The High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi together with the Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai and the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Mumbai intend to collect information pertaining to Sri Lankan students who are currently studying in India in order to update the relevant databases. This would enable the Sri Lankan Missions/Posts to reach out to Sri Lankan students and provide assistance whenever necessary
This would enable the Sri Lankan Missions/Posts to reach out to Sri Lankan students and provide assistance whenever necessary.
The Sri Lankan Missions/Posts in India request the Sri Lankan students to register themselves using the web links available at the High Commission of Sri Lanka and Consulate in Mumbai as per the State/Union Territory where they are currently studying/living.
The Sri Lankan Missions/Posts in India request the parents/guardians/family members of the Sri Lankan students also to advise their children to register themselves on the digital platforms which are available on the following websites:
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as the Acting President
Gotabaya resigned and fled the country for Singapore, Arjuna Mahendran’s safe haven, that, the then President Sirisena’s plea in 2017 [remember 20,000 signatures] for the swindler’s extradition was disregarded. The famous 225, meeting in groups at multiple venues haven’t made any compromise resulting in all party interims rule a non-starter. They will never be able to suppress their greed for power, position and privileges; cast off their personal agendas and unite for the sake of the country. Sri Lanka needs urgent international financial prop up to find its feet. IMF and some developed countries are cautious about rescuing us until the formation of a politically stable government. As at present it is not certain as to who is in control. Why not make the Royalist Classmate duo, Ranil and Dinesh the President and Prime Minister?
US Fingerprints…
According to international political analysts, facts are emerging that some sections of the protesters were funded by US interests. A digital strategist” given recognition by the pro-Western media for the toppling of the government was a ‘volunteer’ at a USNED [National Endowment for Democracy]-funded ‘election’ organization. His involvement in the ongoing protests is similar to events that stretched during the US-engineered Arab Spring in 2011.
They tried pacts like MCC and SOFA few years back but government gave up proceedings due to protests. It’s quite well known that Americans like many Sri Lankans, hated Rajapaksas. It’s true that Lankans are fed up with economical misconduct and corruption within Rajapaksa regimes, but they ought to be more conscious of the greater peril as well. In two and half centuries of existence the US has battled against 29 sovereign nations, from action against Morocco [Operation Torch] to overrunning the small Grenada [Operation Urgent Fury]. The US tried extremely hard to get India on to side, but clearly seeing that India was in fact getting closer to Russia, are they rushing to find a footing in the region? Sri Lanka would be easy for them to manipulate by causing instability.
the Aragalists invaded six-time PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence. He was appointed as PM in May by Gota, to restore international credibility
9th May was an instant that even a few weeks ago would have been unimaginable: Mahinda Rajapaksa, the most powerful member of the Rajapaksa family was forced to renounce. His resignation wasn’t a customary fall over of a leader/regime. The one time most popular politician’s descend was a severe blow to the family that enjoyed a solid base and an unshakeable grasp on the grassroots, especially during the past two decades. Gotabaya received a mandate with a huge majority for stabilizing national security, economic development, mainly due to the influence of his charismatic brother; a fact that President Gota whom the voters placed their trust upon, conveniently chose to forget. The arrogant character even requested his elder brother and mentor to relinquish Premiership in his desperate attempt to stay in power.
Rajapaksa dynasty commenced its political journey in 1930/40s with great men in the calibre of DM and DA brothers. They had wealth and nationalism, and the charisma to win elections. The second generation Rajapaksas, especially, the children of DM, [Lakshman and George possessed all of above qualities and were men with integrity. They represented and served the downtrodden masses of Giruwapatthu from the late 1930s, to 1970s. However, the other brother’s children [Don Alvin’s] after climbing to the zenith in ruling echelons, they commenced manipulating things.
Protests, Invasions, Merry-making and Mob violence
On Saturday 9th July, massive crowds from all parts of the island joined the Aragalaya in Colombo: the youths broke into President’s official residence and also occupied his secretariat in Galle Face. Political party leaders joined mass agitators in calling both the leaders to resign. Aragalists invaded six-time PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe’s private residence. He was appointed as PM in May by Gota, to restore international credibility that would help negotiate a rescue package with the International Monetary Fund and other agencies.
A determined movement of protests by youth branded themselves ‘Aragalayists’ demanded a new political culture, a ‘system change’ as they called it. It’s an unprecedented amazing moment where thousands of people from all walks of life coming and serenely protesting for months due to the economy being disgustingly mishandled by our politicians led by Rajapaksas, their cronies and some bureaucrats. According to what we experienced last week the peaceful protesters turned mobs had its way, which is an alarming development and a disturbing signal. They invaded three, [two state and one private] TV stations and was seen dictating and threatening the staff on how they would perform duties in the future giving priority to Aragalaya ideology. Quite a large number of items with archeological value in the historic Governor’s residence have been left vandalized.
The mob behavior that was seen last week will cause anxiety and lack of confidence amongst the Aid Agencies and would only set hurdles for the authorities in negotiating for Dollars. The mob was unruly and inconsiderate: it can conceivably be explained as reckless men and women who unwisely thought that they could rule the nation from outside the parliament and wanted to decide the destiny of the nation by themselves. Millions of peace-loving Lankans were stunned and remain flabbergasted as they did not approve violence. The voice of wisdom by the politically matured was not heard in the electronic media, as they only focused on the acts of protesters. A stable political set up receiving maximum people’s support is a sine qua non with the taking over by a New Executive, provided the cabinet constitutes men with integrity and honesty. [Are there any within?] They should be able to function with courage of conviction that people would support them.
Wickremesinghe, the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, initiated complicated negotiations with IMF and other financial institutions, and friendly countries to find money to fill the coffers. However, it is rather unfortunate that he lacked both popularity and public support for his efforts. Protesters believed his appointment as PM was simply to alleviate part of the pressure exerted on Gotabaya to resign. The family members who held all top positions in governance have been mostly responsible for the economic adversity faced. Political scientists and analysts are suspicious whether any leader who replaces the Rajapaksas could overcome the continuing disasters. They even fear that the prevailing political vagueness, mob rule and insecurity will last intensifying the crisis situation.
The large majority, though remained within indoors, unconditionally showered their blessing on the protesters right from the beginning. However, the invasion of ‘Palace’, and taking pleasure in swimming, playing games, cooking food and other merry-making and their joyful mood raised many an eye brow. Are they the real sufferers? Since vacating the place, they are having a picnic at Galle Face. Their behavior makes one to take a dispassionate view at the turn of events. When controversial US President Donald Trump lost, his supporters attempted to prevent the peaceful taking over by Joe Biden as the next president by invading the historic Capitol Hill in the USA; all similar events can be interpreted as sort of gang rule. Even if the economic concerns get optimistically sorted out within a few years, the political issues that the disaster has ‘invented’ could create added grave issues, unless the new administration under a new Executive introduces better principles and values for the sake of the country.
The former journalist, Dullas Alahapperuma, has the support of ex-foreign minister GL Peiris and received a fresh boost from opposition leader Sajitha Premadasa. Will this steer him to victory on Wednesday?
ullas Alahapperuma of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party is one of the candidates who is in the race to become the Sri Lankan president. The presidential election was triggered when Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of the same party, fled to Singapore in the face of public wrath.
The 63-year-old lawmaker is a former journalist who first served as a minister in 1994. Dullas served as minister of mass media and a cabinet spokesperson after winning from a provincial constituency in 1993 polls. He also served as provincial minister for cultural affairs.
Before joining active politics, Alahapperuma worked in radical Sinhala tabloids – Lakdiva and Lakmina.
He is married to singer Pradeepa Dharamadasa who once in an 2008 interview with Lankan news outlet Sunday Observer said that she prefers the journalist Alahapperuma rather than the politician Alahapperuma.
He has contested from southern Sri Lanka’s Matara since 2016. He was an ally of the Rajapaksas but resigned when Rajapaksa dissolved the cabinet in April when the protests against the government gained momentum.
Dullas Alahapperuma believes that Sri Lankans should not suffer anymore from the hardships that have surfaced due to the economic collapse the citizens find themselves in. He earlier said that the solutions for the problems Sri Lankans are facing should be addressed within ‘a democratic constitutional political framework.’
It was former foreign minister GL Peiris who pushed the SLPP to back Alahapperuma. The party initially decided to back Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) but there was resistance within the SLPP towards Wickremesinghe.
On Tuesday, Alahapperuma received another boost from opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajitha Premadasa who said he will withdraw his bid from the presidential elections and alongwith his party extend support to the politician from Matara.
Earlier, according to a report by CNN-News18, Premadasa acquired the support from 55 MPs of his own party and also was likely to gain more MPs to support his bid with the help of minority Tamil and Muslim MPs. This would take his tally of supporting MPs to 80, leaving him 33 short of the required mark.
The report also said that despite being in the cabinet Alahapperuma kept a healthy distance from the Rajapaksas which played a role in helping him earn the backing of party members.
It now remains to be seen if on Wednesday Dullas Alahapperuma can get those MPs by his side. With a section of the SLPP supporting him, steered by GL Peiris, there are chances he could finish the race and become the next president.
It, however, will depend if the parties can discipline their MPs to vote for one candidate.
The report by CNN-News18 also pointed out that Premadasa would likely be chosen as the next prime minister if Alahapperuma agrees to abolish ‘Executive Presidency’ if he wins on Wednesday.
With the exceptional success of the Aragalaya protests many politicians and academics have developed and aversion to the Presidential System of Government. (PSG). But Aragalaya hostility was not on the PSG but against Gotabhaya Rajapakse and of course the Rajapakse clan which is now extended against Ranil W. Many parties tried to read systems change element into Gota go home cry which was not correct. Until their final success the Aragalaya focused on the single objective to send Gota home which was an adroit strategy. Only with their success have they demanded pending the enactment of a new Constitution, the setting up of an interim administration where there is legal binding for representatives of the Peoples Struggle to intervene/create an impact, followed up with consequential demands.
It is only in their demand 4.1 where the Aragalaya refer to the system of governance where they demand merely to reduce the executive powers.
It was a pleasure to see Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka recently defending the post of President against the popular will of the party of which he is the Chairman. His argument was based on the significance of national security on which his expertise cannot be questioned. The demand for the abolition of the President has come mainly from parties, which miserably failed in the attempt to capture the post. The Gotago movement was more on the holder than on the post of the President.
