent duration. Protests to the contrary do not ring very convincingly in our ears. For the Government, the question now is if this dismissal is too little, too late. Certainly there has been a huge dent in its good governance credibility shield. The former Justice Minister has protested that his removal was to pressurize the Department of the Attorney General in regard to stepping back from hard action in ongoing hearings before the Presidential Commission of Inquiry investigating the infamous Central Bank ‘bond scam’ under this Government. He has claimed that the Attorney General was summoned and castigated by the Government. In turn, the Attorney General has stoutly refuted this allegation and said that it was he himself who requested a meeting on behalf of the Department with the Prime Minister. The public will wait to make a judgment on this matter.

In particular, let us see if a 2008 amendment to the COI Act (1948) which conferred new powers upon the Attorney General to “institute criminal proceedings in a court of law in respect of any offence based on material collected in the course of an investigation or inquiry, as the case may be, by a Commission of Inquiry” will be made use of in this regard. The fact of this amendment was first pointed to in these column spaces (‘The classic dilemma of the unrepentant ministers’, Focus on Rights, August 6, 2017).

Addressing core failures of the legal system

And to be perfectly clear, the absence of political will is not limited to stalled corruption cases. Core problems bedeviling the criminal justice system are still not even sought to be redressed. These include chronic laws’ delays in emblematic cases of killings, extra-judicial executions and enforced disappearances along with pending cases on thievery of state funds.

The Ministry of Justice, other countless outfits working on the Rule of Law from 2015 hand in glove with the Government as it were, including the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, should have advocated for and pushed through policy changes and monitored ongoing cases. The overhaul should have been comprehensive. If this had happened in the North and East, it would have taken the sting away from the (justifiable) fury that the Government has done nothing but talk of an elusive transitional justice. Most importantly it would have alleviated the pain of family members of victims. That did not happen. That is shameful. Similarly, this effort would have deprived the Rajapaksas of their exceedingly false cry of victimhood in the South.

Human resource shortages at the Attorney General’s Department and the Criminal investigations Department are quoted as cause for why the law splutters. Rectifying that problem is the responsibility of the Justice Minister. But the former incumbent seemed to only luxuriate in inflammatory declarations with little else to show. Certainly when a Minister fails the responsibilities of his portfolio, he cannot hide behind the mantra of saying that he ‘did not want to interfere with independent institutions.’

Making up ‘our own minds’

So we return to the initial question underlying the introductory paragraphs of this column. Will the departure of this Minister make a difference to the trajectory of Sri Lanka’s anti-corruption efforts? As pointed out previously, the octopus-like tentacles of corruption reach into the highest places of government, then and now.

The UNP’s silence for more than one and a half years while this beggar’s wound festered and its hysterical effort to prevent the truth regarding the Central Bank bond scandal is telling. It will take a considerable effort to rid itself of allegations of bad faith that cling so persistently to it, much like an unpleasant smell.

Undoubtedly, the people will ‘make up their own minds about the Government’ as the former Justice Minister exhorted with passion following his dismissal this week. Yet, it is a stretch to think that sympathy for him will feature prominently in that equation. That much is quite evident.

CGIE on Russian cyber crime suspect No record he passed through BIA

Inside Story: Did Sri Lankan Govt. allow one of most wanted Russian cybercriminals to escape?

By Sulochana Ramiah Mohan-2017-12-31

The Department of Immigration and Emigration said that there is no record of the suspected Russian cyber criminal, Manokhin Fedor Raufovich, passing through the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).

Controller General of Immigration and Emigration (CGIE) M.N. Ranasinghe said there was no record of anyone by that name passing through the immigration counter, which perhaps signifies that the 22-year-old Russian is still in the country.

However, he also mentioned that the Criminal Investigation Department had so far not officially approached him in connection with the probe. The Police Media Unit also said they there had been no breakthrough in that case.

Raufovich, who was wanted by the US State Department for two different cyber crimes cases, fled that country and arrived in Sri Lanka. The US issued an arrest warrant through the Interpol, following which the Criminal Investigation Department traced him to Weligama where they arrested him and filed a case in the High Court. However, after he was released on bail, he had been loitering in Colombo without proper surveillance on him.

According to the Russian Embassy, they had also urged the Attorney General to extradite him to Russia, after Sri Lanka and Russia signed the Extradition Treaty on 6 November, 2017.
However, the US State Department urged that he be extradited to the US for him to be prosecuted there.

The suspect had been reporting to the Police every week after he was released on bail, but he suddenly disappeared.

The Russian Embassy was also in touch with the suspect till he disappeared, according to reliable sources.

After his disappearance, both Russia and the US have been on the lookout for him.

Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yury B. Materiy said they want to know his whereabouts. He also noted that suspect's passport was with the High Court, but he had vanished.

There was a speculation that the man was slipped out of the country with the Russian Delegation, using another name, on a charter plane that arrived in the country for 'Rosoboron Export' on 5 December 2017. However, the Russian Ambassador scoffed at such speculation.

