Sri Lanka’s democracy under siege
lurking shadows of business-politics nexus
In a startling revelation, Sri Lanka’s businessman Dhammika Perera, who aspires to enter the presidential race, has made a striking statement that should raise alarm bells. According to a recent article by K. Sujeewa in “Anidda” newspaper, published on Sunday, October 29, Perera is willing to pay a significant price for votes, boldly stating, “If SLPP vote base ‘Pohottuwa’ rises to 30%, the remaining 20% will be bought over in cash.” This admission sheds light on a disturbing trend in the country’s politics and the potentially dangerous implications for democracy.
Business Tycoons Eyeing the Presidential Arena
Dhammika Perera is not alone in his quest for political power. Another prominent businessman, Dilith Jayaweera, is reportedly gearing up to join the presidential race. However, their affiliations and motives must be scrutinized. Both Perera and Jayaweera are widely seen as loyalists of the Rajapaksa clan, indicating an ongoing attempt by the Rajapaksas to consolidate their power base through unconventional means.
These business tycoons have amassed significant wealth, particularly since the Rajapaksas’ rise to power in 2005. As confirmed by the Auditor General, out of the 8 trillion project loans Sri Lanka received by 2015, only 2 trillion worth of assets can be accounted for. This alarming gap begs the question: what happened to the remaining 6 trillion, and how might it be connected to business figures? Entry of Perera and Jayaweera
Dhammika Perera found his way into Sri Lanka’s Parliament, albeit through unconventional means, using a legislative loophole. Dhammika Perera and Dilith Jayaweera’s role in previous elections and their financial investments in political campaigns cannot be ignored. The question arises: how much did these businessmen contribute to bringing political leaders like Gotabaya Rajapaksa to power?
Business Interests and Political Favours
The Rajapaksas have shown gratitude to businessmen like Dhammika Perera and Dilith Jayaweera by granting them various favours. For instance, Perera was allowed to run a casino business without impediments, and the recent discussion of a casino tax scandal raises concerns about their influence in government circles. Furthermore, Jayaweera’s pharmaceutical company was granted a lucrative monopoly during the COVID-19 pandemic to import antigen test kits, demonstrating the intertwining of business interests and political decisions.
The Call for Accountability
This collusion between businessmen and politicians raises questions about the integrity of Sri Lankan politics. It is imperative that these individuals are held accountable for their actions and that any ill-gotten assets are returned to the public. The need for transparency and justice is paramount.
The Commoditization of Votes
The blatant statement made by Dhammika Perera that he is willing to “buy 20% of the vote in cash” is not only a violation of the Election Law if an election had been declared but also a grave affront to the democratic process. Such remarks reduce the value of the vote to a mere commodity, casting doubt on the integrity of the election system and the politicians involved.
The Transformation of Sri Lankan Politics
The evolution of Sri Lankan politics is evident when comparing politicians from the post-independence era to those who emerged after the 1970s. The latter have relied heavily on financial backing from businessmen to fund their election campaigns. The consequences are far-reaching, as these politicians prioritize personal gain over the welfare of the nation.
Many individuals with questionable backgrounds and vested interests have found their way into Parliament, including those accused of murder and illicit activities. The intertwining of business interests and political power is a concerning trend that needs to be addressed, as it undermines the principles of democracy.
The Decision for Sri Lankan Voters
Sri Lankan voters now face a critical choice: whether to sell their votes to individuals like Dhammika Perera, who see their ballots as commodities or to reject the influence of corrupt businessmen and politicians who have profited at the expense of the nation.
The author is a former Senior Consultant, Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA). He can be contacted at Shantha323@gmail.com
https://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Sri-Lankas-democracy-under-siege/172-270312
Elections dates and election reforms:
Confusion confounded:
By Jehan Perera
President Wickremesinghe’s appointment of a commission of inquiry to investigate existing election laws and regulations and recommend changes has come without prior discussion or warning. It was a carefully kept secret until brought to the notice of the general public by the president’s appointment of the commission. The commission has been tasked with examining all existing election laws and regulations and making recommendations to suit current needs. According to its terms of reference the factors to which special consideration would be given include increased women and youth representation, introduction of electronic voting using modern technology instead of printed ballot papers and providing facilities for voting by Sri Lankans overseas. These are commendable. But it also includes unusual provisions for Sri Lanka such as to enable a person to contest two elections at two different levels of government and represent both councils at the same time if elected. And the timing gives cause for concern.
The changes proposed are major ones. With the commission given time till April to come up with its recommendations, it means elections are unlikely in the coming six month period. There would also be a time lag before which the changes can be given legal effect. The Commission’s recommendations would have to go before the cabinet of ministers. Upon their approval, it would have to be presented to parliament for its passage. There again, the contents are subject to challenge over their constitutionality before the supreme court ahead of the final passage of the recommendations. According to former Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya, “It would be very difficult for the Commission to complete its task in just six months. There must be hours and hours, days and days of public discussion. This takes time. It could go on for even a year.” https://www.sundaytimes.lk/231022/columns/president-appoints-special-commission-to-drastically-change-election-laws-536547.html
The president’s sudden appointment of the Commission of Inquiry to investigate existing election laws and regulations and recommend changes becomes perplexing in the light on another surprise announcement by Minister of Justice Dr Wijayadasa Rajapaksha earlier last week that he had prepared a draft law on electoral reform that was all set to go. These reforms would see the election of 160 members to Parliament under the first-past-the-post system. The remaining 65 members in a 225-seat Parliament would be appointed from the National list and the District list depending on the number of voters under the proportional voting system.” Minister Wijayadasa’s proposals may fall within the remit of the newly appointed presidential commission. These two near simultaneous announcements would be recipes for confusion in the minds of the general public. When the time for elections falls constitutionally due, the electoral reforms and required electoral delimitation process could still be in process and constitute a volatile mix for political confrontation.