The presidential system(PSG) is the dominant form of government in the mainland Americas, with 19 of its 22 sovereign states being presidential republics. In the world approximately 5 out of 8 billion people are ruled by presidential or semi presidential systems. The most recent, much researched, and unhurried and universally acclaimed Constitution of South Africa, under Nelson Mandela opted for a Presidential system. India the largest democracy in the world is moving towards a Presidential system which Shashi Tharoor says ‘ Never has the separation of powers between executive and legislative organs been more necessary than today. Only a truly presidential system could keep the excesses India has been subjected to in check.”
In the 1980s and 1990s, all the new aspirant democracies in Latin America and Asia (Korea and the Philippines) have chosen pure presidentialism and out of approximately twenty-five countries that now constitute Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, only three- Hungary, the new Czech Republic, and Slovakia-have chosen pure parliamentarianism. Most countries which have retained parliamentary systems are Kingdoms or remnant of the British regime.
This is a recent comment by Dr Dayan Jayatilleke on the PSG.
Latin America and Southeast Asia have witnessed far more autocratic rule than has Sri Lanka so far – for instance that of Pinochet, Suharto and Park Chung Hee—but no Latin American or Far Eastern revolutionary, radical, leftist, progressive or democrat has advocated the abolition of the presidency, and many have run for and been elected President without regarding it as their duty to abolish the office!
Every single centrifugal, supremacist act that dragged this country from being ahead of the rest of South Asia to lagging behind it, took place under Ceylon’s/Sri Lanka’s Westminster model.
Not a single such piece of discriminatory legislation was promulgated under the 1978 Constitution (and the system of proportional representation).
In the USA, the executive is checked not by commissions consisting of unaccountable NGO members, but by legislative oversight in the form of strong Congressional committees. In Sri Lanka, that would forestall any backlash.”
If at all the fault is not in the system but in the holders of the powerful post.
1. PS ensures the Sovereignty of the People and their right of Franchise. It is the best measure of the popular will of a nation. Sovereignty of the people implies the sovereignty of the all the people of the nation. It cannot be fragmented. A President is elected by all the people of the country whereas a Prime Minister is elected as a member of Parliament from a particular constituency and then chosen as the Prime Minister by a majority of the elected members of the Parliament. The election of a President is the only test of the popular will of a nation. For example a Prime Minister elected from an urban constituency cannot claim to represent the popular will of the nation. The selection process of a President is more rigorous than the selection process of a Prime Minister or Cabinet Ministers. He or She has to be of a person of exceptional skills with a national appeal. A President has to be conscious of the needs of the minorities and minorities can become the deciding factor as experienced in Sri Lanka in the past. The probability of a President being a more effective leader is higher than that of a Prime Minister.
2. Guarantees Stability:Presidential elections are held on a fixed date whereas in the Parliamentary system elections are held at the will of the Prime Minister and the party in power. A fixed period of governance ensures the stability of the state. Fringe parties, which dictate terms to governments, have less destabilizing space in a Presidential system. In a Parliamentary system the Prime Minister is only primus inter pares. Especially in coalition governments, like what we have had in Sri Lanka the Prime Minister has to yield to minority demands that are not in the interest of the nation. This could lead to conflicting and destabilizing outcomes. A President has to watch only major political trends whereas a Prime Minister in a coalition government has to appease fringe parties in order to hold power. This is a typical feature in Sri Lanka politics. A President who is elected by all of the People can prevent special interest groups or ideologues from diverting public policy into immoderate or non-public-interested directions.
3. Ensures Separation of Power.: The Montesquieu principle of separation of power asserts that, to most effectively promote liberty, executive, legislative and Judicial powers must be separate and act independently. Separation of powers prevent the concentration of power in one branch of government by providing for “checks” and “balances” to avoid, over-reaching by one branch over another, and governing by one actor without regard to the others.
In the Constitution of Sri Lanka the principle of separation of power is recognized and the separate powers are assigned to the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary. A weakness in the SL scheme is that the executive cabinet is formed with members of the legislature. This also prevents the best talent in the country to be harnessed for the development of the country.
In the Parliamentary system the executive is selected by the legislature and acts closely with the legislature. There are no effective checks and balances between the two powers as in a presidential system.
4. Provides Legitimacy: The Prime Minister as mentioned earlier, is elected by a single constituency which may not reflect the interests of the wider population. This is a very significant issue where Prime Ministers represent urban constituencies. A Prime Minister who is normally the leader of his party has only to exercise his leader of the party position to be accepted as the prime ministerial candidate. This requires manipulative skills more than national leadership qualities. There is a legitimacy deficit in the selection of a Prime Minister. Direct election by the people is vital for legitimacy. Even the strongest parliamentary regimes lack this prerequisite.
5.EncouragesTwo Party Systems of Government
A presidential system tends to engender a two party system reinforcing stability and enhancing democracy. The advantage of a two party system is that it results in a high degree of moderation in a political system. When there are only two political they are inclined to be usually moderately left of center and moderately right of center. When there are many small parties as we have in Sri Lanka the small parties, based mainly on ethnicity they exploit racial, ethnic, linguistic, and religious differences to try to gain popularity and power.
The presidential system tends to bipolarize elections, so that the system is one that has “two principal poles, each composed of several separate parties forced to cooperate with each other in order to win the presidential election and to govern with a parliamentary majority which reflects that cooperation.” We can observe this development in the many Sandanayas formed to contest the forthcoming Presidential elections.
6. Ensures Speed and Proficiency in decision-making: A strong Presidency is capable of making prompt and radical decisions than a cabinet led by a Prime Minister. It is doubtful if the open market policy, poverty alleviation and more importantly the successful war effort against the Tamil separatists could have been made other than a strong Presidency. A President is more effective in a crisis situation, which demands swift and decisive action.
7. In Sri Lanka the President plays an indispensable role in the devolution of powers to the Provinces. Presidency becomes the anchor which firmly holds the link between the Provinces and the Center. This unique status of the EP was clearly stated in the following wording in the Supreme Court determination on the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.”
The Governor is appointed by the President and holds office in accordance with Article 4(b) which provides that the executive power of the People shall be exercised by the President of the Republic, during the pleasure of the President (Article 154B(2)). The Governor derived his authority from the President and exercises the executive power vested in him as a delegate of the President. It is open to the President therefore by virtue of Article 4(b) of the Constitution to give directions and monitor the Governor’s exercise of this executive power vested in him. Although he is required by Article 154F(1) to exercise his functions in accordance with the advice of the Board of Ministers, shall be on the President’s directions and that the decision of the Governor as to what is in his discretion shall be final So long as the President retains, the power to give directions to the Governor regarding the exercise of his executive functions, and the Governor is bound by such directions superseding the advice of the Board of Ministers and where the failure of the Governor or Provincial Council to comply with or give effect to any directions given to the Governor or such Council by the President under Chapter XVII of the Constitution.”
The Yahapalana government did its utmost to whittle down the powers of the President and transfer most executive powers to the Prime Minister. To their dismay the Supreme Court held that it cannot be done without a referendum on the argument that transfer, relinquishment or removal of power attributed from one organ to another organ or body would be inconsistent with Article 3 of the constitution read with Article 4 of the Constitution .(However on the same grounds SC did not consider the reduction of powers given in the Constitution to the President a violation of the Sovereignty of the People). Presidency is not without criticisms. But most of these criticism apply to Prime ministerial governments as well. A major complain is that presidency produces authoritarian governments. This has been the chief objection to the former Presidents of Sri Lanka as well. In Asia Indira Gandhi of India and Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore were considered highly dictatorial. Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Hun Sen of Cambodia were considered despots. Margaret Thatcher of the mother of parliaments was an autocrat.
When the President is from a different party from that of the Prime Minister there can be friction similar to what has happened during the tenure of the former governments of Maithripala and CBK.. This would not take place if the President is an independent candidate or the President after elections leaves his party.
While an errant Prime Minister can be removed with a vote of no confidence (in Sri Lanka even by suspending standing orders like how MR was sacked under five minutes) an EP cannot be removed from his post without following the exact practice laid down in the Constitution, including an inquiry by the Supreme Court. While this may not be meet desperate situations (like the no confidence motion on Premadasa) this practice provides stability to the post of President. As he/she is elected by the people his/her removal should rightly be approved at a referendum. (Not by an Aragalaya).
Another accusation cited is that a President is not responsible to the Parliament. The Constitution states that the president is responsible to Parliament and can be impeached by the legislature if that body approves the measure by a two-thirds vote and the Supreme Court also calls for his or her removal from office. Members of the Cabinet are members of the Parliament. Parliament has power over finance.
The success of a President depends largely on the quality of the holder. He/she should be of high intellect, ethical, professional and gifted with a high degree of emotional intelligence. Let Sri Lanka not be a country which has backpedaled to a Parliamentary system from a Presidential system. We are good at backpedaling. It is noted that no country which had adopted a presidential system of opted out of the presidential system. In changing back to Westminster system which does not now seem to be working efficiently even in UK, Sri Lanka will establish again a dysfunctional first for which we are getting world famous.
‘For forms of Government let fools contest. Whate’er is best administered is best.’ Alexander Pope.
In recent times, one of the topics of discussion in regional politics including Bangladesh is the economic and political disaster in Sri Lanka. Since early 2022, this issue has been the subject of extensive discussion in both national and international level.
Bangladesh’s story is different from others
The worsening economic crisis that Sri Lanka and many other nations are experiencing does not threaten Bangladesh with a debt catastrophe. More than 10 nations face the possibility of an economic collapse due to rising inflation, debt, and borrowing costs.
Canadian news organization Visual Capitalist recently identified 25 nations that are vulnerable to debt risk using information from Bloomberg.
According to the report, Sri Lanka is not the only nation now experiencing financial difficulty. Russia, Zambia, Suriname, Lebanon, and other countries are currently in arrears. Belarus is another nation that is in danger of becoming bankrupt. However, the list goes on. Twelve additional nations are in danger due to rising inflation, debt, and borrowing costs. The vulnerable countries are as follows: Argentina, Ukraine, Tunisia, Ghana, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, SL Salvador, Pakistan, Belarus, Ecuador. Bangladesh isn’t on the list.
Bangladesh approach for ‘not to face Sri Lanka like crisis’
Government officials’ travel abroad is restricted, the taka is devalued, remittances are rewarded with cash, and luxury goods are taxed, all of which help Bangladesh build up its foreign exchange reserves so it can easily meet import demand. In the meantime, the government’s policy of raising exports and lowering imports helps the economy recover.
The impact of COVID-19 on the economy, which is already constrained by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, cannot be denied. The latter has made things more difficult for developing nations like Bangladesh as well as escalating the global economic crisis.