The 15%

Sanjana Hattotuwa-December 30, 2017, 6:33 pm 

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, President Maithripala Sirisena

"I think to not be optimistic is just about the most privileged thing you can be. If you can be pessimistic, you are basically deciding that there’s no hope for a whole group of people who can’t afford to think that way."

Ophelia Dahl, quoted in The New Yorker’s World Changers list, 18-25 December 2017 issue

As the patina of three years colours yahapalanaya, 2017 too comes to an end. Comprehensive reform initiatives, done best and easily in the first half of a new government, will now be conducted in some shape and form over 2018. It is unclear now what measure of success they will enjoy.

The New Year begins with an electoral litmus test, and does not let up. The former regime has already and openly called it a measure of confidence in the current government. Out of 15.7 million eligible voters, as much as 700,000 will vote for the first time. This is the same number the Elections Department said were first time voters in January 2010. In January 2015, the number of those who voted for the first time was reportedly 955,990. Accordingly, in early 2018, around 15% of the total electorate will be between 18-34-years old, who in turn are first to fifth time voters.

This is a demographic bulge with significant electoral consequences. From the way they get news and information to how they trust and perceive content, traditional politics, politicians and political propaganda will need to embrace a significant shift in voter engagement. This in turn will entail investments in different ways – from the fielding of younger candidates to the use of pop stars and television idols in campaigns, and importantly, brand new ways of influencing this specific demographic using social media. This will include the dissemination of carefully and compellingly guised misinformation, campaigns anchored to fear, falsehood, fraternity or more generally, by promoting puerile patriotism.

Investments will include ‘troll armies’ – large numbers of geographically dispersed individuals paid by a political party or candidate to promote an idea, individual, party or process by amplifying a set of voices, and violently attacking any and all opposition, critical questioning or alternatives posed online. Coupled with this, investments will also be technical and automated, ensuring that followers of key social media accounts are inflated and also engineered to give the impression around the mass appeal of an idea, by creating an echo chamber of seemingly diverse sounding individuals – with Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala names, both male and female – thereby securing the legitimate attention and buy-in of young, impressionable voters.

It is unclear to what degree, if any, traditional electoral architects in political parties, leave aside the Department of Elections, are embracing these dangers – and for some, verdant opportunities – into their electioneering and election monitoring, respectively. The risk is simple to outline, though much harder to address. Sri Lanka has a very high literacy rate. It also has a very poor media and information literacy. Especially as the distribution of content over social media grows and takes root, a generation conditioned with a pedagogy in school and university that overwhelmingly teaches only rote learning, does not know how to critically question or analyse what they consume. The result is a vote base quick to judge and temper, who act and only later, if at all, think.

Rumour, misinformation and more sophisticated electoral campaigns – using, amongst other means, a method called psycho-metric targeting – exploits this media and information literacy deficit for parochial gain, ensuring support for and belief in the most incredible of claims to the detriment of a campaign based on sober reflection, principled opposition, facts, civil engagement or any honest assessment. The risk here is real, present and growing. There are individuals and political parties in our country who are already, silently but effectively exploiting the general ignorance in this area and the near total lack of any oversight, laws or regulations. They are going after the hearts and minds of 15% of the electorate who will, if 2015’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections were anything to go by, be decisive in who gains power, and loses it – next year and beyond.

Combating all this requires optimism. Painting only doom and gloom does a disservice to the aspirations of young, first time voters and their worldview. The 15% of the electorate that is the battle-ground of political contestation during elections is also the country’s best hope of achieving our democratic potential. There are innovators and entrepreneurs here, creating new ventures that serve global markets. There are social change makers, guided more by what can be done through cooperation and collaboration, a marked difference from more established civil society organisations which compete, viciously, for donor funding. An impatience with governance as it stands, and the embracing of pervasive, affordable new technologies brings with it the potential of socio-political and indeed, economic reform to which this generation alone holds almost all the keys to.

From smartphone apps that do real-time tracking of garbage disposal trucks in the East to timely updates of trains better than what any official source is even close to providing, from citizen monitoring and early warning of adverse weather conditions to mobile platforms that track and assist in addressing gender based violence, there are a growing number of interesting needs-based, citizen generated initiatives that entirely by-pass government to provide vital services, brings into government new thinking that’s long-overdue, or by openly shaming the incompetence of public officials, forces government to upgrade their own skills, services and support structures.

Given the performance of government over the past three years, it is clear that public communication isn’t high on the agenda. This is a big problem. A recent and characteristically vague promise by the PM around a social media referendum, whatever that meant and perhaps thankfully, hasn’t seen the light of day. Every day we are told sections of polity and society are with one or the other political grouping. There is a lot of lecturing or posturing, and not a whole lot of engagement.

