The President of Sri Lanka came to power in November 2019 with an overwhelming majority promising to deliver on his manifesto. He will go down in history as one of the most unluckiest leaders walking into a covid crisis – deaths & lockdowns, vaccinations & dealing with the collapse of revenue. This was nothing that was exclusive to Sri Lanka but it impacted Sri Lanka’s economy and added to the already piling debt. The covid became a foundation for external parties to influence strategically important nations to become economically clasped under their control. Was the mismanagement of food/fuel/gas & power intentionally done to bring Sri Lanka under western monetary control having suddenly distanced Sri Lanka from China having built a wrong notion of ‘Chinese debt trap’? Who trapped the President?
While many assume the policies and proposals of the Viyathmaga team are at play and are responsible for the current economic chaos – in reality it is the Morgoda economic-defense-foreign policy proposals that are being rolled out. What happened to the leader, the people elected? It has become a puzzle to many.
A string of MOUs are set to completely remove Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and run contrary to what was promised to the people, if signed. These are not what people expect of any leader who assured no assets would be sold – bargaining our sovereignty & assets is never an option or a solution that politicians should dabble with for their political survival or to satisfy foreign counterparts.
Be that as it may – the country is now facing a political circus.
The protestors, let us presume are an outlet for the grievances and frustrations of the governance & the political system with people demanding the entire Parliament to step down. What if beneath this, a covert operation is at play maneuvering the protestors from one side & the President from the other?
We can put this doubt to rest if the protests stop no sooner a so-called national government is installed & the charismatic vote commanding PM is removed. Sign of things to come is the removal of the Buddhist Ministry as a separate ministry in the recent gazette.
It must be clearly mentioned that all leaders have only shown cosmetic allegiance to Buddhism & have not fostered Buddhism as the constitution has mandated. They have only used Buddhists to come to power & allowed non-Buddhists to destroy Buddhism thereafter.
The President has become distant not only from the people but many who were close to him previously. Today, one a handful of people flock around him like glue and to them he has showered the best of ministries.
When People expected punitive action, the opposite happened. Therefore, the main players of the economic collapse are still at large & it was their proposals that led to Sri Lanka having to accept any handout with conditions which Sri Lanka is unable to negotiate or refuse. We have been brought to this level because of the incompetence of a handful of people who prepared the proposals & questions why they are still holding office.
Should the President play into the hands of entities trying to weaken Sri Lanka?
The President in reality does not have a political party nor does he have political experience. He is in the position solely because of President Mahinda Rajapakse’s appeal to voters to trust the person he was nominating for the role of President.
The SLPP was a new party formed under Basil Rajapakse and patented to him. The SLFP is one of the 2 main political parties alongside UNP that have a traditional loyal vote base still. Unfortunately neither SLFP nor UNP have charismatic leaders to take reign at any future elections. SLPP’s future depends on the performance of the SLPP government which has now run into all sorts of calamities as a result of poor decision making & ill-management of country funds.
There are some dynamics in politics that we cannot ignore. These are aspects the urban elite tend to ignore.
Arguably Mahinda Rajapakse, old as he may be, still commands the people’s choice among all politicians in Sri Lanka. This is a factor even the opposition admits. Is the call for his removal suddenly and surprisingly ,the President himself is agreeable to, aimed at breaking his vote baseahead of an early election if parliament is dissolved in 2 ½ years from Nov2019?
Next we are hearing of a national government coming to shape – this too is being heavily mooted by a dual citizen camp within government and the opportunists in the opposition. If the issue at hand is all related to money – when the President should only function with a trimmed down government of only essential ministries (limiting to less than 10) – why has he suddenly gazetted 31 ministries / Ministers and another group of State Ministers who collectively will come close to 60 ministers (from both government & opposition) – the people did not go to vote for opposition MPs to be given portfolios in particular because the opposition MPs were all in power prior to 2019. If the protestors are silent & do not object to or prevent a national government, we can identify the brains behind both the protests and the President.
What is the use in having a 50 plus government when the call was to cut down on expense & deliver solutions? People are being asked to sacrifice and tighten their belts (with no food, no gas, no fuel and no electricity) while Parliament is converging to create a national govt to further drain the country dry.
Enlarging the government and handing out ministries to government and opposition in a bogus national government set up by getting rid of only the PM is not the solution and nothing that the people have asked or want.