In order to support the COVID-19 and the war-damaged economy, the nation must give controlling inflation equal priority to improving the export-import ratio.
Although the country has enough reserves to cover the minimum three-month import payment, the depletion of the foreign reserve may become a concern if it continues to decline. Here, the adoption of strategic interventions at all levels of budget management becomes necessary as part of a comprehensive economic plan to control and repair the economy. Bangladesh has already taken the policy of ‘cost minimization’.
On May 17, 2022, while presiding over a meeting of Bangladesh’s National Economic Council, the country’s prime minister gave advice to the ministries and divisions about how to implement development projects without going overboard with spending.
She underlined the importance of completing only critical projects and postponing low-priority ones for the time being in order to prevent pressure on the national economy from the current global crisis. This order continues a number of other policy directives and orders from the head of government to address the COVID-affected economic problem. It is not a stand-alone issue.
Over the past few months, Bangladesh’s a vested quarter, inspired by the events in Sri Lanka, have begun to expect that Bangladesh is heading towards a Sri Lankan economic status. They also expected that if that situation arose, the people of Bangladesh would take the field like the people of Sri Lanka to remove the government from power. But all those false ideas of theirs did not prove to be true at all. Ever since Sri Lanka’s economic disaster, the Awami League government under the leadership of the BD Prime Minister has strongly presented the argument that the economy of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are vastly different.
Moreover, development aid organizations in Bangladesh have repeatedly said that there is no logical reason for the situation in Bangladesh to be similar to that of Sri Lanka. Those who make such false assumptions must first understand the fundamental difference between the economy of Bangladesh and the economy of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s economy is largely dependent on the tourism industry.
Sri Lanka’s tourism industry has collapsed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that has been ongoing for more than two years. As a result, the country’s foreign exchange reserves began to decrease and the government began to pick up speed in importing fuel and other commodities. At one point the government was forced to stop all imports. As a result, there was a lot of anger among the people.
But, the main pillar of Bangladesh’s economy is garments and foreign exchange sent by expatriates. Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves are in a much stronger position than other South Asian countries. In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, many assumed that remittances to Bangladesh would decline as many expatriates lost their jobs in the early stages of the pandemic. However, due to the diplomatic success of the government, Bangladeshi workers have returned to their workplaces in a short span of time and are sending foreign exchange at the same rate.
As a result, there is absolutely no possibility of a situation like Sri Lanka in Bangladesh’s economy in the current situation. Moreover, even though the level of corruption of the Rajapakse dynasty in Sri Lanka has reached the highest level, no action has been taken against them by the government. As a result, there was great anger among the people.
Although there are allegations of corruption in some cases in Bangladesh, no such situation has arisen. Besides, no such complaint is found about the Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh and his family members. As a result, there is no anger among the people. As a result, it can be said with certainty that there is absolutely no possibility of a Sri Lanka-like situation in Bangladesh in the near future.
Global economic crisis as a reality and Bangladesh case
It is good to say here that for the last two years, the economy of the major countries of the world has been disrupted due to the ravages of the Covid-19 epidemic and now Russia-Ukraine war. Because the impact of covid has not only fallen on the health sector, it has disrupted all other sectors including the economy and education. However, due to the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister of the Government of Bangladesh, on the one hand it has been able to deal with the health threat of Covid very successfully, as well as on the other hand it has been able to put its economy on a solid footing.
Post-Covid-19, there has been a global economic recession. Keeping that in mind, the government has already undertaken some financial reform programs. The hope is that several economic reform programs have already been undertaken by the Bangladesh Bank and the government keeping the global recession in mind.
The economy of Bangladesh is now standing on a solid foundation. As the economy struggles to recover from the shock of the coronavirus, the Russia-Ukraine war has made that struggle even more difficult. Although the economy of Bangladesh is going through a difficult time. Commodity prices are rising, inflationary pressures have become difficult to handle, reserves have fallen below $40 billion after two years, and the government is under severe pressure on electricity and fuel, but initiatives taken by the BD government in tackling the temporary crisis may be effective. Many people think that this crisis will lead Bangladesh to Sri Lanka. But Sri Lanka’s crisis and Bangladesh’s crisis are not the same. Sri Lanka’s crisis began before the Ukraine war. And the current crisis due to the war is not only of Bangladesh, but of the whole world. The current crisis is actually imported. The crisis will fluctuate with the international market. The BD government has adopted austerity policy to deal with the crisis. There really is no other way. Efforts were made to prevent the deterioration of reserves by reducing imports and increasing exports. As long as the effects of the war last, it must on the whole be thrifty, the rush of demand. War is like a storm. Whose touch will be in everyone’s house. If your house is strong, you will feel less windfall. Bangladesh’s economic base is very strong now, so the storm of war may not blow it away, but the blow will be less.
One thing is quite clear in economic language and in terms of economic figures that any country taking on global debt of up to 70% of its core GDP will not face economic ruin. Bangladesh’s current debt to gross domestic product (GDP) is 44%. Although the foreign debt has increased by 21.8%, while the import expenditure has increased by 44% in the global downturn and the foreign exchange reserves have already fallen, Bangladesh ranks 41th economy in the world. The position is just after India. According to new data IMF, Bangladesh and India were the only two South Asian countries considered to be part of the 50 largest economies of the world.
Reserves have stood under 40 billion. Reserve gone – I don’t see any reason to make a fuss because the reserve has gone. Because the hard truth is, when the current AL government took power, how much was the reserve? That comparison is now more than double. (I am not being effusive in praising the government, that is the hard truth) So reserves should not be a problem at all. At that time, the state had three months’ worth of import expenditure compared to seven months at present. However, the Bangladesh government has already settled import payments worth 1.99 billion dollars with the Asian Clearing Union (ACU) last week. Reserves have been reduced mainly after sanctioning import payments. Through ACU, member countries settle import payments for their regional transactions. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are members of ACU.
Just as we cut our family expenses in times of danger, the state also has to cut back. Sri Lanka borrowed more than it could afford, and built a watchdog scheme on that debt without knowing if it would be reciprocated. Wrong policies have reduced crop production. There is no such crisis in Bangladesh. Economists have already explained why Bangladesh will not become Sri Lanka with various statistics. Even in the common eye, we understand that Bangladesh is not Sri Lanka and will never be. If you love your country, then it is the responsibility of all of you to work to overcome the crisis from your own respective places
Manohara de Silva, PC, says the rejection by the US of a visa application by Gotabaya Rajapaksa towards the tail end of the latter’s presidential term may allow Western powers to arrest him in terms of the Geneva Resolution.
The President’s Counsel emphasised that the Geneva Resolution authorised universal jurisdiction by accepting the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Sri Lanka. The High Commissioner conducted that investigation, in terms of the Geneva Resolution (A/HRC/25/1), adopted in Match 2014.
Sri Lanka co-sponsored Geneva Resolution on Oct 01, 2015, brought in by the US. The UNHRC consists of 47 countries, divided into five zones.Responding to The Island queries, de Silva said the possibility of Western powers moving against the wartime Defence Secretary couldn’t be ruled out, especially against the backdrop of declaration in the House of Commons that the ex-President should be arrested.
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, last week told the House of Commons that an international arrest warrant should be issued in respect of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his cronies.Scottish National Party MP Alyn Smith told the House of Commons that though the President had fled Sri Lanka, he couldn’t flee accountability. Smith asked the UK Minister for Asia and the Middle East, Amanda Milling, whether she agreed that the President, and those officials who had been complicit in acts of humanitarian abuses, would and must be held accountable, and would the UK contribute to those international efforts?”
Sri Lanka brought the war to a successful conclusion on the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon on the morning of 19 May 2009.De Silva, who was a member of the expert team that prepared a new draft Constitution, said the US might have one if its allies carry out the arrest. President Rajapaksa left the country in an SLAF plane for the Maldives, less than 24 hours after protesters overran the President’s House, and from there flew to Singapore, from where he sent his letter of resignation, through the Sri Lankan mission in Singapore.
Rajapaksa relinquished his US citizenship ahead of the last presidential election, in Nov 2019. The 19th Amendment to the Constitution barred foreign passport holders from contesting either presidential or parliamentary polls.
India also categorically denied having any role in facilitating the departure, or travel, of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa from Sri Lanka.De Silva said that whatever the political differences, the vast majority of people certainly didn’t want the West to prosecute political leaders, and the military, under any circumstances.
Responding to another query, the top lawyer said that actually political parties represented in Parliament and other stakeholders should explain their stand on the contentious issue at hand.Since Sri Lanka co-sponsored the Geneva Resolution, eight years ago, the US and Australia denied visas to several top officers, both serving and retired. Among them were Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka (US/retired), Maj. Gen. Udaya Perera (US/retired) and Maj. Gen. Chagie Gallage (Australia/serving). The US also blacklisted General Shavendra Silva in Feb 2020.
De Silva said that Sri Lanka should, at least now, rethink its response to the Geneva threat. Those who had been in political authority, particularly since Nov 2019 till 09 July 2022, should be ashamed that Lord Naseby’s disclosures, pertaining to unsubstantiated war crimes accusations, were never properly used to counter lies propagated by interested parties, de Silva added.
SLPP lawmaker Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera said that the government should address the issue without delay. Western powers could exploit the ex-President predicament to humiliate Sri Lanka, experiencing a severe financial-political-social crisis, the former Public Security Minister told The Island.
The Colombo District MP said that the previous leadership neglected the accountability issue. The government’s failure to do so has now created an environment conducive for interested parties to go after top political and military leaders, Weerasekera said. Parliament, too, should look into this matter, the MP said, adding that current political imbroglio was not an excuse for abandoning the President.
A Gazette Extraordinary has been issued declaring a state of emergency across the island with effect from today (July 18).
The state of emergency has been declared in a proclamation by Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe in terms of Article 40(1)(C) of the Constitution, by virtue of the powers vested in him by Section 2 of the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40), as amended by Act No. 8 of 1959, Law No. 6 of 1978 and Act No. 28 of 1988.
It states the public emergency in Sri Lanka has been declared in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community.
Similarly, a nationwide state of emergency had also been declared last Wednesday after former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had left the country and flown to Maldives and protesters surrounded the office of the Prime Minister.
Sri Lanka has not reached any initial agreement with the IMF on debt relief, and its largest creditors -the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank – are urged to come up with a package that would speed up its debt restructuring process, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to China Palitha Kohona told the Global Times in an exclusive interview.
He also called for more assistance from partners after the debt-ridden country claimed bankruptcy and imposed a state of emergency amid escalating protests and persisting shortage of daily necessities.