There is no meaningful capture of what really the 15% of the electorate over 2018 actually do, who they are, what they want and aspire to be, who their role models are, what they want out of politics and politicians, and how they would like to see governance frameworks that aid their work, goals and life choices. This impacts political analysis as well, because the pessimism we project over Sri Lanka’s democratic fabric over 2018 is based on, largely speaking, an ignorance of what nearly 2.4 million voters think, perceive or believe in. Strategically, they are now thought of in utilitarian terms around how, either misguided or falsely animated, they are useful pawns in parochial politics. The spectrum of responses to this must embrace a more attentive, responsive engagement to highlight what makes this demographic tick - not just with a view to using them for various political ends, but as a way of celebrating what even with the greatest of hostility, difficulty, bias, corruption and bureaucratic bungling, these young people have achieved in a wide range of fields and disciplines.

In them, entirely independent of who is in power and in government, lie the longer-term resilience of Sri Lanka – an enduring hope around incremental change and progress which requires the cultivation of minds, innovation and trust beyond electoral contests. Our better angels are not with any political force or party. They are in the 15% everyone in power covets. Arguably, this 15% needs its own representation; its own leadership; its own voice. They are a new bloc. They are a paradigm shift.

2015 was a harbinger of this shift. 2018 will see the cementing of it. Both as curse and blessing, we live in interesting times!

Your Vote is your Voice

It is now time for women to move on forward from holding fast unto death campaigns, shouting to drive off elephants out of their homes, campaigning with Trade Unions holding banner placards and screaming slogans at protest marches.

by Victor Cherubim-Dec 30, 2017

( December 30, 2017, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Women have a wonderful opportunity with the forthcoming Local Government elections in Sri Lanka. Your vote is your voice. No more wailing that the floods have taken your home, no more claiming that the price of a coconut has doubled in years, no more holding a photo of your loved one and waiting for the Government “to do something.”

To give excuses like “women don’t come forward to contest, women have too many other responsibilities, in the current political climate, it costs a lot to seek election,” is one way to beg the question.

What is lacking in women in Sri Lanka?

We all know that 52% of Sri Lanka’s population are made up by women.

In 1931 Sri Lanka became the first country in Asia to give women the vote on the same basis as men. It was just a few years after women in Britain and perhaps, slightly more than a decade after women in the States obtained this right.

Women in Sri Lanka made rapid progress in relation to health, education and employment. Much was done in the home in medical care.

We note that women have a 1 in 8 chance of dying in their lifetime due to pregnancy related causes compared with 1 in 4,800 chance in Britain. With rural health network centres, Sri Lanka success in reducing maternal deaths is attributed to broad, free access to maternal health, professionalisation of midwives, availability of basic medical supplies and obstetric medication. My Grandmother in Sri Lanka died at childbirth and so I am personally proud of this progress and achievement.

In respect of education, women are outperforming men in schools and universities and are gainfully occupied.

But the spectacular achievement of women is in seeking employment abroad. Women working abroad – a life blood of the nation’s economy. There is nothing more to add.

What is lacking in Sri Lanka is summed up beautifully by Subha Wijesiriwardena in “The Women’s Question in Sri Lanka: A Reflection 2017:

“Women often do not believe they are worthy candidates or could enter a life of politics. The second is at the level of the party, where parties systematically discriminate women and rarely ever nominate women. Finally, it is at the level of the electorate where a combination of a lack of visibility in relation to other campaigns and conditioned sexism and sexual biases towards male authority prevent women from being elected by the public.”

Prejudice against women particular to Local elections

Prejudice against women as political candidates in Local Government elections and the voting habits of rural people has been highlighted as the public/private divide in which women are subjugated to roles related to the home and family.
What is very noticeable outside Sri Lanka, and hardly visible in the country, is the fact of obese men holding political positions in various political parties. It is understandable rural women have been kept in the kitchen for one purpose only.

It is no longer for women to be given space to engage in politics.

It is now time for women to move on forward from holding fast unto death campaigns, shouting to drive off elephants out of their homes, campaigning with Trade Unions holding banner placards and screaming slogans at protest marches.

It is about time women’s grievances are aired in the corridors of power in Pradesha Sabhas. Politicians of all parties have a duty to attract women to contest and give nominated women candidates every support and preference as necessary to make the third and lowest level of government in Sri Lanka a collective voice for women now, if only to see progress in the preparation for the General Election in 2020.

What do you want for women in Sri Lanka in 2018?

2018 marks the centenary of women winning their right to vote in the UK. What we need in Sri Lanka is to celebrate the gender equality and join in voting many women, including shy women in rural communities by getting them elected to Local Government.

Diplomatic cock up- leaked letter, broken law

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Alice was right. It is sure getting curiouser and curiouser. No, not in her Wonderland though. It is in our wonderful land where the tragi-comedy being played out in a remote-controlled foreign ministry is turning diplomacy into a sick joke. When Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe tried from the turn of this century to make a right to information law and much later with Maithripala Sirisena as president the leadership duo saw it through parliament, the Unity Government hailed it as one of the most important pieces of legislation since it came to power.

