RANIL WICKREMASINGHE – THE DICTATOR! BLOCK 19A – WHY EMPOWER K9 SUFFERING FROM RABIES?
Posted on April 21st, 2015
By M D P DISSANAYAKE
Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe, who became the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka through the back door has so far conducted the affairs of the nation as a Dictator. Even though he has no Executive Powers yet, his methodologies of governance fall short of democratic methods. His rise to the power with the help of Western Nations and India had infuriated the general public of Sri Lanka. President MS under obligation to RW, has so far failed to bring RW in line with the powers vested in the Prime Minister under the current constitution. The current President is carrying a heavy baggage of Western influence through the mediation of RW.
Under these circumstance, any attempt to give more powers to RW by approving the 19A is dangerous. It will further enhance the hands of RW and without doubt he will behave like a K9 suffering with Rabies . Lets not forget, Mr RW is a shrewd, cunning and a clever politician.
To save the Nation, any amendments to the existing Constitution should be delayed. A draft Constitution should be placed before the general public to debate the pros and cons. The draft Constitution ought to be compiled by a Constituent Assembly comprising of all Members of Parliament. The one man show of Dr Jayampathy Wickremaratne should be placed in a dust-bin together with the Venerable (A)Sobitha.
If President MS continues to show his inability to control the Prime Minister RW, his weakness will boomerang on himself, sooner than expected. The general public of Sri Lanka is now ready for a re-run of the Presidential Election, Parliamentary General Election or both with a Draft Constitution to be enacted by a future team of leaders.
We demand that the President must dismiss the Prime Minister Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe forthwith. The general election is not due until next year , a new Prime Minister and a Cabinet should be installed immediately for the purpose of drafting a Constitution through a Constituent Assembly.
The President MS should take immediate steps to bring sanity to Sri Lanka. Otherwise he too will be amongst the Gang of Insane.
April 21st, 2015 at 5:41 pm
Namaste: Non Indians of the Island Nation should accept decisions made by the Indian Empire. Indian Empire appointed Governor Chandrika. Indian Empire divided the non Indian vote in the Island Nation and the Indian block voted Sirisena the Coolie in who accepted Ranil as his Kankani. Things will continue for the next six years unless the Indian Empire changes its agenda. Jai Hind
April 21st, 2015 at 6:40 pm
100 days of failure: the price of regime change
April 21, 2015, 7:38 pm
The change promised at the January presidential election was encapsulated in a 100 day program which was agreed on to unite all opposition forces. But after 100 days, nobody is convinced that anything worthwhile has happened. The executive presidency will not be abolished thanks to the Supreme Court ruling. The executive presidency is to be continued. Whoever wins the next parliamentary election will be saddled with Maithripala who will be the head of state, head of government, commander in chief, minister of defence and Minister of Mahaveli development and environmental affairs.
What we finally got was just 100 days of mudslinging against former president Mahinda Rajapaksa who defeated the LTTE. A statement was made by the cabinet spokesmen that the former president and his wife and sons have US$ 1.2 billion in a Dubai Bank. A special mission was dispatched to find the money allegedly kept by Rajapaksa in the Seychelles. The houses of Rajapaksa’s friends were searched for hidden assets. Nothing was found and Mahinda Rajapaksa has categorically denied having any such funds in secret accounts in any foreign bank. It was clear that the attempt was to discredit him and destroy him politically. Inquiries into corruption eventually found only the corruption under the Maithri/ Ranil administration. The treasury bond fiasco involving the Governor of the Central Bank Mr. Arjuna Mahendran is a clear case of insider trading which has caused a loss of Rs. 50 billion to the country. Mahendran has been interrogated for 6 hours at the Bribery Commission.
Mahendran directed the Public Debt Department to accept Rs. 10 billion at 12.5 percent interest and 30 year maturity from a public tender for treasury bonds to the value of Rs. 1 billion even without a formal request from the treasury. The government was raising funds at 9.5 percent till this date. After this, the interest rates have increased and now everybody is paying for this crime. The profit from this single transaction is Rs. 500 million. The very person who spoke against debt financing and high interest rates while in opposition, Dr. Harsha de Silva has come forward to justify this patently corrupt deal. In the meantime, the Appeal Court is hearing a money laundering case against the finance minister filed by the exchange controller.