Moreover, having Opposition MPs sitting in Government & given portfolios is akin to allowing them to campaign for the next election tarnishing the image of the government in power & building the ground force while enjoying perks of office. This is political hara kiri that the President is committing.
Who is advising the President?
All political parties are weighing their options including those that are now unlikely to return to parliament as well as those whose political careers are unlikely to go beyond current positions they hold. This scenario is not very healthy for the public because such politicians will take maximum use of their position as MP/Minister before they bow out of politics (but not before grooming their children to take over)
Be that as it may – a national government is not the solution & simply asking the PM to step down and increasing the number of ministries as gazetted does not signal any intent to reduce the burden on the tax payer & only marks more trouble brewing.
What is the President up to & who are advising him? Removing himself from the PM and his vote base that backed him & distancing himself from the SLPP stalwarts that campaigned for him to embrace a handful of select MPs (some who are allegedly dual citizens) while also embracing Opposition MPs – is not the solution but the start of more troubles for the nation.
Governments are changed by elections. The people’s sovereignty is claimed during an election where they either elect or reject political parties or politicians. Suddenly, we are seeing people demand the stepping down of the entire government apparatus. Are Protestors the voice of the entire voting population. Does the demands of the protestors amount to the whole of the voting public? How fair are they? Should government wither & cow down to demands blown up by media sensationalism? Do the protestors have solutions to the lack of dollars, can changing government or bringing entire parliament down bring dollars & can protestors take over the country? If they get rid of the corrupt public service of 1.4million people, do protestors have the knowledge of circulars/gazettes etc to run the country? Let’s have some answers!
Protestors – Your solution for the food/gas/fuel shortages & power cuts
The burning issues that brought people to protest were the mismanagement of gas distribution, food imports, electricity/power cuts, fuel shortages – what are the protestors view on these matters.
How did the problem arise, who are responsible and what is the best way to incrementally solve the situation. The protestors must remember that the fuel monopoly held by CPC was broken by UNP in 2001 creating IOC & further concessions given with every successive government. The power cut directly linked to the national grid also suffered tremendous political googly’s including obstructions from so-called civil-society groups. What are the protestors saying about the Secretaries and Senior Officials of these entities who are equally responsible for the catastrophe?
Protestors – Name 225 + 1 or even a viable alternate Parliament system
One of the protest slogans is the call for the President & entire Parliament to step down. Presuming this demand is agreed – then what happens next?
Who is the leader of the Protestors & what does he/she & team have to offer as solutions. The country cannot land up in headless anarchy.
Are we not to have elections, are we to decide to remove political systems by protesting & surrounding official residences? Is this the new law & order? Is this the new norm of the new generation.
Will the protestors form a team and stand for elections? If they don’t function as promised within months of forming a government, are we to create another protest zone in Galle Face & demand their removal? Then presume another lot take over & they too fail within a month or two – are we to repeat these protests? Where is this going to land the country?
Protestors – your solution to privatization & sale of land to foreigners?
We are a small nation, our land has been battered and landscape turned into concrete with condominiums galore – do we want a concrete jungle, is the weather not changing due to deforestation & other environmental rape? What is the solution for these irregularities & favoritisms?
What is the protestors solution to self-sustenance and improving agriculture to protect our food & energy security. Recently, a controversial deal signed at midnight gave exclusive energy supply to a US company. Will protestors reverse this agreement? Will other controversial MOUs signed by this government with India & US be reversed by these protestors? We are looking forward to seeing this & watching the protestors on how nation-centric their objectives and proclamations really are.
Protestors – Public Servants
It is not the politicians alone who are corrupt. Public Servants and Senior Secretaries and Officials are worse. Recently a lady Secretary was sacked for corruption. Will protestors surround their homes too? Why are protestors not naming and shaming these secretaries openly for every shady deal they have helped draft and all of the wrong proposals they have taken to the politicians. With the level of corruptions in the Public Service – what if protestors also demand 1.4m public sector to be sacked. Can protestors read and implement circulars/gazettes and other government administrative systems to run the country?