IMF SUPPORT
The speedy release of the IMF funds last week would be welcome news to the government as the need for both the money and the credibility that accompanies the IMF-led recovery process is of critical importance in an election period. It would help to impress the general population that the government continues to be in a position to access international resources on a large scale and better than its competitors in the political arena. It is indicative that the government has powerful backing within the international system of which the IMF is a part for which credit would accrue to the president. So far it seems that the government’s only concrete response to the IMF strictures and delay in granting the second tranche was to increase the price of electricity to add to its revenues in deference to the IMF requirement that the budget deficit should be made smaller. Government ministers have said this will enhance confidence in the economy and help to speed up the debt restructuring process with international creditors.
The IMF’s release of the second tranche of its loan to Sri Lanka came sooner than expected. It had informed the government that its revenue collection was inadequate to get the second installment of the IMF loan. The problem on the governance side seemed even more formidable. The IMF had recommended sixteen priority actions in its recently released Governance Diagnostic Assessment (GDA) on Sri Lanka to address systematic and severe governance weaknesses and deep-rooted corruption. The government’s performance has been less than impressive with regard to these prerequisites for development. The government’s track record of conforming to democratic norms and to the rule of law are not reassuring after it postponed the local government elections despite the Election Commission’s best efforts to hold them and failed to heed even a supreme court ruling that the money withheld from the Election Commission for the purposes of holding the elections should be released.
It is significant that the IMF release of the second tranche came shortly after the announcement by the Chinese government that it had reached preliminary agreement with Sri Lanka regarding debt relief that would be acceptable to other international creditors. It was also interesting that IMF personnel felt obliged to state that the agreement reached between the government and the Exim Bank of China did not have an impact on the IMF decision to reverse its original decision taken a little over a fortnight ago which was not to give Sri Lanka the second tranche for the time being. This would add to the stature of President Ranil Wickremesinghe as a worldly wise leader when it comes to negotiating with international power blocs. But within the country the challenge remains to win the trust of the general population. This requires winning the mandate of the people through free and fair elections in place of beefing up the security forces and security laws to suppress them.
POSTPONED ELECTIONS
Swift on the heels of receiving the IMF second tranche, President Wickremesinghe has moved to address the concern in sections of the population that the government is planning to stay on in power without conducting elections for the foreseeable future. This line of reasoning is being sincerely urged on society by some business leaders and economic planners, quite apart from political allies, as being necessary to consolidate the economic improvements they see as taking place. Although not the full story, the grim reality for the majority of people is that their living standards are deteriorating as evidenced by World Bank figures regarding the rise in poverty levels to 25 percent this year and 28 percent next year and World Health Organisation figures which show the rise in malnutrition. Public opinion polls which show the government getting less than 20 percent of the popular support consistently show the writing on the wall.
Different statements made over the last few weeks have given rise to the speculation that the government intends to postpone the forthcoming presidential and general elections or possibly not have them at all. Speaking from the heart as if it were UNP Chairman and Member of Parliament Wajira Abeywardana recently said that no one should contest the next presidential election for the sake of the nation. “The incumbent President can continue in office in such a scenario and see that the country moves forward. Also anyone who is contesting can submit an economic programme to the budget office which is instituted in the parliamentary complex. Budget office can go through the proposals and then state whether any proposal is realistic or not. No candidate can present to people any programme at any election when such a programme is rejected by the budget office. Besides it is also clear that there is no alternative in a situation where it is officially declared that Sri Lanka is bankrupt. In such a situation one could wonder whether it is wise to spend funds for a presidential election.” https://www.dailymirror.lk/print/front-page/No-one-should-contest-the-Presidential-election-for-the-sake-of-the-nation/238-269481
Addressing the UNP’s national convention as its party leader President Wickremesinghe sounded confident over his hold on power in the government when he reiterated the timeline for upcoming elections in line with the constitutional provisions. He said that the presidential election is scheduled for the following year, followed by parliamentary elections. However, his declaration that the local government elections are expected to take place only in the first half of 2025 needs to be reconsidered as those elections should have been held in March and not two years into the future. In addition, there are other statements regarding the abolition of the presidency, referendums and electoral reform that could singly, severally and jointly have the impact of negating elections. Arbitrary decisions with regard to elections should not be taken as those in power need to realise their power is temporary and they do not have a right to deny the people their right to vote and participate in the governance of the country for whatever reason.
https://island.lk/elections-dates-and-election-reforms/
Abolition of time-tested Exchange Control Act Only 18 opposed it and 113 skipped vote
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Amidst allegations that the abolition of the time-tested Exchange Control Act of 1953 contributed to the country’s bankruptcy and foreign exchange crisis, The Island, in terms of the Right to Information Act No 12 of 2016 requested from the Office of Secretary General of Parliament, the names of the MPs who had voted for the new law (Foreign Exchange Act No 12 of 2017) and those who opposed it.
According to parliamentary records, 94 voted for the Bill and 18 voted against it while 113 skipped the vote. The TNA voted with the UNP and the SLFP-led UPFA for the new law. The then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who moved the second reading motion in his capacity as the Minister of National Policies and Economic Affairs was among those who skipped the vote on July 25, 2017.