All that happened in the Seychelles was to find fault with the Bank of Ceylon for opening a branch there arguing that it is not worthwhile to have a bank in a country where only 50 Sri Lankans live. Then why are the Americans maintaining a CITY bank branch here, and the British the Standard Charted, bank, the Germans the Deutsche Bank and the Indians the Indian Overseas Bank in Sri Lanka? The Seychelles is a growing tourism economy like the Maldives. It is in the best interests of our country and the Bank of Ceylon to maintain a bank branch in that country. Only those who have a vision can see the value of such business development.
The kith and kin of the president, prime minister and ministers have been appointed to high posts. The president’s brother has been appointed to head the country’s largest state owned telecom company, which is listed on the Colombo stock exchange. His son in law was appointed to the defence ministry. It is clear that the so called ‘rainbow coalition’ was formed only to change the regime and create political instability in Sri Lanka, which India as well as the West have always wanted. The national anthem is sung in Tamil. Restrictions on LTTE diaspora organizations have been removed. Modi launched the next Indian intervention in the Island 25 years after Rajiv’s visit. No less than 125 days of fishing rights have been given to India to the detriment of our northern fishermen.
The 100 day program pledged a low cost-of-living, the abolition of the executive presidency and the adoption of electoral reforms and good governance. The new government reduced the prices of petrol, diesel and kerosene, capitalizing on the low international price of oil. Motorcycle owners, three wheeler drivers, truck operators, tractor operators, bus operators, van operators, and even the Railway Dept. and the CTB benefited. Two weeks later, the import duties on wheat grain, sugar, green gram, black gram, canned fish, Maldive fish, dried fish, sprats and coriander were also reduced by large margins. Capitalizing on the low import price of milk powder, milk powder suppliers were forced to reduce milk powder by Rs.50/ per kg. Furthering the cause of Senaka Bibile, the National Drug Legislation was hurriedly passed in parliament generating the hope that the people of Sri Lanka will be able to obtain pharmaceutical drugs at low cost.
The fictitious revolution
After all this, the cost of living is no lower. The prices of rice, coconut and chilies are higher than 100 days ago. Now in desperation, price controls have been imposed but no one has yet found a cup of tea at Rs. 10 and a hopper at Rs. 10. Apart from this, nobody has still found cheap green gram, black gram, dried fish, mMaldive fish and bakery products. People still pay the same price for kimbula banis and roast pan.
The bulath vita is still Rs. 20.00. Those who eat rice with pol sambol and have a bulath vita afterwards have to pay more than on the 8th of January. The prices of medicine have not changed and people can’t get basic medicine even from government hospitals.
All who built unusually large houses in the past few years were required to pay the mansion tax of Rs 1 million per house. The companies that had over Rs. 2 billion in profit in the 2013/2014 tax year were required to pay a 20 percent extra tax. Telephone companies, satellite cable network operators, sports channels, casino operators, betting centers and liquor manufactures have all been made liable to high taxes. This gave the impression that the government had a taxation strategy to tax the rich and make Sri Lanka a socialist state. The interim budget also assured a guaranteed producer price for rice at Rs. 50/Kg, green tea leaves at Rs. 80/Kg, and rubber at Rs. 350/kg. Assurance was also given that fertilizer will be supplied at Rs. 350/ per bag. The majority of the beneficiaries of guaranteed producer prices and the fertilizer subsidy are small holders. Thus we should be having reduced consumer prices, the lowest fuel prices in 5 years and the best producer prices ever in the country.