Protestors – Judiciary/Legal fraternity
If the Executive or the Legislature is corrupt, no one expects the Judiciary to be corrupt as well. However, the legal apparatus is far from clean. There are plenty of controversial cases we can cite as examples. Will protestors surround the homes of judges and corrupt lawyers? What do protestors expect from the judiciary & the legal fraternity. Shouldn’t it be the lawyers who must use their legal position to prevent controversial government deals & protect the land and sovereignty of Sri Lanka WITHOUT waiting for a client to pay them for this task? Does the protestors plan to overhaul the Judiciary & legal framework as well? Then what happens thereafter?
Protestors – corruption
The ugly practice of shouting hora hora” without proof must stop. It is ironical that the very nations that preach democratic norms are the one’s promoting character assassination to fast forward their agenda by neutralizing their enemy by making people lose trust & faith in them. What happened to the innocent until proven guilty? The present state of affairs is to declare a person guilty without any need to be proven innocent.
Can protestors list out all the horas” since 1978 under each government & also include the public servants & the business personnel & companies that were party to these corruptions! This is a MUST that we expect from Protestors who are taking a moral high ground in their accusations.
The protestors must demand all public servants (everyone getting a state salary) to declare their assets – then we can determine the scale of corruptions that exist)
If we are going to deal with the subject of corruption – then we have to take everyone to task not only one group of people.
Are the protestors able to name all the horu from 1978?
What is the protestors solution for curbing and punishing corruptions?
Can we see these proposals together with how they are going to deal with all allegations of corruptions?
Protestors – Transparency
While protestors are demanding transparency from the government, the people would like to see transparency of the protestors because the protestors are pointing fingers at the politicians. For people to accept the protestors claims, they must also show visibility & transparency of their agenda and objectives. Otherwise the people may end up jumping from the frying pan to the fire.
Yes, the protests started out as opposition to the difficulties people were going through, but it has ended up in trying to dislodge the entire political apparatus simply by protesting. Without a viable option & alternative plan, the country should not walk into anarchy. It is surprising that people (mainly the so-called intelligent) are not thinking of the likely scenario of a government or entire parliament stepping down & what happens to the country beyond that.
Sri Lanka is no Libya but what happened to Libya is important as a case study. Libya was the richest country in North Africa. The people enjoyed many benefits given to them by Gaddafi who was branded as a ‘dictator’ by entities that wanted him out to make use of Libya’s strategic location (all similarities with Sri Lanka) – eventually a foreign sponsored protest/regime change involving importing of foreign mercenaries as ‘protestors’ killed Gaddafi & a country that never had Al Qaeda or ISIS became the fertile ground for terrorism & total anarchy prevails now in Libya. We cannot brush aside these examples and naively claim such will not happen to Sri Lanka.
The Executive, the Legislative, the Public Sector, the Judiciary – if sent home, what is the solution & alternative that the protestors have to offer 21million populace?
By Noor Nizam – Peace and Political Activist, Political Communications Researcher, Convener – The Muslim Voice”, April 30th., 2022.
The news item published in “ColomboPage” dated 30th., April, 2022 which is attached below is of great interest to me a “PATRIOTIC SRI LANKAN-CANADIAN CITIZEN” domiciled in Canada.
“Indonesia donates 3.1 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka Thu, Apr 28, 2022, 10:22 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
I have a story from Canada regarding sending medicines as Humanitarian Assistance to Sri Lanka since around December 2021, but none of the Sri Lankan Diplomats in Ottawa or the Government officials in Sri Lanka are really interested to expedite this matter. They have been very LETHARGIC” in having this donation being received by the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka.
The medicines which are NEW” and now valid for the current full year will be packed and ready within the next 3 week. Special air carriage packing cost of Cdn.$:5000/= has also been paid to the charity who have willingly donated these medicines to Sri Lanka under a humanitarian assistance programme. The value of these medicines are nearly Cdn. 55.000/=. They are a Humanitarian Assistance donation that was been able to be arranged with donations from the community in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and a government of Canada approved Charity operated by the Pharmaceutical Industry of Ontario, Canada. During the 2005 Tsunami, a similar shipment was delivered to the GMOA to help vulnerable children and mothers, especially in the North and South. If we do not act fast, this humanitarian medicine donation will be allocated to another country that have appealed for such assistance, countries like Sudan, Syria or Ukraine.
I am making a humble appeal to the http://www.lankaweb.com and it’s Editor to intervene and help to get this humanitarian medical aid to Sri Lanka as soon as possible. Your media is able and you can do it please.
Why is that hurdles are being put to stop this humanitarian medicine assistance to Sri Lanka?