The IMF visited Sri Lanka at the end of last month, and judging by report we received the official discussions were very satisfactory. We have appointed a team of legal advisors in London, and team of experts who understand debt restructuring from the West,” Kohona said. But he noted that discussions with the IMF are only at a preliminary stage, and once the new government is installed, there will be new arrangement for the next meeting with the IMF.
Kohona said it is hoped that terms and conditions attached to the IMF package will not be onerous.”
It’s inevitable whenever the IMF comes along we will have to tighten our belt, but in some cases it’s difficult because the belt is already on the last notch. We’re worried that the IMF may insist that we curtail our state-fund health care system. The education system which is free from grade one to university level might be another area the IMF recommends to cut. These may add to the unrest,” Kohona explained.
Sri Lanka’s largest creditors are international financial organizations like the World Bank and the ADB, and a substantial amount is also owed to other institutional investors from the West, for example the Wall Street. While calling on those organizations to take a bigger role, Kohona also hopes more bilateral partners will provide more assistance to help the country overcome its difficulties.
China and Japan each held about 10 percent of Sri Lankan debt. Kohona disclosed that about $1 billion, out of Sri Lanka’s $7 billion foreign debt obligations for this year, is due to China.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing on Friday that Chinese financial institutions have actively approached and negotiated with Sri Lanka after the country stopped debt repayment, expressing willingness to properly settle matured debts owed to China and help it overcome difficulties.
China is ready to work with relevant countries and international financial institutions to continue to play a positive role in supporting Sri Lanka’s response to current difficulties and efforts to ease debt burden and realize sustainable development,” Wang said, adding that as a friend and neighbor, China has been providing assistance for its socioeconomic development to the best of our capacity.
Recently, China has announced a total of 500 million yuan ($74 million) emergency humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka. On Thursday, the second batch of emergency humanitarian grain aid – 1,000 tons of rice – from China was handed over to Sri Lanka.
There have been large-scale protests about the government because of the severe material and energy shortages that Sri Lanka is facing, Kohona noted. Sri Lanka faces a gap in cooking oilfertilizer, medicine, and even food stocks, which poses a huge challenge to Sri Lankans’ basic household cooking, transportation, medical needs, and preparation for the upcoming cultivation season.
On Thursday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa officially resigned after landing in Singapore, and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as acting president. Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency across the country.
Kohona noted there are still protests in Sri Lanka against Wickremesinghe, and he is not clear whether the acting president will continue to hold this office for much longer. This is very unsatisfactory, because the leadership of the country suddenly comes into question. So we are hoping that the constitutional provisions will be followed, and elections have to be held within a specified period to elect a new president,” he said.
Sri Lanka’s parliament will vote on a new president on July 20, according to the speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament.
Kohona said he is confident that whatever government in power will maintain excellent relations with China.”
China is the major trading partner and investor of Sri Lanka, we have a strategic partnership between the two countries, whoever takes over the government after an election will maintain the confidence of the Chinese government as well as the goodwill of the Chinese people,” he noted.
In recent years, Chinese-invested projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) such as the Hambantota Port have largely improved local people’s livelihood and propelled the country’s growth.
On Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka held a video conference with Chinese firms in Sri Lanka, guiding them on how to strengthen security work and cope with demonstration and safety events. Kohona said there has been no threat to Chinese projects or Chinese personnel in Sri Lanka.
BRI investments are critical in Sri Lankan economy after the situation stabilizes. It not only brought foreign exchange, but also generated employments,” he said, adding that the embassy is encouraging a number of Chinese renewable energy companies to establish projects in Sri Lanka.
The Leader of the Opposition, Sajith Premadasa says that he cannot lie and promise that relief can be given to the people immediately, within the current economic bankruptcy the country is facing.
A special meeting between representatives of the citizen’s struggle protest movement and the opposition leader took place this morning (18) at the opposition leader’s office in Colombo.
During this week, the process of appointing the successor president of this country is ongoing while the members of citizen’s struggle informed their position to the opposition leader.
Speaking further, the opposition leader said that an interim government should be formed to achieve certain goals through a program.
Premadasa also said that although the activists had set dates for the interim governments, if the goals were not met within the relevant period, that government would also fail.
Sajith Premadasa further commented,
We don’t have a big issue with this policy, and I would like to tell you that there is another matter in this. I can’t lie that the people will get relief at once during a time when the country is in economic bankruptcy. Basic human needs such as gas, fuel, fertiliser, milk powder, essential food will be provided properly. That is different. Actually, the entire country is bankrupt. Today the country has gone down to zero from the financial side. That is the true story. So, these things have to be done systematically. It is not because of the decisions taken by me, and us. Also, to achieve justice, people need to have financial strength.”
But I strongly agree with you, human and economic administration and management should happen in this country. I am not a person who believes in the theory of strengthening the capitalist class that creates neoliberal capitalists. We expect a balanced economic management. This situation is very serious. We think that as a first step, we have to give a dollar stimulus to the gas, fertilizer, fuel and banking system. We have studied all these. The truth of the matter is that we need to get IMF support. We can’t go forward without it. They have their conditions. For example, market price formulas should be brought. Then surely people will confront difficulties. This is a very confusing situation. But we have the ability to manage this although with difficulties.”
Sri Lanka’s acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said the country’s previous administration was covering up facts” about its crippling financial crisis.
Former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government did not tell the truth, that Sri Lanka was bankrupt” and needed to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” Wickremesinghe told CNN from parliament in the nation’s administrative capital Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte Monday.
I would like to tell the people I know what they are suffering,” he added. We have gone back. We have to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. We don’t need five years or 10 years. By the end of next year let’s start stabilizing, and certainly by 2024 let’s have a functioning economy which will start growing.”
Wickremesinghe’s exclusive interview with CNN was his first with an international news organization since he was appointed acting president by former leader Rajapaksa, who fled the crisis-hit country last week.
Wickremesinghe added he that had spoken to Rajapaksa since he first fled Sri Lanka for Maldives, and then traveled to Singapore. However, Wickremesinghe said he does not know whether the former leader is still in Singapore, or elsewhere.
Wickremesinghe is now vying to be Sri Lanka’s next president, with parliament set to elect a new leader on Wednesday.
The former six-time prime minister, who is being backed by the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna political party, will face off against at least three other candidates.
But Wickremesinghe’s nomination has threatened to inflame an already volatile situation in the South Asian nation of 22 million.
Since March, Sri Lanka has been brought to its knees by a growing economic crisis that has left the country struggling to buy essential imports, including fuel, food and medicine.
Protesters have taken to the streets to demand the resignations of the country’s leaders and last week appeared to have scored a victory when Rajapaksa vowed to resign, then fled the country after thousands of demonstrators stormed his residence, and some swam in his pool. Wickremesinghe’s private residence was set on fire by angry protesters shortly after.
Wickremesinghe — prime minister before Rajapaksa stepped down — vowed to resign to make way for a unity government.
He told CNN that his torched home and much of its contents were not salvageable.
He lost more than 4,000 books, including some that were centuries old, Wickremesinghe said. A 125-year-old piano was also destroyed in the fire, he added.
But despite this, on Monday, he reiterated his desire to compete for the top position, telling CNN that he was not the same administration.”
I’m not the same, people know that,” he said. I came here to handle the economy.”
When asked why he wanted to be president and make himself a further potential target, Wickremesinghe said: I don’t want this happening in the country. What happened to me I don’t want others to suffer … Certainly I don’t want that to happen to anyone else.”
Meanwhile, life for Sri Lankans remains chaotic as they navigate the country’s paralyzing crisis.
People continue to line up outside gas stations for hours — even days — desperately hoping to purchase fuel. Many local businesses are shut and supermarket shelves are increasingly barren.
As anger continues to build, Wickremesinghe said people could protest peacefully.”
Don’t obstruct the parliamentarians and the parliament from carrying out their duty,” he said.
Wickremesinghe had declared a nationwide state of emergency from Monday, in a bid to quell any possible social unrest ahead of parliament’s presidential vote on July 20.
We are trying to prevent (the police and military) from using weapons,” Wickremesinghe said.
They have been attacked on some occasions but we still told them try your best not to use weapons.”
But Wickremesinghe said he can understand what the (people of Sri Lanka) are going through.”
I told them there have been three bad weeks … And the whole system had broken down,” he said. We were not going to have gas, we were not going to have diesel. It was bad.”
Wickremesinghe said he will not let protesters to obstruct parliament from voting Wednesday, or allow more buildings to be stormed.
There has to be law and order in the country,” he said.
The Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe delivered a special statement today (18) and touched on several topics including the present economic crisis, the shortages of essentials as well as the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks.
He said that everyone should come together and rebuild Sri Lanka and this country can be rebuilt.
Wickremesinghe said that when he accepted the premiership on May 13, a number of issues had arisen due to the collapse of the economy.
He said: I have worked to solve them. At the time, the power cut was for 5 hours. I have reduced it to 3 hours. Required amounts of fertilizers are available for the Yala season today. Also, we are working to get the fertilizer needed for the season. We would like to be self-sufficient in food again during the Maha season.
We don’t forget that goal. Today we can provide gas continuously. There is no problem about that. We continue to provide diesel as well. There was a problem with Petrol. In fact, I stated in June that three weeks in July will be the most difficult time for us to get fuel. Now we will be able to provide petrol from July 21. Due to the decrease in the international price of fuel, the advantage of that price will be given to the consumers of this country. Also, farmers’ loans have now been waved off, especially for those who have two and half acres of fields within the country. We are continuing discussions with the IMF to build the economy and the discussions with friendly countries are also being continued. We have suffered huge losses due to the collapses of this economy. We have to prepare measures to deal with them.”
So, we are having a number of such problems in the country. Another one is the question we all are having about the Easter Attack. Any of those procedures have not been finalised yet. My dedication is to resolve these problems, we don’t need to continue with these problems forever.”