Mr. Ravi Karunanayake, travelled to Washington and met the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to appraise her of this revolution. She of course wished him luck and whispered to her staff, “God save Sri Lanka”. What Sri Lanka finally got in terms of a change is only a break from accepted economic norms. Such populist policies have saddled the country with huge costs while nobody is really better off. The reduction in taxes has costs over Rs. 50 billion per annum – more than twice the amount spent on Samurdhi beneficiaries. Furthermore, the reduction in import duties of certain commodities has encouraged imports. Black gram farmers in the North, green gram farmers’ in the South, fishermen engaged in producing dried fish and Maldive fish, local fish canning factories all have lost their business to importers. The low price of milk powder has discouraged the consumption of fresh milk. Those who invested in the setting up of dairy farms and the manufacturing of milk powder have lost out to the companies that import milk powder from New Zealand and Australia.
The reduction of import duties on cement and steel has not helped the users of such materials but has hurt cement and steel manufactures in Sri Lanka. This too has only encouraged importers. No construction company has found cheap cement or steel for their construction work. The revenue loss from the removal of import duties and Cess on cement and steel is around Rs. 10 billion. Reduced duties on cement, steel and fuel should theoretically have created a construction boom but the construction industry is the worst hit. The cost of building materials such as brick, sand, and even cement and steel is higher than 100 days ago. The jobs of at least 100,000 people who are engaged directly and indirectly in this industry have been put at risk. People who thought that Mr. Sajith Premadasa will truly help the poor are still waiting to get a house from his 50,000 houses within 100 days programme.
Decimation of revenue sources
The 100 day revolution has reduced revenue from petrol, diesel, kerosene, wheat grain, milk powder, sugar, green and black gram to the tune of Rs. 50 billion. Even Champika has admitted in public that the fuel price reduction has not yielded the expected results. If so who is responsible for the loss in revenue? The crude oil price will not remain at the current level for long. Even after 100 days nobody has seen the new revenue legislation. This means the government has not been able to tap any additional revenue to meet its new expenditure – which is largely on salaries and pensions. Simple arithmetic shows that the extra cost of salaries and pensions for 1.3 million public servants and 500,000 pensioners is around Rs. 7,000 million per month. How can the government meet this expenditure? The only way to meet this on a monthly basis is to defer or default on payments for ongoing development work.
Most of the divisional secretaries, provincial councils and local authorities have gone on record saying that they are unable to cope up with the people coming to collect unpaid bills. The estimated deferred payments and arrears during the 100 day program is over Rs. 70,000 million. People will lose livelihood activities associated with the construction industry. Banking and financial agencies will be the next causalities. What the 100 Day Program essentially has done is the suspension of development to pay underperforming public servants, retired public servants and over 70 ministers. Although public servants have got some extra money, they too have not found tea, rice, coconut or vegetables at affordable prices. As at the last working day before the new year holidays, the elderly have not got their Rs. 2,000 monthly allowance. The Rs. 20,000 ‘poshanamalla’ has been distributed only in 20 out of 300 odd AGA divisions.
The desperate financial condition of the country became clear when finance minister Ravi Karunanayake introduced a resolution to get Parliamentary approval to increase the treasury bill borrowing limit by Rs. 400 billion just two months after he presented the interim budget. This move was essentially to get legal sanction to print money. Luckily, Mr. Bandula Gunawardena saw the danger and rallied opposition MPs to defeat the motion. In the meantime, the country’s economy is on a downturn. Both the ADB and the World Bank projected a growth rate below 7 percent. Some independent analysts project a growth rate below 6 percent considering the contraction in the construction and plantation sectors. Rubber and tea prices have drastically declined putting small holders in difficulties. The country’s international reserves have declined from US$ 8.3 billion in December 2014 to US$ 7 billion by 15th April. In spite of the trust placed on the UNP government for private sector led development, the All Share Price Index fell to 6901.1 (on Friday the 10th April) from a high of 7438.5 on January 8th.
The 100 day programme promised a cabinet of less than 30. Accordingly 28 cabinet ministers were appointed along with a few state ministers and deputy ministers. But very soon the number of ministers was expanded to 77. Now the treasury is waiting for the gazette allocating functions and duties to rework the budget allocations through a supplementary budget or through the treasury allocation procedure. In the meantime new additional ministers, deputy ministers and state ministers are being found office facilities, vehicles and staff.