Justice Minister Wijeyedasa Rajapakse voted for the new law, which, he says, has helped unscrupulous exporters park export proceedings overseas to the tune of USD 100 bn. Two of the strongest critics of current economic policies namely Dr. Harsha de Silva and Eran Wickremaratne voted for the new law enacted in 2017.
Former Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy has publicly alleged that the new exchange law was not formulated in consultation with the Central Bank. The Governor led Central Bank team which appeared before the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) probing the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage declared that the new law hindered its regulatory powers.
The following MPs voted for the new law: S.B. Dissanayake, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Gamini Jayawickrama, John Amaratunga, Lakshman Kiriella, Gayantha Karunatilleka, Rajitha Senaratne, Ravi Karunanayake, Kabeer Hashim, Sajith Premadasa, Mano Ganesan, Thilanga Sumathipala, Anura Priyadarshana. Yapa, Tilak Marapana, Vajira Abeywardena, S.B. Nawinna, Sarath Fonseka, Navin Dissanayake, Wijeyadasa Rajapakse,(Mrs.) Chandrani Bandara, (Mrs.) Thalatha Atukorale, D. M. Swaminadan, Abdul Haleem, Sagala Ratnayake, Daya Gamage, Faizer Musthapha, A. H. M. Fowzie, Dilan Perera, Lakshman Seneviratne, Ravindra Samaraweera, Niroshan Perera, Ruwan Wijewardene, Mohan Lal Grero, A.D. Premadasa Champika, Sujeewa Senasinghe, Wasantha Senanayake, Wasantha Aluvihare, Dr. Mrs. Sudarshini Fernandopulle, Eran Wickramaratne, Mrs. Sumedha G. Jayasena, Ameer Ali Shihabdeen, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Faizal Cassim, Dr. Harsha De Silva, Ashok Abeysinghe, Karunarathna Paranawithana, Manusha Nanayakkara, Lucky Jayawardana, Vadivel Suresh, Edward Gunasekara M.S. Thowfeek, J.M. Ananda Kumarasiri, J.C. Alawathuwala, Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana, Ranjith Aluvihare, Abdullah Mahrooff, Srinal de Mel, Anura Sidney Jayarathne, K.K. Piyadasa, A.A. Wijetunge, Ajith Mannapperuma, Nalin Bandara Jayamaha, Hector Appuhamy, Sisira Kumara Abeysekara, Thushara Indunil Amarasena, A.Aravindh Kumar, Ananda Aluthgamage, K. Thurairetnasingam, Mavai S.Senathirajah, A. Adaikkalanathan, Sivagnanam Shritharan, E. Sarawanapawan, M.A. Sumanthiran, Charles Nirmalanathan, Gnanamuthu Srineshan, Ashoka Priyantha, Chandima Gamage, Mylvaganam Thilakarajah, Mohamed Navavi, Sujith Sanjaya Perera, Bandulal Bandarigoda, Imaran Maharoof, Ashu Marasinghe, Ishak Rahuman, Malith Jayathilake, Mujibur Rahuman, Harshana Rajakaruna, Jayampathy Wickramaratne, Thusita Wijemanne, Mrs. Rohini Kumari Wijeratne, Hesha Withanage, Sandith Samarasinghe, Chathura Senaratne and Wijepala Hettiarachchi.
The following MPs voted against D. V. Chanaka, Piyal Nishanta de Silva, Prasanna Ranaweera, Kanchana Wijesekara, Indika Anurudda Herath, Mrs. Sriyani Wijewickrama, Thenuka Vidanagamage, Shehan Semasinghe, Vijitha Herath, Bandula Gunawardane, C. B. Ratnayake, Nihal Galappathi, Gamini Lokuge, Rohitha Abeygunawardana, Wimalaweera Dissanayake, Udaya Shantha Gunasekara, Ranjith de Soysa and Roshan Ranasinghe. The then Speaker Karu Jayasuriya was in chair at the time the vote was taken.
Before the vote was taken the then UPFA MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara said the new law would lead to disaster. Quoting Washington-based Global Financial Integrity, MP Nanayakkara said that USD 1.99 bn had been moved out of the country through illegal means annually.
https://island.lk/abolition-of-time-tested-exchange-control-act-in-terms-of-rti-act-house-releases-names-of-mps-who-voted-for-new-law/
‘Presidential control over DDO undermines power of Parliament’
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Dissident SLPP MP Gevindu Cumaratunga has strongly opposed the government move to place the debt-restructuring programme under President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s control as the latter does not represent Parliament.
Addressing Parliament on Saturday (01), the leader of civil society group ‘Yuthukama’ pointed out that the Resolution on the Domestic Debt Optimisation (DDO) was meant to bring the whole process under Finance Minister Wickremesinghe’s power. How could Parliament grant such authority to a person not among elected or appointed members of the current Parliament? MP Cumaratunga asked, while stressing public finance was their (Parliament) responsibility
The dissident SLPP MP was among 62 members who voted against the resolution.
MP Cumaratunga reminded Parliament that a massive Rs. 3.5 bn VAT scam took place in 2003 when Wickremesinghe served as the Premier. Recalling the 2015 and 2016 Treasury bond scams, MP Cumaratunga questioned how those who campaigned against Wickremesinghe throughout that period now voted for DDO that was meant to give him unprecedented powers. One hundred and twenty-two MPs voted for the resolution.
Comparing the government debt with the Gross Domestic Product in the recent past during the Yahapalana and Rajapaksha administrations, MP Cumaratunga stressed that President Wickremesinghe couldn’t be entrusted with the DDO process. Finally, the government shamelessly burdened the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) with massive debt, the MP said while attacking the government over its failure to collect taxes amounting to Rs 6 bn from liquor manufacturers.