Diplomatic cock up- leaked letter, broken law.docx by Thavam on Scribd

  

Yahapalana’s three-year report card

Except restoration of democracy, government’s record is unimpressive

December 30, 2017, 6:31 pm 

A well-heeled chum, but neither bright nor trustworthy
Source: Sri Lanka Brief 26 Oct 2016
srilankabrief.org/2016/10/the-yahapalanaya-saga-the-end-of-the-long-beginning-in-sri-lanka/

Vengeance shall be mine
Source: 360 News: live360.lk/govt-well-way-towards-dictatorship-mahinda/

Kumar David

It’s the end of the year, nearly three years from January 8, 2015 and an opportunity to draw up two balance sheets. Today I will focus on the acts of commission and omission of the Sirisena-Ranil duumvirate and next week take a sharp look at Local Government (LG) elections slated for February. The latter will be a significant pointer, so I will keep you salivating for a week. Commentators agree that more than local administration hang on the results, therefore I assure you it’s worth the wait.

A question frequently put to me is: "What do you now have to say about this government? Didn’t you canvas for the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa? Isn’t yahapalanaya a failure?" The question is directed at me because I am responsible for originating the Single-Issue Common-Candidate concept taken forward by Rev Sobitha’s Just Society Movement, anti-Mahinda political parties and democratic and human rights activists. Most people cottoned on to the Common-Candidate (CC) strategy to facilitate the defeat of Rajapaksa, but few grasped the parameters of the Single-Issue (SI) concept. Let me explain this fine and nuanced line and clarify my mixed reaction to the shortcomings of yahapalanaya.

The CC strategy was pulled off by Sirisena, Ranil and Chandrika in a brilliant political coup. Hats off! The need to unite all who detested Mahinda-Gotabaya oppression, repression and slide to autocracy, was an easy idea to grasp. Millions cottoned on, refused to be intimidated by state power, resisted billions of rupees, and voted for a common candidate to drive Rajapaksa out of office. Bravo!

The more finessed point, Single Issue (SI), is that many, like me, who united to defeat Rajapaksa did so for one clearly articulated reason. The motive of those of us who voiced the SI concept was to pull Lanka out of a creeping dictatorship. This was the bottom line, the minimal agenda; anything more would be a bonus. Let me be clear; the purpose of SI-CC was to defeat MR-GR, halt the slide to dictatorship and abolish the all-powerful executive presidency. We harboured no assurance that much more would be achieved. Yes, there was hope on two related objectives; a constitution translating electoral victory into statutes, and second, vigorous action against corruption that had made Rajapaksa era abuse of power profitable. These were possible bonuses, but the minimum was to halt an erosion of democracy, dignity and human rights.

No illusions

This is crucial: There was no illusion, there could possibly not have been any illusion on the Left, that a government led by the ideological heirs of JR Jayewardene and a woolly headed erstwhile Mahinda Rajapaksa loyalist without an economic strategy, would fashion an economic programme to gladden the hearts of leftists, socialists and Marxists. Those of us who endorsed SI as a minimum do not have any right to be disappointed if this government pursues a liberal-capitalist economic strategy. Anybody who expected Ranil to make his beloved uncle turn in the grave was a dreamer. The tenor of explicitly enunciated economic strategies of the yahapalana government is true to its form and as expected. I will explain at the end why, buffeted by the gales of global realpolitik, the government has been compelled to buck its much-loved neo-liberal inclinations.

My first response to my interlocuters is: "I am pleased on the Single-Issue theme. The defeat of the Rajapaksa regime and clan has achieved what was paramount, restoration of a modest quantum of democracy. Those pushing the nation to despotism have been routed – no more state and semi-state extrajudicial murders, no more white vans and arbitrary arrests, no more intimidation of journalists, no more dread of the police and military in the heart of every Tamil and Muslim". This does not mean that the UNP or the Sirisena-SLFP will win future elections; such dynamics are more convoluted as Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015 and Churchill in 1945 learnt the hard way.

To repeat: The overriding objective underlying SI-CC has been achieved. Anything more is a bonus, but before touching on bonuses let me add: The greater credit for restoring democracy belongs to the January 8 activists; only a lesser part can be credited to political leaders (I have already paid a handsome compliment to Sirisena, Ranil and Chandrika for translating the CC proposal into reality). I grant that though not perfect – where in the world is a government perfect? – yahapalanaya has, by and large, been supportive of democratic reforms (right to information, reconciliation, expanded media freedom and so on) but the government has been held on a short leash by its midwife, the January 8 forces, who can therefore claim a greater share of the credit for these reforms.

No bonuses

A new constitution, prosecutions to bring the multitude of Rajapaksa era crooks to book, and measures to stem corruption within the new administration, these are bonus dividends over and above the Single-Issue and would have been welcome. On these matters I share the public’s disappointment. Well, a new democratic constitution to replace JR’s abomination is, actually, more than a bonus; it flows from the need to cement the defeat of autocracy. It is a necessity to firm up the victory.

Indications at this time are that the constitution will fizzle out. The SLFP is a repository of Sinhala chauvinism and does not have the sentiment or the gall to support a modern constitution. It has advocated only Sinhalese interests for 70 years, its politicos are place-seekers who prospered as lick-spittle stooges of the powerful; think of (Dr) Mervyn Silva. Not one SLFPer, or for that matter Communist, Samasamajist or DLFer, opposed the 18th Amendment. What can one expect from such reptilian life-forms? The UNP too contains creepy-crawlies. Is this harsh? Maybe, but may I humbly ask you to pause and reflect on whether this is true. The truth, in turn, is a reflection of the Sri Lankan voter whose consciousness has not matured to pluralism and modernism.