Advisors have been appointed to each ministry and it is they who run the operations unofficially with selected officials – not the duly appointed secretaries and heads of departments. A former secretary to the treasury in the 1990s runs the treasury – not the present secretary Dr. Samarathunga. Petroleum tenders are handled not by the board but by the secretary to the power and energy ministry Dr. Batagoda. Mr. Faiz Moheideen a retired ministry secretary runs the highways ministry along with a retired chairman of the RDA. Who is accountable ultimately is the million dollar question among public servants.
Well established foreign relations with Australia and China were destroyed by insulting the Australian government and canceling Chinese projects to satisfy the Indians. India itself has secured US$ 20 billion worth of investments from China. Chinese funding comes with the same conditions as any other Exim bank. Exim bank credit from India is given to an Indian designated contractor and British Bank credits are given to British contractors. Even the US exim bank works on the same basis. So why should it be any different when it comes to China? Is this because the Americans don’t like China helping the Sri Lankan economy or India does not want to see Sri Lanka prospering?
By Ecconomist
The Island
April 21st, 2015 at 6:48 pm
All the dragging of people to the Bribery Commission to question them is it not just a smoke screen to get the 19A passed. The idea they have is to confuse everyone and pass 19A. The Tamil Diaspora along with India and West have cleverly divided the Sinhalese. The President’s post should NOT be removed. Old JR was very wise when he created the Presidential post. As Dayan Jayatilake has pointed out many times a lot of developed countries have a President since it enables rapid decision making and also strengthens the security of the country. I agree with Mr. Dissanayake that we should postpone the implementation of the 19A and get rid of RW as soon as possible. The Bribery Commission must question RW as to why he appointed a non-national as Governor of Central bank and why he brought the Finance Ministry under his wing? His advisor Paskaralingam is also a traitor as has been described elsewhere by many writers. As a regular Government servant how did Paskaraligam make enough money to buy property in St. John’s Wood in U.K? There should be proper panel of security experts to look into the Central Bank scam by Arjun Mahendran. The three people appointed by RW are his friends who have no idea about bond securities. They are yes men to RW.
April 21st, 2015 at 6:49 pm
What Saman Gamage says, “හිස් ටිං එකක් වාගේ අනේ මේ දින සීය මල්ලී” is very accurate!
April 21st, 2015 at 6:52 pm
National organisations decry dismantling of military infrastructure from vital points in North and East
April 21, 2015, 8:09 pm
By Dasun Edirisinghe
Federation of National Organisations (FNO) yesterday warned that the present government by dismantling military bases in the Northern and Eastern Provinces was betraying the national security as the 2002 – 2004 Ranil Wickremesinghe government did under the controversial Ceasefire Agreement hatched by the Norwegians.
Addressing a media conference in Colombo, General Secretary of the Patriotic National Movement Dr Wasantha Bandara said that the government was already removing the Sampur Naval Base and had handed over the lands to its first owners.
“According to our information, more than 400 sailors who were on duty at the Sampur Naval Base have already been transferred to the Boossa Navy Camp in Galle,” he said adding that the same appeasement was made under the CFA in 2002 and thousands of service personal died in Muttur in confrontation with the LTTE later.
Dr Bandara said that Resettlement Minister D.M. Swaminathan also had announced that they would identify lands to set up the Naval Base in another location instead of the present strategic point.
He said that they also had been informed that military camps in Kytes islands were also to be removed to acquire lands to distribute among first owners.
Dr Bandara said that the government had already distributed 400 acres out of 1000 acres in the high security zone in Palaly in the Jaffna Peninsula.
“There were 33,000 acres of private lands acquired for High Security Zones set up in the Northern and Eastern Provinces during the war, but out of that 26,000 acres were distributed among its first owners by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government after ending the war,” Dr. Bandara said adding that the then government did not release the rest as it was highly concerned about the national security, but this government was betraying the national security for cheap political mileage.
He alleged that the government also planned to convert the Palaly airport which is currently under Sri Lanka Air Force to a Civil Airport at the behest of India.
If Palaly airport was converted to a civil airport, Sri Lanka military would lose another key strategic point, Dr Bandara said.