MP Cumaratunga told The Island that he couldn’t address some issues as he got only five minutes to address parliament. The outspoken MO said that Sri Lanka secured as much as USD 12.5 bn at higher rates from the international money market during the Yahapalana administration. Now, they advised the country how to proceed in DDO operation, MP Cumaratunga said, questioning how Central Bank and Treasury employees were given a staggering 29 percent interest whereas other EPF recipients received just 9 percent interest.
The government owed an explanation as to how a selected group of people received a higher interest rate at a time the economy was under tremendous pressure.
Addressing the media at the Opposition Leader’s Office, former SJB MP and mayoral candidate at the elections for CMC, Mujibur Rahuman said that, in short, the resolution on DDO has effectively transferred the powers relating to public finance from parliament to Finance Minister Wickremesinghe.
Rahuman said that President Wickremesinghe disclosed the move to take up resolution on DDO on Saturday during his recently concluded visit to Paris.The former lawmaker said that the President and the SLPP had been in an indecent hurry to empower President Wickrejemsinghe at the expense of parliament, the parliament was summoned on Saturday regardless of scheduled sittings tomorrow (04).
Rahuman said that the issue should be discussed also taking into consideration a day’s sitting cost the taxpayer as much as Rs 10 mn. Pointing out that parliament staff consisted of nearly 2,000, Rahuman said that workers had to be paid extra payment on that day. Why on earth you squandered money at a time of bankruptcy.
Rahuman said that the executive had now secured powers of the legislation thereby negating parliament. “We are rapidly moving towards a dictatorship,” Rahuman said, warning of further deterioration. The situation has been aggravated by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena openly siding with the ruling party, the ex-MP said. One-time UNP MP lambasted the Speaker for blatantly working for the government since the day he received that appointment. Having agreed to continue the debate till 9.30 pm, the Speaker terminated the proceedings at 7.30 pm and called the vote, Rahuman said.
Both MP Cumaratunga and ex-MP Rahuman alleged that the government didn’t really explain how it was going to address the issues at hand. Instead the executive has been granted unprecedented powers that threatened the very basics of democracy here, they alleged.Rahuman said that the absence of the Rajapaksas at the time of voting should be carefully examined.
https://island.lk/presidential-control-over-ddo-undermines-power-of-parliament/
PAFFREL calls for Private Member Bill on LG bodies to be defeated
- .Says the bill is a death blow to the sovereignty of the people and democracy
- Claims bill does not specify for how long a Minister will be able to reactivate LG bodies
- Stresses governments could misuse the law to not hold elections when unfavourable
Independent election monitors, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) yesterday called for the recently gazetted Private Member’s Bill presented by Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Jayantha Ketagoda to be defeated.
According to PAFFREL, the failure to hold elections as scheduled while attempting to reactivate Local Government bodies whose tenure has elapsed by amending existing legislation as proposed is a significant blow to both the sovereignty of the people and the principles of democracy. “This is yet another milestone in the attempts to obstruct elections and embark on a dictatorial journey,” the organisation said.
“The private member’s proposal states that if the poll cannot be held due to a crisis at a time when the local government bodies have been dissolved and the poll called, the existing law should be amended so that the minister can recall the dissolved local government bodies for a certain period of time. According to this section, the discretionary period is not specified and accordingly, the members of the dissolved local government bodies can be recalled even for a lengthy period at the discretion of the minister.” PAFFREL noted.
PAFFREL also noted that the bill has failed to elaborate on the term ‘crisis’ allowing the Government or the relevant Minister to misuse it. The organisation said they refuse to accept this as a mere Private Member Bill given the Government’s reluctance to hold polls.
PAFFREL said with this amendment in place, it raises uncertainty about whether any government will prioritise recalling elected representatives instead of conducting elections whenever they perceive it to be unfavourable
“If any representative of the people supports this proposal to become a law, it will be a great blow to the people’s sovereignty,” PAFFREL said while urging all MPs and the people to come together to defeat the effort. PAFFREL also said it will take all legal steps possible to prevent the bill from being enacted as law.
https://www.ft.lk/news/PAFFREL-calls-for-Private-Member-Bill-on-LG-bodies-to-be-defeated/56-750092
- Resolution for ouster of Public Utilities Commission Chairman receives 123 votes in favour and 77 votes against in Parliament
- Janaka Ratnayake says ouster not defeat but loss for people and MPs who voted for it
- Opines vote exposed MPs acting on baseless allegations to oust Chairman of independent commission who put people’s interest first and challenged unfair actions by Govt.
- President Wickremesinghe’s Government has increased electricity tariffs by 1200% in August last year and by 275% in February 2023
- Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera charged politically motivated Ratnayake’s actions tantamount to sabotage as his refusal to approve upward revision in electricity tariff delayed early conclusion of IMF deal and caused Rs. 32 b loss to CEB
- Claims removal is to facilitate appointment of truly independent members to PUCSL
- SJB Leader Sajith Premadasa in Parliament exposes mockery of SLPP MPs for applauding Ratnayake’s appointment by Rajapaksa-regime
- Eran says removing PUCSL Chief via Parliament is a threat to democracy, good governance
The Parliament yesterday unplugged the powerful Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Ratnayake who however declared it wasn’t a defeat but anticipated warning it was a loss for the people and MPs who voted for it.
“The outcome wasn’t a surprise but anticipated except the split of the vote. I had cleared my office on Tuesday ahead of the vote,” Ratnayake told the Daily FT after 123 Government-aligned MPs voted for the motion for his ouster.