Now you see my pessimism about two-thirds of these types of MPs supporting the abolition of the executive presidency, devolution of administrative power to minorities and many fine proposals contained in the six sub-committee reports. I hope I am wrong and that two-thirds will be forthcoming, but I am pessimistic. I have argued in this column before, and am willing to reiterate today, that if two-thirds can be found among the Kotte dunderheads, then the referendum can be carried relatively easily; high 50s and up to 60% support is conceivable even if Gota, Mahinda and GLib Peris stand on their empty heads.

There is universal disappointment, if not condemnation of the laws delays and insolence of office. Prosecutions are not filed for ages, cases are buried

in the courts as deep as the Treasures of Tutankhamun, Ministers blame the Attorney General’s Department, the police are not allowed to do their job, and everyone agrees the judicial-legal system is ramshackle. Surely, part of the blame must rub-off on the government. If the system is in shambles, doesn’t it have the power and the funds to fix it? Of course it has, but lacks motivation!

Explicit corruption charges against yahapalanaya big-wigs, Ministers and MPs are met with the defence that ‘sleaze is not as bad as in the Rajapaksa days’. Good heavens, what a minimal defence! The Bond Scam has done damage and established that the Prime Minister is not competent in the selection of persons of integrity and ability for key positions. Indrajit Coomaraswamy is an exception, but when else has the PM opted for excellence and expertise over old school tie, society types and sycophants? President Sirisena is not in the clear either. A proposal to buy a Russian Offshore Patrol ship for Rs 30 billion (three times the fraud alleged in the Bond Scam) is said by Muhammed Fazl (Daily FT, 23 Dec) to be a possible Sirisena scam. The Joint Opposition keeps deadpan silence on the matter, motivating Fazl to ask; is the scam in cahoots with the Rajapaksas? Though none of this, nor many lesser bandit stories about Ministers and MPs have been proved in court, allegations are many and the ‘ung okoma horu’ refrain has gained currency.

My minimal expectations, a) defeating the Rajapaksa Presidency and restoring democracy and b) abolishing the executive presidency, have been fulfilled, completely and partially, respectively. In respect of other expectations, those who were very hopeful are, understandably, disappointed, others like this correspondent who were only keeping their fingers crossed for a bonus pay-out, are not surprised. That’s the truth of it.

Backsliding on neo-liberalism

Not just Mangala but the government as a whole is schizophrenic on economic strategy. Ranil, Charitha and Malik chorus hosannas to free-market capitalism, serenade wild-ass liberalism and croon to the global and domestic private sector. The last named will, they say, ride in on a great white stallion to rescue the stranded UNP maiden. Neither knight nor stallion has so far, been sighted. Global capitalism is in retreat and multinationals are reluctant to invest except in safe havens like China. Global FDI peaked at $1.9 trillion in 2007, collapsed to $1.2 trillion in 2009 and recovered only partially by 2016; FDI inflows to developing countries shrank by 14% from $752 billion in 2015 to $646 billion in 2016. (UNCTAD data, http://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/wir2017_en.pdf). Lanka has not bucked the trend and FDI has fluctuated between $900 billion and $700 billion between 2011 to 2016. Global capital is in hibernation while domestic capital has shallow pockets and is overcome by stupor.

Actions speak louder than words. Every mega economic initiative of yahapalanaya has been state-to-state. Note the $1.1 billion Hambantota Harbour and economic zone, intended lease of the Mattala white elephant to India, continuation of Colombo Port City, proposals for 1200 MW of coal power in a belated attempt to contain further aggravation of the Rs 220 billion Sampur cancellation blunder, and the much talked of Economic Zone in the East with Indian participation. Where are the nourishing FDI inflows of private capital? Mangala can huff and he can puff and he can blow the House down in Sri Jayewardenepura, but the directive axis of foreign investment in Sri Lanka will remain state-led. Let them (Ranil, Mangala and the golden oldies) sleepwalk into it; no matter, so long as they sleepwalk in the right direction.

President Sirisena’s opportunity ahead in 2018

 Friday, 29 December 2017

8 January 2018 will mark three years since Maithripala Sirisena was elected Sri Lankan president, after defecting from the Cabinet of his predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He is the first President to hail from the North Central Province. He is an agriculturist by vocation. He joined mainstream politics in 1989 as an MP and has held several ministries since 1994. He was the General-Secretary of the SLFP and the Minister of Health until November 2014 when he announced his candidacy for the 2015 presidential election.

After being sworn in, President Sirisena stated that he would only serve one term. On 28 April 2015, Sirisena voluntarily transferred significant presidential powers to Parliament unlike any other President before.

Maithri’s simplicity has certainly won the support of many people and put all the politicians in the country under pressure to follow his example. Unlike most of his ministers, he himself takes his phone calls and returns his calls.