We must ensure that this should be brought to an end, and there should be a full-scale impartial review of the material that is available. If everyone is willing, I would like to get the help of the UK and their police authorities. They are the best that we can find. In addition to the people from Sri Lanka, who will be working on this issue. It is the responsibility of the government to finalise this matter without any further delay.”ranil
Dr. Patrick Mendis, Courtesy Harvard International Review
Dr. Patrick Mendis, a former American diplomat and a military professor in the NATO and Indo-Pacific Commands of the US Department of Defense, is a distinguished visiting professor of transatlantic relations at the University of Warsaw in Poland as well as a distinguished visiting professor of global affairs at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan. A non-resident senior fellow of the Synergia Foundation in Bangalore, India and the Taiwan Center for Security Studies in Taipei, Prof. Mendis served as a distinguished visiting professor of Sino-American relations at the Yenching Academy of Peking University in Beijing. He is a former commissioner to UNESCO and the secretariat director of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in the US Department of State. The views expressed in this analysis do not represent the official positions of his current or past affiliations nor governments.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka officially declared on June 22, 2022 that the national economy had completely collapsed.” A month earlier, the increasingly debt-laden island nation of 22 million people defaulted on its US$50 billion foreign debt to China and other international creditors, bringing the entire country to a grinding economic standstill. Massive protests in the capital city of Colombo erupted on July 9 with the ransacking of the presidential secretariat and the newly appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe’s official residence, followed by his private home being set ablaze. President Rajapaksa fled the city and promised to resign as protesters have peacefully been demanding for months.
The so-called perfect tropical paradise” that is shaped like a teardrop falling from the southern tip of India has indeed now become an island of tears. This reality is largely a result of the autocratic and corrupt Rajapaksa family who has ruled the strategically located island in the Indian Ocean—except for a brief period from January 2015 to November 2019—for almost two decades. For the past several months, however, shortages of fuel, gas, electricity, and food items and medicines, coupled with staggering double-digit inflation, has prompted the people to protest peacefully against the government. Despite the heavy police and military presence and imposed island-wide curfew, pro-Rajapaksa mobs still assaulted protesters agitating peacefully” outside the president’s office and the prime minister’s residence. Without violence for months, the protesters continued to demand the resignation of Gotabaya, his eldest brother Prime Minister Mahinda, his youngest brother former Finance Minister Basil, and other ministers and family members in the parliament.
After winning the nearly 30-year civil war” in May 2009, the triumphant Gotabaya—then secretary of the Ministry of Defense and Urban Development under his brother, President Mahinda—said, at the third Galle Dialogue on Maritime Security in December 2012, that Hambantota Port is not part of China’s string of pearls” military strategy to encircle India or to keep the United States away from the Indian Ocean. It is an over US$1 billion investment for transshipment of Chinese goods and resources from the Middle East and Africa. Nonetheless, Gotabaya clarified that the Chinese investment in Hambantota Port is a purely economic one.” Indeed, Sri Lanka is the crown jewel” of China’s multibillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) across the Indo-Pacific region, which connects the Hambantota Port, the Colombo Port City (CPC), the Colombo Lotus Tower, and many other overwhelming infrastructure projects. These ports could easily be converted into dual-purpose military and civilian use compounds, making Sri Lanka a potential unsinkable aircraft carrier” for China. During his historic visit to Sri Lanka with two Chinese submarines in September 2014, President Xi Jinping described the island as a splendid pearl,” while the two countries signed over twenty bilateral agreements in Colombo.
With President Xi’s New Era” of national rejuvenation, Sri Lanka has now discreetly become a strategic colony” of battleships with massive projects to advance the Chinese interests against India and the United States in the Indian Ocean. In The Art of War, Chinese General Sun Tzu once advised that a leader must remember that to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” Xi seems to believe he can strategically achieve his national goals by peacefully defeating his enemies—India and the United States—before war even breaks out. Now, a key opportunity has presented itself to Beijing, with the collapse of the Sri Lankan economy, to get the upper hand over the United States and India in the Indian Ocean and beyond.
China’s Eyes on the Crown Jewel
For the last phase of the civil war that ended in 2009, China provided the needed economic support, military equipment, and political cover at the United Nations to block potential sanctions.” The war was mainly a clash between the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) insurgent group,” which hoped to establish a separate state for the Tamil minority.” During these years of bloodshed and human rights violations on both the government and LTTE sides, the Rajapaksa government was afraid of the powerful lobbying efforts by the Tamil diaspora in the West, encouraging the Western governments to support UN sanctions against Sri Lanka. The Colombo administration had been equally distressed by another direct Indian intervention”—with the mounting pressure coming from India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu—in neighboring Sri Lanka’s internal affairs.
Against this backdrop, paying tribute to Chinese patronage at the third Galle Dialogue, Defense Secretary Rajapaksa reaffirmed that China was an obvious nation to approach” among other traditional donor nations such as Japan, India, South Korea, and the United States. Victorious as war heroes during the decade of 2005-2015, his elder brother Mahinda—then-president of Sri Lanka—and his three brothers controlled many government ministries and around 80 percent of total government spending.” These strongmen also negotiated directly” with China while considering the island nation as an extended family business enterprise.
12 years later, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa—until recently in office since November 2019 with family members still sitting in parliament—has brought the paradise island into an unprecedented socio-economic turmoil with mismanaged economic policies and systemic corruption by successive governments. Once the leading nation in the UN Human Development Index for life expectancy, literacy rate, and GNP per capita in South Asia, Sri Lanka is now entangled in enormous debt trap” projects with China and loans from Japan and international financial institutions. Such ventures involve Chinese white elephant” schemes, including the US$104 million Colombo Lotus Tower for Beijing’s espionage” operation in South Asia and the US$209 million Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in Hanbantota—the emptiest” airport in the world. Moreover, the massive Sooriyawewa Cricket Stadium and the International Conference Hall in Hambantota as well as the nearly US$200 million unused roads and bridges made Rajapaksa’s ancestral home district with golden statues a throne to the vanity of a political dynasty.” Like other nationalist and narcissistic dictators do, the Rajapaksa clan bloated the bureaucracy and enlarged the military with their associates and supporters while erecting tributes to themselves at the expense and suffering of ordinary citizens.
The Peaceful ‘Aragalaya’
Earlier this year, the autocratic Rajapaksa regime completely bankrupted Sri Lanka, and the country defaulted on the entirety of its foreign debt amounting to about US$51 billion.” This led to crippling food shortages with no gas for cooking, long lines waiting for petrol for vehicles, no access to medicines, and diminished electricity supplies. This economic collapse has devolved into mass protest (aragalaya”, or struggle) in Colombo and elsewhere in the country. Violence erupted when the Rajapaksa allies attacked the peaceful protesters who demanded the embattled President Gotabaya’s resignation, chanting Gotta Go home” for several months. His elder brother Mahinda—the prime minister who had previously been president—was forced out from power in May and his other brother Basil—the finance minister—resigned from the cabinet in June 2022. Gotabaya himself has now surrendered to the power of people, leaving the island nation after relentless calls for him to do so.
The complete removal of the pro-Chinese Rajapaksa family presents an existential threat to China’s interests in Sri Lanka—especially when President Gotabaya appointed five-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe back to the post for just two months, replacing the president’s brother Mahinda. The unpopular but veteran prime minister and his United National Party has only one seat out of 225 in the parliament. At the same time, however, pro-American Wickremesinghe had been viewed by protesters as a strange bedfellow in the name of political expediency and a crisis manager for Gotabaya, who wanted to remain in the powerful presidency to protect his family’s financial interests and political ambitions.
The new prime minister promised the nation that he would resolve the current shortages of oil, gas, electricity, medicine, and other imports necessary for daily survival. Wickremesinghe also vowed to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and other lenders. It was a matter of concern for China because the transparency required by these institutions would expose the nature of Chinese loans and bribery schemes, its exorbitant interest rates and kickbacks, and the secret negotiations conducted by the members of the Rajapaksa family and their associates. After learning that the 20 percent” kickback monies were paid as commissions” to the Rajapaksa family and associates, the Aragalaya protesters have been pushed to the brink, taking to the streets to demand change to improve their desperate national situation.
The Chinese Paradox and Autocratic Regimes
Prior to these most recent developments, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Sri Lanka in January 2022 at the request of the Rajapaksa government to restructure debt payments and alleviate the financial troubles of the island that have exacerbated since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the visit, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Western media was unfairly hyping [the] debt issue,” adding that calling the cooperation projects between China and Sri Lanka ‘white elephants’ is completely untrue” as bilateral cooperation is welcomed by local people.”
It is true that debt owed to China now accounts for only 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s total US$35 billion of foreign debt, similar to Japan, making China only the fourth-largest lender, preceded by the international financial markets, the Asian Development Bank, and Japan. Unlike the other lenders, however, China’s motivations are driven by its communist statecraft and geopolitical calculus in the Indian Ocean region. When Sri Lanka failed to repay Chinese debt stemming from the Hambantota Port, for example, the Colombo government agreed to a debt-for-equity swap and gave Beijing a 99-year lease of the port with the 15,000 acres neighboring the wildlife sanctuary.
Moreover, the nearby Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport was built with the possible intention of a dual civil-and-military installation for future use. With China’s first military base at Djibouti in the Horn of Africa and the latest Ream naval base in Cambodia, Beijing may aim to use the world’s emptiest international airport in Sri Lanka to develop its emerging Indian Ocean military theater against the United States, its allies, and India. All these projects were initially promoted within the BRI as development assistance. In fact, the BRI has been the ambitious foreign policy strategy of China to bring developing countries under its realm of influence as shown in the cautionary tale” of Sri Lanka.
American Interests in the Paradise Island
When China refused to extend additional credits for oil import to the failed state, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa called on President Vladimir Putin of Russia for assistance for oil shipments in July. Understanding the desperate measures taken by Gotabaya, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung reminded that Sri Lanka must consider our sanctions globally on Russian banks, logistics, transportation, and financing;” however, she assured that the US does not have sanctions against third world countries on import of oil.”
To remove misinformation that the United States and the international community are holding back support during a time of need, Ambassador Chung announced that President Biden has granted US$20 million in humanitarian assistance including for the most vulnerable segments of society,” the poorest of the poor. In addition, the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) committed US$150 million for private sector-led initiatives and US$80 million for renewable energy as well as recent commitments to technical support for the Sri Lankan Treasury.
Misinformation on US involvement in Sri Lanka was widespread during the brief but tumultuous administration of President Maithripala Sirisena (2015-2019); since then, anti-American sentiments have prevailed. When visiting US Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Alice Wells, for example, referred to Sri Lanka as an important piece of real estate” for its strategic location in major maritime shipping routes, it was perceived as real estate owner-turned President Donald Trump’s vision of transactional, American-centric diplomacy. The pro-western Sirisena administration, however, favored striking deals with the Trump administration, especially when Sri Lanka renewed its Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) with the United States for another ten years. The ACSA allowed the transfer and exchange of logistical supplies and refueling services for US military operations in the Indian Ocean rim region.