Several MPs in the opposition joined the Government to vote in favour of the resolution including A.H.M. Fowzie, Duminda Dissanayake, Anura Proyadarshana Yapa, Kumara Welgama, A.L.M. Athaullah, Vaidvel Suresh, John Seneviratne and Nimal Lansa.
The move was opposed by 77 MPs.
“The vote is a loss for the ordinary people and those MPs who wanted me out. The vote helped to expose the MPs who used baseless allegations to oust the Chairman of an independent commission. It is also unfortunate that the Parliament, considered as the body representing the people, took action against someone who put people’s interest first and challenged unfair actions by the Government when it came to electricity tariff,” Ratnayake added.
PUCSL Chief also claimed that the President Ranil Wickremesinghe-led Government was vindictive as Ratnayake got more air time in electronic media than President-himself, Ministers and celebrities given his crusade to ensure justice to the people with regard to electricity tariff. This was evident yesterday when several Government MPs described Ratnayake as “Mic Tyson” drawing the name of world famous boxer Mike Tyson.
However Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera who opened the debate in support of the ouster of PUCSL Chairman charged that politically motivated Ratnayake’s actions tantamount to sabotage as his refusal to approve upward revision in electricity tariff delayed early conclusion of the critical agreement with the International Monetary Fund and caused a loss of Rs. 32 billion to CEB. Wijesekera vowed to pursue legal action to recover this loss from Ratnayake.
Wjesekara also said the first two allegations against Ratnayake were based on two judgements by the Court of Appeal. “The decision itself says the commission member has acted in a manner that violates the independence of the commission,” he said.
The Minister refuted allegations that the Government is attempting to dismantle independent commissions through the removal of Ratnayake. “Instead we are merely attempting to appoint truly independent commission members as required,” he claimed
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa during the debate in Parliament exposed the mockery that SLPP MPs had no issues when the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa-led Government in March 2021 appointed Ratnayake as the PUCSL Chairman. Premadasa said that whether Ratnayake has political ambitions or presidential aspirations are irrelevant at a time when he stood up against the Government’s injustice to the people by the exorbitantly increasing electricity tariff.
President Wickremesinghe Government has increased electricity tariffs by 1200% since August last year from Rs. 5 per unit to Rs. 66 and in February this year by a further 275%.
Last week PUCSL urged the Government that electricity tariff must be reduced by 27% given favourable developments in lower oil prices, appreciation of the Rupee and drop in demand as opposed to CEB’s proposal of 3% reduction. In an about-turn Minister Wijesekera yesterday informed Parliament that from 1 July tariff will be reduced by 23%.
SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne told Parliament yesterday that removing PUCSL Chief via Parliament is a threat to democracy, good governance. “Constitution assures him independence, so that he may fearlessly insist on basically pursuing his thoughts. So what the court said here was that an independent commission or commissioner can go to court to make sure that their orders and directives are carried out. So the PUSL Chairman has done the right thing. Intimidation and interference of independent commissions will cause fear in all commissions and commissioners and it’s a threat to democracy in this country,” Wickramaratne added.
“Countries world over are moving from democratisation and globalisation into good governance. This is evident in institutional changes. The principal – agent relationship created between policy makers and independent commissions. This is a new trend all over the world. It’s a rules based method where rules are clearly indicated and defined,” the SJB MP emphasised.
SJB MP S.M. Marikkar also in Parliament urged the Government to abolish all independent commissions due to their obvious allergy towards them.
“It is pointless to appoint sham commissions in the guise of establishing good governance in a bid to trick the public. Now we are wasting public funds to remove those appointed by the Government itself,” Marikkar said during the debate.
https://www.ft.lk/top-story/Parliament-unplugs-powerful-regular/26-748739
Peddling the Government’s Narratives
As of now, Ranil Wickremesinghe has three points in his favour. First, there is the IMF deal, which his government is more or less using as a shield against criticism of the many austerity measures being enforced in its name. Second, there is the SJB-UNP nexus or the many not so subtle commonalities that have linked the main opposition with the president’s party. Third, there is the SJB-JVP-NPP divide that has only fragmented the opposition to the government’s benefit.
Contrary to what the neoliberal commentariat may believe, the IMF bailout is not a magic wand. Such bailouts come with strings and conditionalities attached; any government availing itself of these arrangements is bound to comply with those conditions. But such conditions, if complied with in full, are bound to provoke popular resistance be it from the middle classes or trade unions. This is the typical trajectory of IMF austerity. Once enforced in full, it tends to provoke unrest and instability and brings about an authoritarian backlash from the state. The state, for its part, finds itself in a conundrum. If it does not adhere to the conditions in these bailouts, the IMF can withdraw but if those conditions are followed and implemented in toto, the public can revolt against it.
The IMF bailout has brought the country’s main opposition, paradoxically, to a common platform with the government. The SJB’s economic establishment has already criticised political parties opposed to the IMF arrangement. Their question is not whether the bailout is in the public’s interest but whether there is an alternative to dealing with the IMF. And it’s not just at the level of economic theorising; even the government’s handling of trade unions has elicited their approval. To give the most glaring example, the government suspended 20 workers, including several attached to the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, for participating in a strike. Over the next few days, SJB MPs S. M. Marikkar and Hirunika Premachandra publicly criticised not the government but the unions, advocating the regime’s proposals to dismantle and “liberate” the energy sector.