Leo Tolstoy once said, “There is no greatness where there is no simplicity”. Mathri is certainly a humble man with a very strong resolve. A very refreshing change for the country. Three years into his term while democracy has got strengthened, there has hardly been any meaningful reform.

His fourth year in office will start on 8 January 2018 with strong evidence of the President getting ready to play a bigger role in the Government and will no longer allow political scoundrels past and present to cut deals with the Government to abscond their place at Welikada.

His dreams of a new bipartisan era have given way to a new political order. To the vast majority in the country, his Government often sounds very off-handish and removed from reality . Therefore the President needs to act fast to push through the reform agenda he promised in January 2015. If he fails to provide leadership to push through the reform agenda, opposition politicians like Mahinda Rajapaksa will invariably succeed in brainwashing the gullible.

Move into 2018

Therefore as we move into 2018, his first challenge would be to see through the local election for the SLFP.

Some politicians are making an attempt to portray the current election as one that would be consequential in shifting the fundamental thinking of the masses towards a sea change in public perception. This wishful thinking is bordering on being overly optimistic at best and delusional at worst.

This Government, made up of the UNP and Maithripala Sirisena’s SLFP, too would not alter that political truism. When in power, the psyche of political parties is totally different from that when they are out of power. Given the current political situation, it won’t be a surprise according to political analysts if the UNP comes out as the winning party, despite poor voter turnout.

Most Pradeshiya Sabhas and Municipal Councils are not yet decided on who should be second and third. There seems to be great uncertainty about that. However, conventional wisdom dictates that it would be quite hard to beat a well-established party like the SLFP whose leader is the President who was elected by the votes of the UNP, part of the SLFP and an overwhelming majority of the Tamil and Muslim minorities.

The SLFP most likely should still be having its rural party structures intact. In which case, it will be an extraordinary task for any political entity, whether led by Mahinda Rajapaksa or his three siblings, to relegate the SLFP to a subordinate position from a totally new party like SLPP. Very similar to the DUNF story in 1993. But certainly they know their game.

Political reconciliation

However, for the Government of Sri Lanka, there is the challenge of resettlement and reconciliation. But neither of these can be seen in just the political context or in the limited framing of ethnic harmony. They are both related to a process of democratisation, a political settlement and also good governance.

On the other hand good governance is not an abstract principle but a practice. Also it will not be too long before Sri Lanka learns if its ‘Yes’ vote based on a ‘traditional and principled position’ on the ‘Status of Jerusalem’ resolution would have repercussions.

The next session of US-Sri Lanka Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council scheduled in Washington is but a few months away. The US could also take an even more aggressive stance against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in Geneva. But for sure after the conclusion of the Local Government elections a new window of opportunity will open for reconciliation, therefore it is a priority, as it is wanted, needed and has the acceptance of the people.

Constitutional reforms

The proposed constitutional reforms will not be endorsed by an electorate that is deeply sceptical of its leaders. During the decades of war, the problem in Sri Lanka was construed as an ethnic problem. Indeed the political problems of Lanka cannot be limited to one of ethnicity.

The most serious challenge in Sri Lanka has been a problem of democratisation. Social exclusion also follows a lack of a balanced democracy. Democratisation needs to distance itself from excesses of power and authoritarianism, and the need is for liberal democracy in Sri Lanka.

A process of political reconciliation centred on democratisation would have to involve reforming the state through a new constitution that allows for the devolution of power to the regions with power sharing at the centre. It would have to advance the devolution debate in ways to address class, caste, gender and the rural-urban divide.

There needs to be substantive demilitarisation involving not only demobilisation and reduction of the size of the military. This is not easy to accomplish and strategies have to be planned for absorbing the demobbed forces into civil society through adult education programmes as well as, skills training.

Thus political reconciliation cannot just be about humanitarian issues and ethnic harmony. Nor can it be limited to a narrow vision of reconstruction and economic development. Rather it has to take seriously the challenges of democratisation and a political settlement.

Such political reconciliation will not be possible without constructive debate, and the free expression of opinion that challenges the Sri Lankan State and the ruling regime, and the implementation of our national plans, that openness and engagement could make President Sirisena even more popular in the electorate.

In this backdrop, the President must engage and understand the problems of the under privilege and promote political reconciliation and help all communities to work together as one nation to ensure that as a country we can realise our full potential.

On the other hand the future of Sri Lanka›s economic health will largely depend on political stability, technocratic efficiency, return to genuine peace, good governance and continued policy reforms—particularly in the area of fiscal discipline and management.

(The writer is a thought leader.)

MR dares SLFP Central Committee Sack me if you can

BY RAVI LADDUWAHETTY-2017-12-31

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in an exclusive interview with Ceylon Today last afternoon, dared the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Central Committee to terminate his membership from the Party in which he has been a member for the last 50 years since 1968 and a Member of Parliament for the Beliatta electorate since 1970.

He said: "It was I who salvaged this country from the most brutal terrorists the world has seen. It was I who rebuilt this country and also the SLFP in the post-war history as the President of the country and now it is very easy for the Party that I resurrected to sack me."