The pro-China Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration had refused to cooperate with American initiatives, demonstrating that Sri Lanka had chosen to partner with Beijing instead of Washington. In fact, the United States failed to renew its Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with Sri Lanka, even after pledging $480 million in development aid via the Millennium Challenge Compact (MCC). Both countries spent months debating the MCC compact that promised infrastructure development projects, similar to China’s BRI projects in Sri Lanka. At the end, Gotabaya declined to sign the MCC offer and refused to renew the SOFA, speculating that the United States intended to establish a military base to counter Chinese influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean rim countries.
The Sino-American Endgame for Sri Lanka
With the removal of pro-Western Prime Minister Wickremasinghe and pro-Chinese President Rajapaksa by protesters, it is now possible that the proposed credit aid conference led by China, India, Japan, and most importantly, the United States, will guide Sri Lanka’s future. The immediate goal is to stabilize the collapsed economy and alleviate human suffering while helping the island recover from foreign debts. As China has remained relatively muted during the Aragalaya, US Ambassador Chung has seized the opportunity to encourage peaceful protest, restrain violent military response, and protect freedom of speech and Internet communications.
Indeed, it is morally imperative for all lenders—including the Asian Development Bank and the IMF—to jointly help the paradise-island nation. For China, as Sun Tzu counseled, President Xi would most likely build for his Indian and US opponents a golden bridge” to retreat across; otherwise, the opponent will engage in battle and fight like a caged and cornered tiger,” when economic incentives run out for India and the United States. Both democracies need to realize the importance of economic development within the island over their own military interests in a geopolitical endgame with China.
Thus, the tragic saga of the teardrop island might remain so, as China tries to use its economic power to advance Beijing’s ultimate goal: to be the comprehensive global power in the Indian Ocean and beyond. Given the latest events in Colombo, however, it appears that the paradise island may not be completely turned into a Chinese colony—as long as the Sri Lankan people continue to advocate for their own destiny as a free nation.
My answer is no. Only the Chapter on Rajapaksa family in the Mahavamsa will be closed. It will be followed by a very uncertain and really turbulent period that might be followed by a period of prosperity, happiness and peace for all if the present system of Government is replaced with a homemade model of development that make the maximum use of its bountiful physical, human and cultural resources under a strong, patriotic, visionary and benevolent Sinhala Buddhist leader who considers the subjects as his own children as it was done by our ancient Kings, following the footsteps of Dharmasoka the Great.
With the announcements that Gota will go on Wednesday and Ranil will also follow, most people will think the problem is solved, as the the nation’s curse, the Gota and Ranil Alliance” as some people think, is hopefully likely to end this week.
But in my opinion, it is not so. I strongly feel this is only the beginning of a worse period in the political history of this country. True enough we did have a period of partial anarchy over the past few years starting from around August 2015 with incremental effect as the months passed by.
But the real troublesome era which I would describe as full anarchy” has dawned only now. You mark 13th of July 2022 as the starting date of this anarchic period in this country. In fact, it has already started on the 9th with the invasion and occupation of the President House, the Presidential Secretariate and the Temple Trees, the official Residence of the Prime Minister of this country. Now all these places are occupied by a riotous antigovernment mob installing the rule of mobocracy.in place of democracy even though it was also not perfect. Now the rioters are in occupation of these public buildings doing enormous damages to public property, restoration of which will cost billions of public funds for any government to restore them to their previous status.
Let us not waste our time by trying to speculate whether it was an American coup, of the Maharaja’s Jockstrap Protest at Galle-Face – A Re-run of Ukraine’s ‘Maiden Square’ False-Flag Operation on February 2014 (Lankaweb July 9th, 2022) as Jonathan Manz has said or a coup organized jointly by a collective group of NGO, Civil Societies the Church and other anti-Sinhala anti-Buddhist elements with foreign funds. Majority who flocked into Colombo on that day from outskirts are mostly who are disgruntled and hungry masses of this country sans any dirty politics. But those who remain inside these buildings forcibly and illegally occupying them are the real culprits of the game and they are the hardcore JVP and peratugugaami carders. This assertion is proved as one listen to the statement made by Kumar Gunaratnam where he said ‘Strugglers are the Law” and as such they have to be there in any future government. Even Tilvin Siva expressed the same views
It was announced this morning that there will be a meeting of the strugglers with the Speaker this afternoon. It further said 29 strugglers are going to attend this meeting. This number made me to wonder whether they have a suggestion to demand the Speaker to nominate these 29 by the political parties to Parliament so that they will also have a representation in the present Parliament Even if the Speaker agrees, to my understanding one cannot do that without the consensus of all party leaders. Moreover, it is unconstitutional and goes against the election Law. If you say that then they might ask, as to how Gotabhaya brought Ranil and Dhammika Perera to Parliament.
So, this will create another impasse in Cabinet forming even if both Gota and Ranil resign as stated. The mob might use the same tactics to get the consent of the Party leaders as well.
At the same time even in the resignation of Gota still there is a big gap between the cup and the lip’ as politicians could never be trusted since both have not yet tendered their resignations, although millions of people who flocked in to Colombo on the 9th of July have already apparently chased them out of the Presidential House, Presidential Secretariate at the Gall Face and also from the Temple Trees, the official residence of the Prime Minister. The mob occupy these buildings until Gotabhaya and Ranil handover their joint resignations. As the say goes ‘A smiling cat can never be trusted” similarly a politician too can never be trusted. Now although Gota has agreed to resign on the 13th no one can believe that, until the papers are handed over. Ranil on the other hand must be waiting Gota to hand over papers to him first, so that he can be the President at least for few days, before the Parliament elect a new President within one month as stipulated in the Constitution. In any case he will also have to go from Parliament as his appointment to Parliament from the so-called National list was also illegal as his name was not there in the UNP national list submitted to the Election Commissioner in 2020.
However, still there is some grey area even with regard to Gota’s resignation as there is some speculation as he is reported to have said his confidants that he has the support of a powerful external source and therefore has no overt concerns about his future” By saying so we do not know what he has up his sleeves. Whether it is American or Indian intervention no one knows. If that is so I warn him not to dream of such disastrous dreams. Because if he resorts to such silly and disastrous means, the aragalaya activists might even resort to extra legal action.
As a person who has voted him, canvassed heavily and written long letters to media on his behalf, as the whole nation trusted him as a true nationalist leader, I will never forgive him for the humiliation he did to me on the 13th of Feb 2022 at my village, Meemure, in front of my own people by ignoring me by not giving 5 minutes to receive him on behalf of my village and its people. But I feel sorry for him for the way he has been dethroned. Had he walk the talk he made at the Ruwanweliseya on the 18th of Nov. 2019, he would have ended up as a legend in this country and never has ended up disastrously like this, carrying the curse of a whole nation on his shoulders, for betraying the aspiration of 6.9 m voters. Bad advice from his Chief advisor and his fortune tellers at Anuradhapura and even Thirupathi in India, lack of PR on his part, reluctance to listen to others, his obvious arrogance and above all his ignorance on the art of governance and statecraft and public administration were the main reasons for his downfall. In my own view the crown was too heavy for him. The way he set about as the President right at the beginning shows he had no clue of the role he was expected to play as the President of this country. His failure to take suitable action to manage foreign debt which was reported to be about 54 billion US$ by end of 2019, to increase domestic production in both Agricultural and Industrial sectors on the one hand and control state expenditure by cutting down waste and extravagance like the Provincial councils and manage the economy have proved that he was misfit in that position. Had he taken timely action in these areas, at least the speed of deterioration could have been mitigated.
Finally, a word for him who is going to succeed Gota as the President at these turbulent times of the history of this nation. The post of President is not a bed of roses. More so particularly at this time. You are faced with a big challenge in handling a Herculian task of rescuing a nation made bankrupt by politicians like you, for 74 years since the so-called Independence in 1948. It is high time to think of an entirely a novel, creative and a home grown political mechanism that is radically different and free from the stale post- colonial dependency trap, that will first, rescue the country from the present abyss of the current political and economic mess by taking steps immediately to provide the people with the basic essentials such as staple food items, domestic gas and fuel to restore normalcy in the day to day life of people and second, lead the nation to an economically prosperous and vibrant status, firstly, achieving self -sufficiency in agriculture, livestock products and fishing and boosting traditional export industries like Tea, Coconut, Rubber, spices and gems .
In the process it is also imperative to restore law and order and not allow unlawful elements to interfere with governance. Aa a starting point I would suggest the new regime make a full assessment of all damages done to state and private property, on the 9th by the mob and thereafter punish those responsible. If the new government fails to restore democracy by consolidating Law and order and address the burning grievances of the people in time by simultaneously bringing all undesirable elements under control and mobilizing all avenues of economic development both at home and abroad. It is indeed a super Herculean task which only a modern Hercules can handle.
But remember the most difficult and challenging period in Sri Lanka’s history will begin tomorrow.
Good luck to the new President and the Prime Minister and the suffering masses of mother Lanka.
The recently concluded Sri Lanka – Australia Test series though it brought joy to Sri Lanka due to the magnificent performance of our cricketers also produced recriminations in Australia.
Both Steve Smith and David Warner were subject to heavy criticism for wasting a pair of reviews on clear-cut lbw decisions in the second innings of Australia. The match ended in an innings defeat for Australia in the Second Test against Sri Lanka.
Smith was accused of Totally lacking in broader match awareness with so many batters to follow and fielders around the bat.” The Australian cricket writer Peter Lalor remarked: One of the worst reviews you will see.”
Darren Berry, former Victoria captain said: That is a very poor review. Need to be accountable and honest at both ends irrespective of the player absolutely plumb.”
ESPN Cricinfo journalist Himanshu Agrawal opined: Labuachagne not firm enough to tell his senior partner that the review would be wasted.” But others couldn’t understand how Smith came to make such a poor decision. Commentator Adam Collins said: I’ve seen a lot of bad reviews – they happen. But Smith’s is one of the worst ”.
Labuschagne was criticized by some saying he was deferring to the status of Smith when he i.e., Smith, was seeking team member support to go ahead with a review.
However, the real turning point of the game occurred when Chandimal edged behind a ball off Starc on 30, on day three, with Australia out of reviews and unable to overturn the on-field call of not out. Chandimal went on to score an unbeaten 206 runs which was a match-winning performance.