1. Is it because the DONATION is made from Canada that they are neglecting expediting this?
2. Or is it because this Humanitarian Assistance of Medicines has been arranged by a member of the minority community of Sri Lanka domiciled in Canada to have these medicines dispatched to Sri Lanka at the request of the government of Sri Lanka, through the Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa?
When Sri Lanka is struggling to garner enough dollars to meet it’s import requirements of especially “MEDICINES”, this Humanitarian Assistance of Medicines from Canada, even though it is only a crate full of emergency medicines, it will be a great relief to our “MAASTHRUBOOMIYA”. I grant permission hereby for http://www.lankaweb.com and it’s editor to share my contact details if needed to expedite this matter with those concerned and the Hon. Minister of Health – Prof. Channa Jayasumana or any Ministry of Health Officials or Sri Lanka Airlines Personnel who can be helpful in this matter
COLOMBO (AFP) – An International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package for crisis-hit Sri Lanka could take up to three months to arrive, the country’s central bank chief said on Friday, as anti-government protests over the economic crisis continue to escalate.
The island nation of 22 million people has been rocked by months of acute food, fuel and medicine shortages, prompting widespread protests calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign.
Central bank chief Nanadalal Weerasinghe said he was hopeful of a staff-level agreement with the IMF within two months, but a final deal would take another three weeks.
The key objective is to achieve debt sustainability before an IMF programme,” Weerasinghe said, adding that experts will be named shortly to renegotiate Sri Lanka’s external debt estimated at USD51 billion. Two weeks ago, Sri Lanka announced it was defaulting on its foreign debt after running out of foreign exchange to import even the most essential supplies.
Weerasinghe told reporters in Colombo that he expected about USD3 billion from an eventual IMF programme, but the country would first have to carry out painful reforms.
The current tax structure is not sustainable. We must go back at least to the level of taxation we had before 2019,” he said, referring to a series of tax breaks implemented by Rajapaksa in an election pledge that propelled him to power in November 2019, but devastated state revenue.
Official data released on Friday showed year-on-year inflation at 29.8 per cent in April, a seventh consecutive record-high.
Weerasinghe warned inflation could jump even more as fuel and food prices increased sharply with the local currency losing over 40 per cent of its value in a month.
The president announced on Tuesday that the World Bank had agreed to grant USD600 million to alleviate the economic crisis.
But the international lender on Friday denied finalising any fresh loans.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday told The Island that he was ready to accept any decision taken by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa about the post of Prime Minister.
If the President decides to replace me with another person, I am ready to accept that. We must respect and accept the decisions taken by the President,” the Prime Minister said.
Earlier, former President and head of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), Maithripala Sirisena told journalists in Colombo that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had agreed to form an interim government.
The President agreed to form an interim government if all stakeholders were agreeable,” the former President said, adding that the interim government would be the first step towards holding elections.
We do not care about the leadership of the interim government. We need to do something to solve the present crisis,” he added.
Sirisena said letters inviting political parties to join the interim government would be sent to the leaders of all political parties represented in Parliament in the coming days.
The President consented to form an Interim Cabinet of Ministers led by a new Prime Minister,” Sirisena said.
The Interim Cabinet would be limited to 15 or 20 Ministers. Sirisena said that the President agreed to establish a National Council that would decide on the Prime Minister, Cabinet of Ministers, Inspector General of Police, Attorney General, and even the Ministry Secretaries. This is an SLFP proposal”, he said.
Minister of Health Prof. Channa Jayasumana has issued a Gazette Extraordinary, allowing a price increase on a total of 60 varieties of medicinal drugs.
As per the communiqué, dated April 28, the traders, distributors, pharmacists, medical practitioners, dentists, veterinary surgeons, medical institutions including private medical institutions, and pharmacies are permitted to raise the retail prices of relevant medicinal drugs by 40%.
Accordingly, a tablet of 500mg of Paracetamol will now cost Rs. 4.16 and a tablet of 75mg of Aspirin, which was previously at Rs. 5.06, is now priced at Rs. 7.08.
Meanwhile, the price of a tablet of 375mg of Amoxicillin and Clavulanic Acid has been increased to Rs. 83.71.
The gazette notification mentions the revised price of a tablet of 50mcg of Thyroxine as Rs. 14.41.
The prices of these 60 varieties of medicinal drugs were previously revised in a gazette notification published on the 15th of March.