He added: "How many times have they threatened to sack me. We will see what will happen if they do that." The former President also said that the SLFP Central Committee and the Party hierarchy should sack the current President Maithripala Sirisena from the Party leadership for getting a segment of the Party to join the UNP Government in return for Cabinet portfolios.

He added that there should be an independent inquiry as to how and why the SLFP Members who even lost the 2015 Parliamentary Polls were brought into the National List and made Cabinet Ministers, which was against all the norms and ethics of the SLFP.

He said that the Party should be taking all that into consideration before taking any disciplinary action against him, he said.

He was reacting to comments made by the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) General Secretary and Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera to this newspaper that the SLFP Central Committee will take stringent disciplinary action against any Party member who acts in contravention of the Party interests and promotes another Party.

The UPFA General Secretary was reacting to a report in Ceylon Today that the former President was to lead the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna at the Local Government Polls campaign

Amaraweera also said the SLFP will be watching the activities of the SLPP members who are in the SLFP and would be submitting a report to the Central Committee with the recommendations to even terminate membership.

"We have not taken a final decision on the former President, but the entire principle that he and other members are engaged in was ethically and morally wrong, he said. Amaraweera dared Rajapaksa to leave the SLFP and do all what he wanted, adding that it was extremely unethical and immoral for Rajapaksa to remain in the SLFP and criticize it.

Rajapaksa and the others in the joint Opposition (JO) are well aware that the SLPP would be an abysmal failure and that it would be a matter of time before it collapses and that is why they are all opting to return to the SLFP," he claimed.

Is There Any Point In Getting The SLFP Together Again?

By Shyamon Jayasinghe –December 29, 2017

“SLFP has never done any major development projects of catalytic national impact. It is the party that simply shares poverty; turning our nation into a miserable population waiting for government benefits.”

A Political Class Siphoned offthe People

Sri Lanka, paradise, is never short of drama. Unfortunately, the ordinary people and their urgent needs for a better life are being ignoredby these moves and counter moves, conspiracies, rackets, deals and whatnot of the rotten political class that saw its rise to peak under the hopeless regime of Mahinda Rajapaksa, his family, cabal and cohorts. Never before has the island witnessed this phenomenon of a political class so cut off from the people. Would JR Jayewardene have ever known that his constitution was pregnant with this unfolding dreadful reality?

Today, the political class decides and the people, reduced to desperate levels of expectation, have no option but to follow. The political class are never drawn from the grassroots as during general elections prior to the JR Constitution. Those days, intending members of parliamenthave had to first get clearance from the electorates they wish to represent. If fortunate to be elected, they have to keep being accountable to that source electorate. We did have some electorates like Colombo Central with multiple MPs but they were few. Each electorate had an MP who is beholden to his source of power.

It is a question of party officials picking candidates today. Here comes the creepy fellows and those of undesirable quality. We had an MP who once stole necklaces from helpless females who passed by. We had criminals, rapists and public cheats. Presidential pardon had been given for the wife of one MP who was convicted of double murder. We had bottle shop kings. Over 80 per cent had not passed O level. In India, 60 per cent are graduates.

This is the pass we have come today.

Disappointment

The current officially announced intentions of some MPs of the pro-Rajapaksa clan whom President Sirisena unfortunatelyinvited to government have ever since, been playing honkey dory. They are officially in the Unity government but keep criticising at will cabinet colleagues from the other side. Susil Premjayanth – that guy who bears the name of a former film star; John Seneviratne, the Minister of Labour, and the Sports MinisterDayasiri Jayasekera have all recently expressed their “disappointment” of having tried but failed to “bring the SLFP together,” implying the co-optingof former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on board.

One would wonder what these trio had been doing since they took over portfolio from the President. Like to know their records as Ministers under the Unity Government. Nothing that we can think of. Dayasiri has been well and truly messing up Sri Lanka Cricket. Susil has still to answer how he let the Petroleum Corporation create the huge fraud around the hedging experiment during his days spent under Rajapaksa. John Seneviratne appears a simple nitwit unable to make any notable headway in our labour legislation.

Sirisena in Suicide Mission

President Sirisena can easily ask them to get off the back of the government as he would loose nothing by that except the respect of the public for manifesting leadership qualities. Our daily experience is that Maitripala Sirisena has become a national disappointment and that he is showing up badly, having lost all clarity in thinking about his own future. He seems to be in a suicide mission attempting to get the SLFP together and be back cosily with the former dictator who on his once-stated assessment would have sent him six feet underground had he lost the Presidential Elections!

This is the state of the isolatedpolitical class. Nothing of the development has any bearing on the lives of ordinary people. The political class decidesand the people must follow.

Birth of the SLFP-Not Ideological

Let’s take a look at this so-called attempts to put the SLFP together. My honest concern is, even given an honest intention on the part of its protagonists, is it worth the exercise?

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party was born when SWRD was unfairly denied succession to leadership in the UNP in which he was Minister. DS Senanayake wanted to put his son, Dudley, in the play and manoeuvred his way toward that. SWRD smelt it and resigned to form the new party.