Proposal for Reform of DRS
The DRS when it was originally proposed by Senaka Weeraratna in a letter published in the ‘Australian’ Newspaper dated March 25, 1997, called for 5 reviews, as follows:
Any objection that a two-tier appeal process would unduly protract or destabilize the game can be met by limiting the number of appeals against the on-field umpires’ decisions to five per side per inning. Such a restriction would contain a possible excessive number of appeals by forcing the players to use this right of appeal sparingly. Nevertheless, this would give an aggrieved side a chance to have some of the significant on-field umpiring errors corrected by the Third Umpire”.
It is time to review the number of reviews allowed in the Decision Review System (DRS). Three per inning is insufficient for a Test match. As we can see the Steve Smith and David Warner type of reckless conduct can deprive a team playing hard and with commitment of the true fruit of its labour. A distorted outcome is a result that the ‘Player Referral’ philosophy underlying DRS was meant to prevent.
If this had happened in a world cup final a player seeking reviews without a broader match awareness and the impact a reckless review appeal to the Third Umpire would have on the outcome would rue the day, he acted callously.
The moment the limited number of appeals per inning is exhausted we are back in the pre-DRS era, where video playback showed the error of the on-field umpire but the same technology was not employed to correct the error.
The objective of the DRS is to achieve accuracy in umpire decision-making. Not necessarily to attain perfection but reduce imperfection. When wrong umpiring decisions are allowed to stand the integrity of the game comes into question.
Submission
The Cricket Committee of the ICC must review the number of Umpire Reviews allotted to a team per inning in all formats of the game. It is submitted that the following proposals be considered:
1)Test Match – increase the number of reviews to five (5) per inning
2)One Day International – increase the number of reviews to three (3) per inning
3) T 20 – increase the number of reviews to two (2) per inning
Conclusion
While admitting that umpiring errors are also made by the system of video arbitration, it is nevertheless a superior system of adjudication because far fewer umpiring mistakes are made now than in the past.
The uncertainties of cricket have always added to the excitement and attraction of this sport. But where adjudication is concerned, nothing but certainty in the accuracy of umpiring decisions and prevention of wrong umpiring decisions to stand would win players and public confidence in the integrity of the game.
A social media video clip is doing the rounds where a member of a legal profession who should be well versed in the law, is claiming that the Rule of Law and Human Rights protected by the Constitution of Sri Lanka is no longer valid post 9th July 2022. He thereupon declares that if any case is filed against any person who was a party to the Aragalaya on the 9th July 2022 they know the addresses of the private residences of the IGP and Deshabandu Tennakone, thus indirectly threatening the Police with destruction of their private residences if law is enforced against any perpetrator of a crime in the name of the Aragalaya. Thus, as per his demand, even if any person in the name of Aragalaya has violated the law of the land in the most atrocious manner, no legal action can be filed by the Police without risking the destruction of their private property!
What is shocking is that the BASL and those who gave leadership to the Peaceful Aragalaya” is stoically silent in the face of these declarations, refraining from initiating any disciplinary action against this member. Every member of the Bar takes an oath pledging allegiance to the Constitution and uphold and defend the Constitution of Sri Lanka when entering the profession. When a member renegades on such a promise and break their oath, the BASL as a respected professional body should lead by example, and take swift action against such member. Press notices to uphold the law of the country, are empty words, unless the BASL practise what they preach!
There are other radical elements in the name of the Aragalaya, now illegally occupying State Property, who in fact brazenly declare that they will not permit any Head of Government to be appointed, without their consent. What authority under what law do these elements have the power to dictate terms to any government or its citizens? Why are those who must uphold the law so silent in the face of these declarations, fanning the winds of anarchy!
The BASL made a colossal mistake at its initial press briefing, when it endorsed the takeover by the Aragalaya to occupy state buildings for all practical purposes and made a mere request to protect the property. It should have advised them, and warned them of the repercussions of overrunning State Properties, which is absolutely unlawful and illegal. They also undermined the armed forces without giving a fair account of the incidents that took place post 09 July 2022. The armed forces are entitled to resist an invasion and whilst their excesses must be condemned by all means, the focus of the BASL was to paint a David V. Goliath scenario, which was unwarranted, on the day. There was force and excesses on both sides, that is the undeniable truth which cannot be erased by fairytales of ultra-disciplined pious conduct, written by the victors of the day.
What the BASL and any peace-loving Aragalaya member should do is not encourage the flouting of the law but instill discipline that they displayed at the very commencement of the movement. How can one demand a system change whilst violating the law themselves? What confidence does the ordinary public have in the BASL and the genuineness of the Aragala members, if they are now placid in the face of their own fractions flouting the law and threatening the rule of law?
The Aragalaya and the BASL is entitled to take credit for the resignation of a corrupt regime and kudus to them for leading from the front. But as much as taking responsibility for the successes, they must also take liability for the lapses. Protesters claim others have infiltrated their ranks and caused chaos … it is not us but some others in the guise of Aragalaya”. If that is the case, the Aragalaya members and leaders must ensure that their names are not used in vain and no crime is committed in their name. They must act responsibly and with due diligence and assist the Armed Forces to enforce the law. The Armed Forces are not the enemy! They must be used to preserve peace! Not render them disable!
No one should be delusional to presume that the overthrow of this regime is a one-off incident. The gene is now out of the box. The young disillusioned radicals assume that this is the way forward. Dislike a regime, and let’s do an Aragalaya to overthrow it. This will be the name of the game in future unless nipped in the bud and the importance of a civilized society with the rule of law is inculcated and propogated without haste.
It’s time for the educated public to raise their voices not only against corruption but also against the preservation of the law. The day is fast approaching where we are another Afghanistan or Libya with jungle law!
Over to you, the BASL and the responsible members of the Aragalaya! Citizen Jane
Whilst revealing that the G7 alliance on the global food crisis has offered Sri Lanka US$ 14 million to spend on food, Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe said there is much to be done to avoid third-world countries such as Sri Lanka falling down on their knees in the face of the global situation.
Speaking during an international conference on food security, Acting President Wickremesinghe said high inflation had put food out of reach of people.
” It is said some six million people in Sri Lanka are suffering from malnutrition. Other reports have said those who are suffering from malnutrition could be as high as 7.5 million people. Sri Lanka’s average paddy production is usually 24 million metric tons. However, production in 2021 has been 16 million metric tons. Therefore Sri Lanka will have to import one-third of its need for rice. The exchange rate crisis prevents this. Sri Lanka is also faced with a fuel supply issue. The G7 global alliance on food security of which World Bank is also a member had offered us US$14 billion to acquire food. We are grateful to them. The government has also embarked on a good security program,” the Acting President said.
“Our issue in Sri Lanka is partly self-made and partly due to the global crisis. The war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by the EU are affecting us. EU says sanctions will not affect us. However, it will push third-world nations such as us to our knees. However, the EU is not the only one to be blamed. Russia also must call for a ceasefire. Both Russia and Ukrainian must call for a ceasefire and resolve issues peacefully,” he added. (Yohan Perera)
Acting President Ranil Wickramasinghe has instructed to conduct an investigation into the allegations that certain individuals through social media are attempting to influence or exert pressure on Members of Parliament and obstruct their right to vote freely to elect the next President.
The Acting President has issued these instructions to the security forces after being notified by MPs that due to threats made through social media, a situation has arisen where they are unable to vote freely.
Accordingly, Mr. Wickramasinghe has informed to investigate the relevant incidents under the Parliament (Powers and Privileges) Act and related criminal laws.
The Acting President has pointed out that MPs should have the opportunity to freely travel to and from the Parliament as well as to work freely in the Parliament and to act against it is a violation of MP’s privileges.
Sri Lanka’s crisis-hit economy is likely to contract by more than 6% this year as political instability and social unrest hamstring key discussions on financial relief with the International Monetary Fund and bilateral creditors, the country’s central-bank governor has said to wall street journal.
While technical discussions at the central bank and finance ministry level have continued, Nandalal Weerasinghe, who took over as central-bank chief in April, said top-level talks with the IMF on a multibillion-dollar bailout had stalled.
He said the country urgently needed a stable political administration to progress discussions with the IMF on key structural reforms—such as taxation and public expenditure as well as to secure short-term bridge financing from other countries and multilateral agencies to help pay for key imports like fuel, pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.
Without that obviously we’re going to see these shortages continuing, Weerasinghe said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. A delay means people will be suffering continuously.
Nandalal Weerasinghe said Sri Lanka’s political uncertainty and acute shortages of fuel, had adversely impacted nearly every industry in the country except for some key exports like tea, garments and rubber, which the government had prioritized. Despite a promising recovery in tourist arrivals early in the year before the unrest the economy contracted by 1.6% in the first quarter. With economic contraction accelerating in the second and third quarters, Nandalal Weerasinghe expects this year’s recession to be worse than in the pandemic-affected 2020, when the economy shrank 3.5%.
This year the contraction will be much higher, maybe higher than 6% contraction, he said.
The forecasted contraction underlines the pace of Sri Lanka’s economic backsliding. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who is now acting president, said earlier this month that the economy was expected to contract by 4%-5%, citing the central bank.
While Indian credit lines in recent months have provided a key lifeline enabling Sri Lanka to purchase fuel, Nandalal Weerasinghe said a $500 million extension expected last month hasn’t materialized, exacerbating Sri Lanka’s fuel shortages. Similarly, there had been no progress on a $1 billion currency swap with the Reserve Bank of India, nor has China relaxed conditions to allow Sri Lanka to use a $1.5 billion currency swap.
At the heart of the nation’s economic woes has been a balance-of-payments crisis that has drained its foreign-exchange reserves, leaving it unable to pay for imports or service its external debt. Sri Lanka fell into default in May for the first time in its history.
Sri Lanka builds its foreign reserves through tourism, worker remittances from abroad and government borrowing of foreign debt. Although there were some encouraging signs for the natural growth of reserves at the beginning of 2022, much of that progress has been undone in recent weeks.
Right now there’s hardly any tourists coming, Nandalal Weerasinghe said. He also said remittances of foreign currency from Sri Lankans working overseas were declining. Sri Lanka had tightened government policies for inflows to ensure money makes it into the Sri Lankan banking system instead of gray market channels, but these measures have recently been relaxed again.
He also said the country’s balance of payments deficit, which had seen it bleed $700 million a month, had narrowed considerably because of a sharp drop in import demand due to a deep decline in the local currency, the rupee.
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress said that they will announce today as to who would get their support in the vote to elect the next President.
The number of candidates to be the next President has now increased to 4 after Leader of the National People’s Power Anura Kumara Dissanayaka also entered the race yesterday.
The Samagi Jana Balawegaya had unanimously agreed to support Sajith Premadasa as their candidate.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the Group of 9 Independent Parties is also yet to decide on whom to support during the upcoming vote in Parliament.