This is rather fascinating, if not perturbing, because both Marikkar and Premachandra have, through the media, promoted and depicted themselves as populists, indeed as the epitome of the vox populi. Premachandra, in particular, was at the forefront of last year’s protests against Ranil Wickremesinghe. Yet like Damitha Abeyrathne, once a heroine of the aragalaya and a self-avowed political neutralist, these politicians, essentially bourgeois if not petty bourgeois, have given way to their class interests. It is significant that the SJB’s leader, Sajith Premadasa, has been braver than any of his colleagues in criticising the IMF deal although in doing so he has earned the ire of Colombo’s neoliberal establishment. In fact, Premadasa’s remarks about the IMF, taken together with Premachandra’s, Marikkar’s and the SJB economic troika’s public statements, have only betrayed the rifts and divisions in the country’s main opposition – hardly a point in its favour.
What is even more intriguing about these developments is that, as far as the recent spate of strikes go, SJB-allied trade unions have played a respectably leading role. Among the leaders of the recent CPC strike was Ananda Palitha, formerly with the UNP but today with the SJB. When Palitha attacks the government and threatens strike action and when the economic brains trust of the party his union is linked to excoriates unions, one cannot be faulted for questioning the SJB’s stance on these workers’ struggles. The paradox here is not just between two ideological flanks in the party but, more disturbingly, between the party and its own advocacy groups. In that sense, Premachandra’s and Marikkar’s remarks don’t just spoil the SJB’s working class prospects but they also reinforce the new left’s critique of the party as just another bourgeois outfit.
For its part the government dealt its cards stealthily during the recent strike. It did not break the strike at once nor did it dismiss the strikers. Kanchana Wijesekera merely instructed the chairmen of the CPC and CPSTL to terminate their employment if they saw it fit. On the other hand, the government showed clearly that it was not above using the army to disrupt the strike. At the same time, even after breaking the strike, Wijesekera did not fire the workers but he ordered them to be sent on compulsory leave, resorting to an age old tactic of publishing their names and smearing them in the media. It’s a little hard to say whether the government got what it wanted but it seems as though, for the moment, it has. It has managed to convince the public of the need to privatise SOEs and the need to crack down on trade unions, which it depicts as an obstacle to ongoing reforms.
So deftly did the government handle this, in fact, that not a single news outlet saw it fit to assess certain companies that had expressed an interest in entering Sri Lanka’s fuel sector. While an investigation is yet to be carried out, certain media did, later on, note that these companies seemed dubious, some of them even lacking an online presence. Yet by then the queues and the shortages that had ensued because of the strike – queues which no doubt evoked memories of last year’s crisis – had pushed motorists to criticise unions rather than the government. This was the picture that the media painted earlier in the week; the motorists they talked to all seemed to favour privatisation and they blamed unions for sabotaging “necessary” reforms. Indeed, it goes without saying that media organisations that less than a year ago came out in support of activist and civil society groups are now peddling the state’s narrative on these groups and on the reforms.
Of course, this was only to be expected. The media – at least the traditional media – has always gone after exposure. It got this exposure last year from the aragalaya and to that end it spotlighted the protesters. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s appointment as prime minister and president pushed the media to abdicate from this role; from advocating the protesters’ cause, it became a mouthpiece for neoliberal reform, flagging the IMF deal as a need of the hour. In doing so it showed that it was not above marginalising the protesters it had promoted a few months back. Barring a few critical-progressive voices, the media eventually became an outlet for Colombo’s neoliberal commentariat whose function now seems to be that of an ideological ballast for the state. Not that this should surprise anyone. The media had always been a double-edged sword; it could stand for dissenting voices, as it initially did, but it could also peddle the regime’s diatribes against those voices as it later did.
There is certainly a critique to be made of trade unions, particularly the stronger, more powerful ones. The economic right, for years, has charged these unions of corruption and condemned them for holding the economy to ransom and for promoting their sectional interests over those of the country. The economic right has its own motives in perpetuating such narratives. But the unions themselves have done little to combat them. To give one example, when the CEB threatened to switch off the grid in 2017 over a pay anomaly, right wing news websites gleefully published the salary slips of CEB workers, pointing out that an average employee at a state institution was paid much more than his or her counterpart in the private sector. In effect, public sector salaries were stigmatised and public sector employees were excoriated for making demands supposedly in excess of their earnings.
Considering these developments, the left has to make an urgent stand. It cannot sit by idly and dabble or indulge in ideological polemics. The truth is that new left today has fallen far short of its potential, not merely because it lacks the proverbial fire in the belly, but more worryingly because it has let sectarian clashes dominate its politics. Presently, the JVP-NPP insists on depicting itself as a purist party while appealing to the middle classes; it hence excoriates the IMF even as, several months ago, its own leader accepted the absence of an alternative to the IMF and instead contended that an arrangement with the organisation requires an “exemplary” political group to implement it properly. The FSP, a more radical outfit, is hamstrung by its own contradictions although President Wickremesinghe himself has hinted that it represents a threat to him. If the new left is interested in pursuing its goals, it needs to up its game. The government has stolen a march on them. It is up to them to regain what they have lost to the enemy.
Civil Society Collective calls on diplomatic missions to ensure LG polls are held
The Civil Society Collective for Protecting the Franchise has sought the support of Diplomatic Missions with regard to their call to hold the 2023 Local Government (LG) election on time, in a bid to protect democracy.
Issuing a statement in this regard, the collective highlighted that failing to hold the LG polls in a timely manner would have serious implications for democracy and governance.
“It would mean that the constitutional right to elect representatives at the local level would be compromised. It will set a dangerous precedent and impair the democratic process”, the statement read.
They further explained that not holding the election using a lack of finances as an excuse could ‘open the door for using such flimsy pretexts for postponing Parliamentary and Presidential elections’, highlighting that this practice , if allowed, will wrongly incentivize leaders who are inclined to not hold elections till it is beneficial for them.