The PNM Gen.Sec. said that the government also would go ahead with the proposal to establish South African style Truth and Reconciliation Commission and it would lead to international interference in Sri Lanka.
Convener of the Federation of National Organisations Dr Gunadasa Amarasekera and Executive Committee member of Patriotic National Movement Kelum Jayasumana also addressed the media conference.
April 21st, 2015 at 9:20 pm
MR supporters have managed to show the following facts within 100days.
1. MR is the most popular leader in Sri Lanka, despite his defeat (actually country’s defeat) due to the political coup planned by the West and India.
2. My3 ‘s is just a puppet and is the most incapable President/PM we had since independence.
3. Ranil is the favourite of the West and his dictatorial behaviour overrides that of his uncle JR .His continued leadership will defiantly create something similar to CIA backed a Dinh Diem regime in Vietnam in 1960s.
MR camp should now have the strategies to achieve the following as early as possible.
1. To defeat 19A
2. Replace My3 with MR as the leader of the SLFP or strengthen the UPFA with his leadership to win the next general election.
April 21st, 2015 at 10:58 pm
Namaste: A lot has been done by Indian Empire. Installing Chandrika the governor, Kankani Ranil, and of course appointments made by the trio. Those who cannot se what they have achieved for the Indian Empire exceeds what had been by preivious Governrs from 1956 to 2015. The best example is what has been done by Mahendran an Indian Colonial Parasite-Vermin from Singapore. Wake Sinhalese. Jai Hind
April 21st, 2015 at 11:02 pm
Christie Says:
April 21st, 2015 at 11:01 pm
Namaste: ““හිස් ටිං එකක් වාගේ අනේ මේ දින සීය මල්ලී” “. Ask Mahendrans about the empty Tin, looks like Saman Gamage got a penny from them. Jai Hind.
April 21st, 2015 at 11:02 pm
Indrajith,
Good to read that. “banga wewa!!”
Let Maru Sira voters suffer enough. We need a BIG WAVE Let them bite as many voters.
“India itself has secured US$ 20 billion worth of investments from China.”
SL should have got these if not for Araliya Maru Sira.
April 22nd, 2015 at 2:35 am
It is doubtful to think that K9 is anymore interested in a dilapidated 19A. However this fiasco is more a smoke screen to cover up the report of the three punks to save his ass and his nephew AM.
Now, the three punks who has admitted that there has been in fact a fraud committed by clearing the chief of that fraud must expose the culprits.
April 22nd, 2015 at 3:44 am
“”Exim bank credit from India is given to an Indian designated contractor and British Bank credits are given to British contractors. Even the US exim bank works on the same basis. So why should it be any different when it comes to China? Is this because the Americans don’t like China helping the Sri Lankan economy or India does not want to see Sri Lanka prospering?””
It is simply a case of Ranil not being smart enough to understand that US China Containment is NOT in Sri Lanka’s best interest (or India’s). Everyone harps on Ranil’s ‘cleverness’, but he really is not that bright when it comes to the international stage – he only is clever in the short-term political manipulation game, which is just about played out.
April 22nd, 2015 at 4:32 am
Correction:
Christie Says:
April 21st, 2015 at 10:58 pm
Namaste: A lot has been done by Indian Empire. Installing Chandrika the governor, Kankani Ranil, and of course appointments made by the trio. Those who cannot se what they have achieved for the Indian Empire exceeds what had been by previous Governors from 1956 to 2005 not 2015. The best example is what has been done by Mahendran an Indian Colonial Parasite-Vermin from Singapore. Wake up Sinhalese and stand up to Indian Empire. Jai Hind
April 22nd, 2015 at 4:58 am
In a recent comment RW says that after the war was won it was his and MY3’s intention to win the peace. But he fails to realise that there cannot be peace with what is currently going in SL’s political arena. The various political factions are
more concerned with constitutional and electoral system changes whilst the country’s economic stability and development has taken a back seat. A major factor that contributed to the downfall of MR was the high cost of living.
Something that cannot be put in the ‘too hard basket’ for long. This problem will re surface before long and then “peace”
will be hard to find.