See the new gazette notification issued by the Health Minister below:https://www.scribd.com/embeds/572235760/content?start_page=1&view_mode=scroll&access_key=key-KEJzgRjtuDfNL7O3G7xj
The Ministry of Finance says international financial institutions (IFIs), including the IMF, the ADB and the World Bank, have emphasized the importance of maintaining social stability and protecting democratic institutions in the country for them to assist Sri Lanka to effectively manage the economic issues confronted by the country and the people.
The Finance Ministry stated this in a statement issued on the meetings of the Sri Lankan delegation, led by Minister of Finance Ali Sabry, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group held in Washington DC from 18 to 22 April 2022.
The delegation had meetings with several international financial institutions, including the IMF and the World Bank, and bilateral partners during their stay in Washington DC.
The discussions were mainly focused on the present critical situation of the Sri Lankan economy, and policies and measures to be implemented in the immediate, short, and medium- term.
The key areas discussed included (a) addressing the immediate need of restoring supply chains of essential items, including fuel, LP gas, and pharmaceuticals, (b) securing bridge financing in the interim period until IMF financing with an economic programme is finalized, and (c) implementing short to medium term policies to ensure macroeconomic stability and facilitate greener, more inclusive, sustainable, and stable growth in the country.
Views were exchanged on ways and means of supporting the people in the immediate term and the future direction of engagement with Sri Lanka on a more coherent manner.
The overwhelming support, cooperation and solidarity extended to the people of Sri Lanka by all key IFIs, other institutions/agencies and friendly nations were extremely encouraging during this critical juncture of the Sri Lankan economy.
The delegation met with the IMF’s Managing Director, First Deputy Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director overseeing Sri Lankan affairs, as well as other senior officials at the technical level.
The meetings with the IMF were mainly focused on securing an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to overcome the current difficult situation in the Sri Lankan economy with a medium-term view, following the formal request made by Sri Lanka in mid-March 2022.
A formal request was also made for a Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) for consideration of the IMF to obtain immediate financing into the country, which will be a bridge to the EFF. Entering into a staff level agreement on an IMF programme as early as possible is important since it will help unlock bridge financing facilities from other IFIs and bilateral partners.
Among specific topics discussed with the IMF were the debt restructuring process, revenue and expenditure measures of the government, public financial management, reforms of state-owned enterprises and energy pricing, strengthening social safety nets, monetary policy and Central Bank independence, foreign exchange management, financial sector stability and connected policies, and growth enhancing structural reforms.
An IMF mission is expected to conduct in-person and/or virtual technical meetings with Sri Lankan authorities in early May 2022 towards reaching an agreement within a short period on a programme for Sri Lanka in parallel to the debt restructuring process.
The meetings with the World Bank were focused on obtaining immediate foreign financing and providing support to the Government to identify most appropriate policies to be implemented under an IMF supported programme.
The importance of stronger social safety nets to mitigate the adverse impact of the current economic crisis on the poor and vulnerable segments was also discussed in detail. During the discussion, World Bank’s Vice President for the South Asia Region and senior officials of the World Bank Group expressed commitment to provide emergency support for essential medicines and health-related supplies, meals for school children, and cash transfers for poor and vulnerable households.
The World Bank’s emergency response package includes immediate financing for the purchase of essential medicines, and a total package of around US dollars 600 million is expected over the immediate short term, short term and the medium term, and the funds will be made available by repurposing some ongoing projects, triggering Contingent Emergency Response Components (CERC) of some ongoing projects, and also with new financing arrangements. Support to provide cooking gas, basic food supplies, seeds and fertilizer and other essentials is also under discussion.
The delegation also met the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and discussed the Country partnership strategy and the way forward giving special focus on promoting economic activities and productivity enhancement and improving the quality of growth by promoting inclusiveness.
The ADB expressed support for the Government in addressing the present challenges and striding toward green, resilient, and inclusive growth. The postponement of the ADB Annual Meeting scheduled to be held in Colombo in September was also discussed due to the unexpected and unprecedented situation faced by Sri Lanka over the last few weeks. Hon. Minister of Finance will continue to work with the ADB on the Annual Meeting in his capacity as Chair of the Board of Governors.
In addition, discussions were held with the South Asia Regional Director of International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the Secretary-General of the Paris Club.