It was not an ideological rift. The ideology SWRD developed was an afterthought and it was designed to access power by playing to the base primary emotions and irrationality of the people- their race and language. The strategy worked to full measure and the UNP was vanquished.

Read More

President asserts authority after warning Ranil

Piyasena Gamage’s Son Demands STF Security In Less Than 24 Hours After Father Taking Oaths As State Minister
December 30, 2017, 8:29 pm

ECONOMYNEXT - President Maithripala Sirisena appointed newly sworn-in legislator Piyasena Gamage as state minister for law and order in a move that sought to reduce the authority of a very close ally of the prime minister.

Sirisena, who is at loggerheads with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) gave the influential portfolio to Gamage, a member of the Sirisena-faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Gamage became a minister after SLFP’s Rajapaksa-faction MP Geetha Kumarasinghe was unseated because she was found to be holding Swiss citizenship at the time of contesting the August 2015 parliamentary elections.

The latest appointment to the law and order ministry came amid SLFP’s criticism of cabinet minister Sagala Ratnayaka, a close ally of Wickremesinghe.

Several ministers have privately accused Ratnayaka of delaying the prosecution of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the former defence secretary, and showing leniency to members of the former first family facing corruption and murder investigations. He has denied any wrong doing.

Getting an SLFP loyalist to supervise the police ahead of the February local election is also crucial for Sirisena who is in a battle with the Rajapaksa faction to demonstrate who commands more support of among SLFP voters.

Six days ago, Sirisena told SLFP leaders that he has decided to carry out the "second stage" of his daring political bravery of defecting from the then strongman president Rajapaksa’s government in November 2014.

A rank outsider, Sirisena quit his Health ministry portfolio and challenged his former boss at the snap presidential polls of January 2015. He won with the support of a UNP-led rainbow coalition.

On December 22, Sirisena said the way to save the country from the scourge of bribery and corruption was to strengthen the SLFP which he described as the only "clean political force in the country.""Without strengthening the SLFP, I don’t see any clean political force that could save the country at this time in its history....

"As I took a courageous and bold decision to leave the (then) government on November 21, 2014, I have today decided to take my next major step. It will be in the interest of the country and its people to ensure a clean political force," he said.

He said he did not fear consequences of his impending action out of his love for the country and its people.

Since his surprise announcement, he has declared that he will appoint another presidential commission to investigate corruption and mismanagement at SriLankan airline and Mihin Lanka.

Following Sirisena’s announcement of a probe into the airline all members appointed to its board have said they were willing to resign, but none has actually stepped down and continue to enjoy generous perks, officials said.

Last month, Sirisena suggested that Wickremesinghe’s government could be more corrupt than the previous regime that they toppled together.

Tomorrow is decisive to Yahapalana govt. 

December 30, 2017 by

According to the MoU reached by the UNP and the SLFP, their term for the yahapalana government ends on the 31st and MPs of the SLFP had had a special discussion yesterday (29th). As such, tomorrow will be a decisive day for the yahapalana government.

The yahapalana government was formed on a MoU reached between the UNP and the SLFP after the general election held in August 2015. The period agreed for the government was two years and this term ended on 2nd September 2017. However, SLFP MPs agreed to remain in the government until the end of this year on a special request from President Maithripala Sirisena.

However, there is no accord between SLFP MPs regarding what action to take and a tense situation had occurred at the discussion held yesterday. Several seniors in the SLFP had said the party should leave the government and should take an anti-UNP stand in the future. It was decided to meet again to take a final decision.

Bond Commission report today – a damp squib !

(Lanka-e-News -30.Dec.2017, 11.00PM) The photographed report of the Treasury  bond of the presidential commission is to be handed over today openly to the president , based on reports reaching Lanka e news. Though this report was ready by the 7 th , it was held back until today (as reported by Lanka e news earlier on) to capitalize on  it by the president in the run up to  the forthcoming local body elections .

According to information reaching Lanka e news , this report is not worth the time , energy and public funds wasted on it - not worth the Thovila that was danced by the devils and the drums that were beaten to drum up the issue. 

It has come to light there hadn’t been such a large loss to the government owing to this bond issue. There is nothing to indicate the Prime minister or the finance minister has committed any wrong.

The Commission has only expressed its ‘ concern’ regarding the finance minister taking a house on rent from the accused. It has also  not concluded that  Arjun Mahendran and Aloysius robbed public funds . However , because they have acted in a manner that could create conflict of interests , they may be liable to a fine.

It is significant to note even in the COPE Committee report pertaining to the Bond issue  did not state  the transactions engendered loss to the government or was tainted with fraud .

In the event  the president reveals the report after it is handed over to him , the true picture can be known. On the other hand , if the president seeks to hold back that report to capitalize on  it at  the forthcoming elections to serve his selfish ends while leveling criticisms  , that cannot be permitted because such  moves are  most reprehensible  , repugnant and not in the best national interests . Hence it  is hoped the president as the highest in the hierarchy would realize this national  necessity much more than all others.

---------------------------