April 22nd, 2015 at 5:55 am
Metteyya,
“Everyone harps on Ranil’s ‘cleverness’ “- I don’t think “everyone”, only born UNPiers. Most know he is a fool, probably except him.
Ya balo mannati balyam
panditovapi tena so
balo ca panditamani
sa ve baloti vuccati.
There was another one before him , who thought
Putta1 ma’tthi dhanam ma’ tthi
iti balo vihannati
atta hi attano natthi
kuto putta kuto dhanam.
April 22nd, 2015 at 6:02 am
“When we take revenge we should think that this would return and come back. Now you can see what has happened to me. There were errors committed by us. We hid many abuses and violations done by ministers, we were staying with patience and now we possess the repercussions.
But once again I will never do that stupidity, now I recognize people”
The former president Mahinda Rajpaksa said this during a function held yesterday in Gampaha Henagama at the Jeyaraj Fernandopulle Damsak temple.
April 22nd, 2015 at 6:24 am
Sir Pottu Ranil/Barrenness CBK/Nikang Sirisena’s intent appears to be to crash the Economy and hand the country over to foreign powers. Otherwise, we cannot see any logic in the 100 day anti-Lanka actions. These three people have gone out of their way to bring Lanka to a bleak economic and cultural future.
April 22nd, 2015 at 7:11 am
They try ti say that the COL has been dealt with, but all that has happened is the fuel prices went down a bit, while everything else remained unaltered despite it including the meter price of 3-wheel charges. Country remains stagnant and the glow is gone…..Colombo is once more on the decline without the discipline of GR’s team and with so many projects having come to a halt pending investigation. What a shame!
Clearly the present team looks inexperienced in governance, and they need to bring some experience and order into the system if they hope to survive. Parliament is a mess with the PM getting bent out of shape and yelling like some unruly adolescent. Who said RW kept cool when challenged? That is not what we see in his behavior in the Chamber these days. Guess things are not turning out in quite the way he wanted it.
The 19A should NOT be passed in this unstable situation. Hope the parliamentarians realize that any verbal or even written assurances from MS mean nothing in this shaky economic situation that can plunge the country into dire straits. Promises to do practically ANYTHING to accommodate the MPs into voting for 19A is something to really worry about…WHY SO DESPERATE?? HAVE PROMISES BEING MADE TO SOME EXTERNALS THAT THE GOSL ARE COMPELLED TO KEEP, OTHERWISE WHAT?
April 22nd, 2015 at 8:33 am
the present team looks inexperienced in governance,-
1)From Kirama sevakara to become PR who have over 45 years in politic & hold so many minister post last one Health & acting defence secretary post as well in war time.
2) CBK 2 time President & both of hers parents were head of states &father is founder of SLFP one of main SL party.
3) RW over 25 years Opposition leader & one time elected prime minister not include this time (back door illegal )
4) Mangal more than enough experience for his FM job.
inexperience team ???? NO
April 22nd, 2015 at 9:30 am
Kumar,
Not inexperienced Trio, but inept and lacking in common decency. However long in politics, they do not inspire trust or confidence. Same for Mangala S.
As HLD says : They have risen to their levels of incompetence. Through skullduggery, I will add.
April 22nd, 2015 at 11:10 am
Sorry – it was Prof McLean who said : They have risen to their levels of incompetence.
April 23rd, 2015 at 4:54 am
Not inexperienced Trio, but inept and lacking in common decency. However long in politics, they do not inspire trust or confidence- Not agreed end 6 years less 100 days We both have solution ( TE & Sinha Lanka) what we wanted but only small problem Mother Lanka belong to Industan .
We both no point on walking up now …. to late now … velu where are you – pulanpa vaichchidada ( angoda talk)
April 24th, 2015 at 1:16 pm
Kumar,
If you think you belong to “Industan”, no one is stopping you from going across the Palk Sts to the real Tamil Homeland, the one and only Tamil Nadu which is located in “Industan”. I for one do not belong to any “Industan”. I and millions of others belong only to Sri Lanka.
Get the Constitution RIGHT, and get a Bill of Rights (A’sangaree – TULF). We are in a stage of Transition only and must get it right.