Further emphasszing the adverse effects the postponement of the LG polls has had not only on the country’s democracy but also on its institutions, the Civil Society Collective for Protecting the Franchise called upon Sri Lanka’s international partners to closely monitor the situation, and to ensure that the election is held in a timely manner.
They also urged these international institutions to highlight the importance of an election for the country’s stability and economic recovery.
“It is critical to remain steadfast in advocating for the elections to be held on schedule, and to ensure that the government adheres to the established legal framework. This will serve to preserve the democratic principles upon which Sri Lankan society is founded and to safeguard the right to elect our representatives”, the collective said in this regard.
Below is the relevant statement issued by the Civil Society Collective for Protecting the Franchise;
Civil Society Collective – Joint Statement (English) by Adaderana Online on Scribd
Why Sri Lanka could be the IMF’s most spectacular failure
(Following is the excerpts of Dyan Jeyathilake’s article in the Sri Lanka Finacial Times of 16th March 2023)
Much of the discussion in and on Sri Lanka has either been a shrieking chorus of ‘Go to the IMF yesterday!’ coming mainly from the rightwing economists of the main Opposition, the SJB, or a no less shrill chorus of ‘beware the IMF!’ from the Oppositional left. My own ‘third position’ is different. It stands on two legs: ‘beware Ranil plus the IMF’ being one and ‘IMF beware of Ranil’ being the other.
The first leg – ‘beware Ranil plus the IMF’ – is because the IMF recipe in and of itself is much less dangerous than the extreme economic ideas of Sri Lanka’s antiquarian Reaganite-Thatcherite rightwing economists. Those ideas inform the economic agenda of Ranil Wickremesinghe as manifested in his policy agenda in 2001-2003 and 2015-2019. These ideas were so repellent to the public that he was electorally rejected on both occasions, most dramatically in 2020. An earlier model of this rightwing policy package was one of the causes of a massive insurrection in the late 1980s and had to be completely re-programmed and reformatted by President Premadasa so that democracy and the market economy could survive.
Ranil Wickremesinghe as President is seeking to implement his voodoo economics ‘Big Bang’ on the back of an agreement with the IMF in a classic example of what Naomi Kline has called ‘the shock doctrine’.
The second leg of my argument is that just as Sri Lanka has to beware the IMF reform agenda, the IMF has to beware Sri Lanka which can go from quagmire to volcano and back within a year thanks to President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The IMF has cleaned up its act somewhat. It hasn’t undergone quite the shift that the World Bank did when Robert McNamara took over after his Pauline conversion to the upliftment of the poor having failed to defeat the Communist-led Vietnamese liberation fighters. But the IMF is considerably better than it was, and this has been pointed out by no less a critic than Prof. Joseph Stiglitz in his positive evaluation of the agreement with Argentina.
The problem arising out of an agreement with the IMF could have been mitigated had Sri Lanka presented its own national plan drafted by its best minds in the relevant field. This has not been done so far, though Yanis Varoufakis and Nishan de Mel have been saying just this independently of each other for a while. Neither the Government nor any political party of right, left or centre has a national plan or anything remotely like the best national team that Sri Lanka can deploy. My litmus-test would be whether Howard Nicholas, Nishan de Mel and Ravi Ranan-Eliya are on it.
Sad as this is, it isn’t the worst thing about the current situation. What is most dangerous is that President Ranil Wickremesinghe is openly invoking the IMF in openly sabotaging the holding of the local authorities election and going on to leave the electoral calendar open-ended, avoiding a commitment to any election stipulated by the Constitution. By doing so, President Wickremesinghe is using the IMF as human shield in his agenda of remaining in office without elections.
Link EFF to elections
Sri Lanka is Asia’s oldest democracy. In fact, it is also Afro-Asia’s oldest democracy. It is over 90 years old. Ranil Wickremesinghe is using the IMF excuse to end Sri Lanka’s democratic character by blocking overdue local authorities’ elections and making no commitment to the inflexibly embedded presidential and parliamentary elections of 2024 and 2025. Instead, he enunciates a doctrine that makes democratic elections entirely dependent on his subjective perception of economic stability.
Thus, Ranil has pitted the IMF program against democracy, thereby identifying the IMF agenda as something that is so fragile that it has a zero-tolerance of competitive democracy. By so doing he also fosters an identification between the IMF agenda and frankly authoritarian rule, turning the clock back to the bad old days of the IMF as an objectively anti-democratic associate of Latin American dictatorship.
Prospects are even worse for the IMF in its current dealings with Sri Lanka. Any stabilisation package which lacks a democratically elected administration as its partner, lacks legitimacy. It is therefore highly probable that the agreement will draw discontent along two, not just one, vector: the socioeconomic and the political. Had the IMF agreement been with a country with an elected President – at least one elected to the legislature in the first place, before he was elected by the legislature—it would have been finetuned by someone who had a mass base; an organic mass connection.
Instead, you have an IMF agreement being used as a shield against the electoral process itself. This ensures that it is not only the standard socioeconomic backlash that the IMF agreement will generate but it will also run into the anti-autocracy/pro-democracy dynamic underway in Sri Lanka.
The combination of a stabilisation package overlaid by an autocratic political agenda will discredit the IMF agreement.
The confluence of a socioeconomic backlash and a political drive for democratic elections will blow the agreement out of the water, further discrediting the IMF.
Anyone who watched the massive popular protests named The Aragalaya (The Struggle) which swept away the local Bolsonaro figure, Gotabaya Rajapaksa would get my point that the Sri Lankans are unlikely to take the burial of elections and imposition of austerity measures lying down.