It is reported that they will hold discussions with the Candidates individually and come to a conclusion.
The Tamil National Alliance is also yet to decide on whom to support during the vote to elect the next President.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party has decided to refrain from supporting any candidate until a proper framework is presented by any of them.
The vote to elect the next President will be held in Parliament on the 20th of this month.
An 11 member far-right militia group Oath Keepers” are charged with seditious conspiracy for January 2021 while another group was also charged in January 2022 attacks on the US Capitol. More than 725 Trump supporters were arrested for their role in opposing transfer of presidential powers. Sedition is the attempt to overthrow, put down or destroy by force the government of the United States”. The Oath Keepers claim that the US Government has been corrupted by elites. The group is accused of using encrypted communications to plan the attack on Congress by creating several quick reaction force” teams to stop transfer of presidential power. If Capitol Hill riot was defined a ‘brutal riot’ by both President Biden & VP Kamala Harris, what makes Aragala riot any different?
The first group entered the building & proceeded to the House & Senate Chambers.
The next group confronted the security personnel.
As per testimony of the Oath Keepers leader, some of the groups had gone off mission”.
The lawyers for the groups defended their actions. They are also charged with resorting to violence to ensure their ‘preferred election outcome’.
The allegations also include instructions to prepare for a full battle on the streets.
Timeline of riot in the US Capitol
6 Jan 2021 – Congress to certify Joe Biden’s win.
6 Jan – 12p.m. – President Trump addresses supporters & calls on VP Pence to reject Bidens win. Thousands of Trump supporters gathered near the White House
m. – protestors storm outer police barrier around Capitol shouting USA, USA, USA”
1:30p.m. – protestors overcome the police. Police run into the building. Protestors breaks through police barricades.
m. – Protestors break windows and climb into the Capitol building.
2:20p.m. – building goes into lockdown. Evacuations begin of Top senators
2:38p.m. – Trump tweets calling support of Capitol Police & law enforcement. Tear gas is used and gas masks are sent for the Senators.
m. – Rioters break into Senate Chamber – they jump from balcony, they take photos & selfies, they rifle through papers, march through halls of Capitol, bang on doors, destroy property & break into lawmakers offices. A group of rioters chant break it down, break it down” overwhelming Capitol Police officers guarding Speakers lobby where lawmakers are sheltered. One of the rioters is shot & dies.
3:36p.m. White House Press Secretary tweets that Trump has ordered National Guards to arrive. More Trump supporters gather in Sacramento, California, Austin, Texas, Denver & Minneapolis.
m. Biden addresses nation. Biden calls protest an ‘insurrection’
m. protestors pound on State capitol doors & breaks windows. Demonstrations turn violent.
National Guards arrive & clear Capitol
m. Mayor of Washington places city on 12hour curfew
m. Twitter removes Trumps tweets and shuts down his account.
Capitol Hill autonomous zone” (CHAZ) vs Aragala Gotagama”
Protestors in US took over a six-block area near the police department in Seattle, a large city in Washington DC.
Protestors in Sri Lanka took over several areas in the heart of Colombo.
The Seattle autonomous zone” was created as part of police brutality against African Americans. The zone had free food, a co-op station, volunteer medics, music 24×7, art & drama, it became a place for people to just hang out, people began camping overnight, tents were put up, water and soap were provided, so were toilets, those living in apartments became regular visitors, there was a large kitchen, a large screen playing movies.
Like in Gotagama, the autonomous zone in Capitol Hill were struggling to name their leader” as too many were making claims.
On 7 June 2021 a man drove his car into the Capitol Hill autonomous zone, days later 2 men were shot, one died, several more shootings took place.
Sri Lanka saw no deaths or mass shootings.
While President Trump ordered to take back the city, Sri Lanka’s President allowed the gotagama to continue.
Some Seattle residents are suing the City on account of the autonomous zone being a public place & illegally trespassed on. A likely scenario in Sri Lanka too.
Reporters were not allowed into the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (Fox News)
Majority of media channels were very much involved in GotaGama.
On 22 June 2021 the City of Seattle requested the people inside Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone to leave as they had set up a Postal service inside the zone. In Sri Lanka ironically GotaGama put up a grama sevaka and a postal address too.
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone declared independence – luckily even after 90 days of illegal occupation, GotaGama has not done same.
Role of Social Media in riots in Capitol Hill & Sri Lanka
Misinformation, foreign interference & hate speech were key features that increased both riots. Online mayhem has been identified as hitting 40,000 false news” an hour. Facebooks role in the event was disclosed by whistleblower Frances Haugen.
#STOPTHESTEAL in US was no different to the #GiveBackOurMoney.
Capitol Hill rioters like Aragala were recording their arson” and relaying across social media platforms while supporters celebrating online.
It took a year for US lawmakers, researchers & journalists to examine the role of social media in US but it should not take so much time in Sri Lanka. Congress has even criticized companies for their role in the riot – many companies in Sri Lanka shoulder blame too.
Washington Post among others investigated & found evidence that Facebook played a ‘critical role in spreading lies that fermented the violence on 6 Jan” – at least 650,000 posts across FB groups attacked Biden’s Presidential victory with many calling for political violence.
According to UK journalism professor Al Cross – Disinformation is worse than misinformation as disinformation is purposeful and intentional.
Ironically, how can factcheckers themselves be trusted if they also are paid to claim their version as ‘fact’.
The ‘megaphone’ lay in the hands of the Capitol Hill rioters on 6 Jan & in the hands of the Aragala bandwagon of supporters on 9Jul. They wrote the narrative and they decided what was right.
The calls to overwhelm barricades & cops were identical in both US & Sri Lanka riots.
Social media was used extensively by both rioters.
Corrupt politicians need to hang for their treason” was a call from US and not Sri Lanka but obviously echoed similar lines.
Another noteworthy feature was how supporters of the riots in both US & Sri Lanka bragged about the chaos they had helped create & were proudly sharing minute-to-minute developments across social media platforms.
If US analysts now blame fake news & spreading misinformation & disinformation to make the riot worse – would it be any different in Sri Lanka?
If some rioters were part of anti-fascist movements in US – was the situation any different in Sri Lanka?
However a noteworthy difference was how the US was quick to accuse Russia of interfering into its internal affairs, the US envoy to Sri Lanka visited or invited virtually all of the key players involved in Sri Lanka’s riot. The general calls were to allow peaceful protestors” to protest and a subtle message not to take any action against them. Inspite of breaking barricades, scaling walls, illegally trespassing and breaking iron gates as well as breaking state property, damaging them and even stealing them and illegally occupying 6 state venues – the diplomatic community that referred to these protestors as peaceful” have not uttered a word on the damage done. Their silence may have to be broken when more images or the scale of the damage is released.
The riots and the scale of the riots in US came nowhere near the damage done by the rioters in Sri Lanka, yet US appointed a House Select Committee to Investigate the January 2021 attack on the US capitol.
By May 2022 the Committee had interviewed over 1000 people. In July the interim report was released.
The US Justice Dept too commenced investigations to prosecute the rioters.
In January 2022 the Oath Keepers were indicted on sedition charges. In June the Proud Boys group has been also charged with sedition. 860 people across 48 states have been charged with crimes connected to the riot.
5 have been charged with ‘oppose by force the authority of the government’. The lawyers claim the defendants had no plan to storm the congressional building – obviously the same argument will be used by lawyers who will represent the aragala rioters.
The flip side of the participants of the riots in US and probably for rioters in Sri Lanka is that their selfies and self-publicity across social media platforms have provided the evidence needed for authorities to charge them. The US have compiled people who have spewed hateful rhetoric, spread disinformation, spurred rioters on. Prosecutors have also tabulated those trying to destroy their social media post evidence. Deleting these has proven far worse than keeping them. Even the Justice Department looked at the manner violence and property damage was encouraged and what was destroyed, where they went inside the buildings and whether they have shown sincere remorse.
These are all factors for the investigations into the riots in Sri Lanka on 9 July 2022 too.
Those who claim to uphold rule of law & democracy must not simply mouth it but act it – as per modern format of representative governance, people are elected by an election or rejected by an election not be gathering into groups to chase away a legitimately elected leader. It is setting an ugly precedent which may swell into corporates as well and should not be encouraged. Creating a problem is easy – solving it is virtually impossible.
While everyone is distracted with the horse trading and the Parliament Puppet show to elect the next President and the Aragalaya, at this time questions are being raised as to whether there in a Air-Sea and Cyber Blockade of Sri Lanka to stop fuel arriving in the country from Russia or Iran since the first week of June? These countries do NOT trade in ‘exorbitantly privileged’ US Dollars. There seems to be a fuel embargo on Sri Lanka to deepen the crisis caused by the Staged Default, these months of June-July by starving the economy while US controles Sri Lanka’s Oceans and Airspace – see this link:
Sea Vision Training US Department of Defense Field operatives in Sri Lanka June-July training SL Navy:
Who controls the SL Navy and oceans is a legitimate question to raise as ships bringing fuel in June and July disappeared and fishermen cannot go to sea due to lack of fuel…?
No Sri Lanka media have covered this story for the past 3 days that 120 Sri Lanka-bound flights diverted to Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports
Meanwhile many of the Araglaya ‘Protestors’, (who gave the game away by supporting the IMF), are like those in the Arab Spring/ Colour Revolutions, CIA controlled to enable installing a US-Backed Military Dictator – Ranil WIckramasinghe – to deliver Sri Lanka to the Washington Consensus to dollarize the country and Digitalize the citizens using the Social Safety Net narrative. This will be after re-naming South Asia’s second wealthiest country with the best Human and Social indicators in the Region a Least Developed COuntry (LDC), with the aid of the UN agency Disaster Capitalists – WHO, UNICEF, FAO, ILO etc.
Sri Lanka will then become a US military base to service the QUAD war Machine, as was initially planned with the MCC Compact, now with the IMF project..
This is a QUAD operation to enable US colonization of the strategic Indian Ocean island.
Sri Lanka is the first Domino to Fall in the New Cold War in America’s mythical “Free and Open Indo-Pacific”! But there is a new blockade preventing analysis of the BIG PICTURE re. the New COLD WAR in the Indian Ocean.
India play acts with Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia applauding Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports on Wednesday for going out of their way to help the crisis-hit nation!
These are not conspiracy theories but have US Intelligence Names – Over the Horizon (OTH) operations for Full Spectrum Dominance (FSD) of small strategic countries to be COLONIZED!
extradition was disregarded. 