All IFIs, including the IMF, emphasized the importance of maintaining social stability and protecting democratic institutions in the country for them to assist Sri Lanka to effectively manage the economic issues confronted by the country and the people.
The Indian delegation, led by their Minister of Finance, reassured India’s enhanced commitment to support Sri Lanka through several channels, including direct bridging finance in terms of credit lines for petroleum and other essential imports and deferment of accumulated Asian Clearing Union (ACU) liabilities as well as support through multilateral agencies.
The delegation also met with US authorities who also reiterated their strong support to expedite short to medium term programmes with the IMF and World Bank.
The delegation held a series of meetings with the members of the Advisory Council appointed by His Excellency the President on various economic and financial matters.
Working with multilateral and bilateral partners, the Government of Sri Lanka is currently developing a more focused and concrete policies and measures, including a strong macro- fiscal policy framework, which, with the support of the general public, is expected to enable the country to overcome the present difficult conditions, address the accumulated issues in the economy, and lay the foundation for a modern, dynamic and strong economy in the future.
The latest findings of the survey Confidence in Democratic Governance Index (Wave 2) have found that an overwhelming majority of Sri Lankans have been affected by the current crisis.
The survey conducted by the Social Indicator (SI), the survey research arm of the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), aims to capture a snapshot of public experiences under the current crisis situation.
The poll has also examined the causes of the crisis as well as the solutions to the crisis from the lenses of the Sri Lankan public. Given the fragile political condition, this survey was conducted within a very short period of time employing SI’s countrywide field network, the CPA said.
According to the survey, 88% of Sri Lankans claim that either they or a member from their immediate family have had to stand in queues to obtain essential items such as gas, fuel, milk powder, fertiliser etc. during the past one month.
Meanwhile, nine out of ten Sri Lankans claim that either his or her income or the income of a member from their immediate family has been affected as a result of the economic crisis.
According to the CPA’s poll, across the country, people unanimously blame the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for the current financial crisis which is considered to be the worst crisis in post-independence Sri Lanka. A total of 62% of Sri Lankans blame the economic mismanagement of the incumbent government, whilst 14.5% and 14.4% respectively, blame the economic mismanagement of governments since independence and the country’s corrupt political culture.
The CPA said this study tested public support towards some of the proposals put forward by various parties to address the current crisis. Accordingly, more than 96% of Sri Lankans believe that all politicians should be audited and all their unaccounted wealth should be confiscated by the State.
Meanwhile, nine out of ten Sri Lankans hold the opinion that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa should resign and that the Rajapaksa family should leave Sri Lankan politics. The poll found that 87% support the demand that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa should resign.
Therefore the survey clearly indicates that in people’s minds the Rajapaksa’s have no role to play in solving the crisis and removing them is seen as the way out of the current crisis,” the CPA said adding that it is important to note that this view is harbored by all ethnic communities including the Sinhala majority who overwhelmingly voted the President in three years ago.
Sri Lanka’s finance minister has told the BBC he has no choice but to hike the country’s sales tax as it faces its worst-ever economic crisis.
In an exclusive interview, Ali Sabry conceded the government made a mistake when it almost halved the rate of value-added tax (VAT) to 8% in 2019.
Mr Sabry says the nation needs $4bn (£3.2bn) over the next eight months to pay for imports of daily essentials.
His comments come amid mass protests over government economic policies.
Mr Sabry – who is leading negotiations with the IMF as well as other lenders such as India and one of its largest creditors China – said raising taxes was just one of the difficult decisions he would have to make as talks continue over a bailout deal.
We have to increase the taxes. We need to find a way to bridge the revenue gap and expenditure which we have,” he said.
He added that the current level of VAT is definitely not sustainable” for a country like Sri Lanka that is dependent on the imports of essentials and said the rate should be raised to 13% or 14%.
He also admitted that a move to cut taxes in 2019 soon after Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president was wrong, adding that the government had waited too long before calling on the IMF for help.
Mr Sabry was also cautiously optimistic that the country will be able to start paying its international creditors again by next year, but said it was very, very difficult for me to give a timeline, I hope and pray that it is as soon as possible, probably six months one year down the line. But I don’t know.”
Earlier this month, the Sri Lankan government said it would temporarily default on $35.5bn (£27.3bn) in foreign debt as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine made it impossible” to make payments to overseas creditors.