Of course, Ranil Wickremesinghe has proved capable of meeting protests with methods that have led to the loss of life, including of a war veteran serving as a private security guard at the University of Colombo. On the President’s watch both the faculty of Law and Royal College at which he studied, came under CS gas attack. Mysterious para-military type units, suspected to be contractors, have yet to be identified by the Sri Lankan military.
What this does not mean is that an Aragalaya is ruled out as an option. What it means is that an Aragalaya-2 is going to be costlier in terms of human lives.
When demonstrators carrying signs which name the IMF are clubbed and possibly killed, it isn’t going to make the IMF ‘brand’ look good.
The IMF should not underestimate our President. Sri Lanka had a robust two-party system. Those parties were the UNP and the SLFP. When Ranil Wickremesinghe took over the leadership of the UNP it had 94 seats. Now it doesn’t have a single elected member in the parliament. When the SLFP partnered with Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2015, it had been in office since 1994. During that partnership and due to it, the SLFP now has a pathetically few seats in parliament and is not the main Opposition. The backlash against the partnership with Ranil caused a huge split in the SLFP and the birth of the SLPP headed by the Rajapaksas. The SLPP is now partnered with Ranil having (s)elected him president through the legislature. It is now so weakened that it cannot hold an open-air public meeting.
Ranil Wickremesinghe is pure kryptonite. Now he’s going global, as BFF of the IMF.
So, what can the IMF do, given that it cannot interfere in politics? The states that are the mainstay of the IMF, such as the USA, can ensure that the local government elections are unblocked before the EFF is signed on March 20th, or it can keep the funds blocked until that happens even if it means going into the 2nd quarter of this year. Simply put, it should be ‘no elections, no EFF’.
If that doesn’t happen, the IMF will learn that though it is (barely) beyond the decades of ‘IMF riots’ it has entered on the arm of South Asia’s Mr. Kryptonite, the age of the ‘IMF Revolution’.
JVP-JJB’s Achilles Heel
The JVP has been in existence since 1965, and has tried many political projects, which have all failed to secure governmental and state power. Almost no revolutionary/left movement founded at the time the JVP was born has failed to win governmental power even episodically. Many movements founded after the JVP (e.g., El Salvador’s FPL, founded 1970) have had a stint or two in power.
The strategic concept of the united front is not an optional ‘app’ in serious Left theory and political practice. Originating with Lenin in 1921 at the 3rd Congress of the Communist International (‘Comintern’), it was developed by Trotsky, Gramsci, Stalin, Dimitrov, Ho Chi Minh and Mao. Mao named it one of ‘three magic wands’. It is in practice from Latin America to Nepal and Kerala.
Despite the JVP’s varied experience, one thing has remained constant. Their utter sectarianism; their allergy to a century-long Left strategy which dates from Lenin to Lula: that of the United Front. By any logic, that constant or constant absence – no united fronts- and the only other constant, the absence of success in gaining governmental and state power, are causally linked.
The question is why is the JVP-JJB which is today, closer to governmental power through popular consent than it has ever been, still clinging vehemently to its antipathy to a united front, when such a front or its absence could be the factor that puts it over the top?
The question is sharper still when one adds the present realities: the blockage of the electoral path by Ranil Wickremesinghe and the need to lever it open through mass struggle. Anywhere in the world, unity decisively helps such struggles and its absence foredooms them.
What the FSP lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality. A JVP-led Left Front would present a left platform, a left program, a left option in the economic crisis and the struggle for basic democracy.
(Link to the Full article)
https://www.ft.lk/columns/Why-Sri-Lanka-could-be-the-IMF-s-most-spectacular-failure/4-746362
Govt. agencies’ failure to hold the LG polls: SC grants leave to proceed with petition
Supreme Court today granted leave to proceed with a Fundamental Rights petition filed challenging the failure and refusal of several government departments to take the necessary steps to hold the Local Government Elections.
Supreme Court three-judge-bench comprising Justices Preethi Padman Surasena, Gamini Amerasekera and Janak De Silva granted leave to proceed with the petition under Articles 10, 12(1) and 14(1)(a) of the constitution.
The Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and its Executive Director Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu filed this petition naming the Treasury Secretary, Government Printer, Inspector General of Police and several others as respondents.
The petitioners stated that the elections to elect persons as members of local authorities are required to be held every 04 years in terms of the relevant statutes. Elections were previously held in 2018, and the term of the Local Authorities that were due to expire in 2022 were ended for a year thereafter.
The petitioners stated that the conduct of the Government Printer and the Inspector General of Police is indicative of a coordinated campaign to procrastinate the holding of local Authority elections. The petitioners also stated that the President in the capacity as the Minister of Finance and the Secretary to the Treasury have not until the very last minute on the 23rd of February 2023 indicated that there is a challenging in the allocation of funds to conduct the elections.
The petitioners maintained that these actions are prejudicial to the fundamental rights of the petitioners and the citizens of Sri Lanka.
The petitioners are highlighting that the failure of the Government Printer, IGP, President Ranil Wickremesinghe (as Finance Minister) and the Election Commission failed to protect the fundamental rights of citizens, by failing to take proper steps as required by law to hold elections by 19th March as made compulsory in terms of the Municipal Councils Ordinance, Urban Councils Ordinance and Pradeshiya Sabhas Act.
Senior Counsel Viran Corea with Luwie Ganeshathasan and Khyati Wikramanayake appeared for the petitioners. Senior Additional Solicitor General Priyantha Nawana appeared for the respondents.(Lakmal Sooriyagoda )