Since then, it has officially requested emergency financial help from the IMF as bailout talks got under way in Washington.
Mr Sabry is leading the negotiations with the country’s diverse set of creditors on restructuring its loans, a prerequisite for an IMF package.
China is one of Sri Lanka’s largest creditors and talks between the two countries may be tough after Beijing signalled its displeasure over Colombo approaching the IMF for help.
Last week, China’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong, said China did its best to help Sri Lanka not to default but the government chose to go to the IMF on short notice has unavoidably had some impact on the current discussions.”
Successful negotiations with China are crucial for Sri Lanka.
The ambassador for China in Sri Lanka had mentioned that it was not the most desired thing for Sri Lanka to go for IMF. But on our part, we did not have a choice, we will explain to them and we will continue to discuss with them and they are a good friend of Sri Lanka for a long period of time,” he said.
Meanwhile, India has offered a $1.5bn credit line for fuel supplies and Mr Sabry said India has agreed to another $500m credit line in principle.
Sri Lanka is set to receive $400m-$600m from the World Bank immediately, which could be used for cash transfers and building a social safety net for the vulnerable,” Mr Sabry added.
The coronavirus pandemic, rising energy prices, tax cuts and rapidly shrinking foreign currency reserves have left Sri Lanka without enough dollars to pay for vital imports of fuel, food and medicine.
The capital Colombo has seen huge protests in recent weeks as the country has been hit by soaring inflation, shortages of essential goods and major power cuts.
On Thursday, many schools in the city were closed and several train stations deserted as teachers and train drivers joined mass walkouts as they called for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government.
Hundreds of workers from Sri Lankan state-run banks also joined other bank trade unions in a protest march to the president’s office as thousands of people took to the streets around the country.
Even as he leads negotiations to resolve Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, Mr Sabry said he had no indication of when shortages of essential items will end: It all depends on how much of foreign currency inflows come to the country.
So that all depends when the Sri Lankans decide to send their money through the proper channels, the banking channel.”
There is little sign of improvement in the amount of foreign currency arriving in Sri Lanka as money sent to the country by its citizens living and working abroad fell to $318m in March, almost half the level seen last year.
Necessity is the mother of invention: Protests are mounting by people from all walks of life in all parts of Sri Lanka against the soaring cost of living, food and fuel shortages, black outs, lockdowns, forced Covid injections, and the sale of national assets by the ruling dual US citizen Rajapakse led regime in Colombo.
As the Sri Lankan Rupee crashes against the Exorbitantly Privileged” American Dollar, seemingly a precondition for an IMF bailout, the buzz in some quarters of the Colombo intelligentsia is the need to DE-DOLLARIZE and use a basket of currencies for trade, rather than de-value the Lankan rupee against the USD to beggar the people, compound the national debt, and enable Euro-American hedge funds to asset strip in this strategic island following the advice” of the IMF’s ‘Economic Hit men”.
Lands and power plants have been sold off in this country perched on some of the busiest Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC), in the Indian Ocean and world to Hedge Funds like BlackRock and Indian Front companies like Adanai and Ambani. The latter’s push to take over the agriculture sector of India during Covid lockdowns was only prevented by 2 years of courageous protests by farmers.
The search for out of the box solutions are on now in Sri Lanka; especially as the post-World War 2 Pax Americana and its financial and security order based on the USD as the Global Reserve Currency is collapsing fast as Asia Giants, China and India, along with sanctions hit-Russia, and Pakistan are pushed to design a ‘new world order’ –in their national self-interest also given huge populations and mass impoverishment as a result of two years of Covd-19 lockdowns and continuing bio-warfare. These Asian powers that share borders with Afghanistan which was occupied for many years, wreaked and left by the NATO war-machine have learned lessons.
China may buy Saudi oil in Renminbi circumventing the Petrodollar, and sanctions-hit Russia is working out a deal to sell oil and gas at discounted prices to India. Even tiny El Salvador in South America has made BITCOIN legal tender and may soon pay down IMF Debt with BITCOIN.
Sovereign Bond Debt trap and Covid-19 disruption
As people die in petrol queues and a humanitarian crisis mounts with mass impoverishment at this time in Sri Lanka due to an International Sovereign Bond (ISB) Debt trap and Covid-19 Digital Colonialism and supply chain disruptions, the island nation may well consider following India’s example its own self-interest and buy oil, gas, jet fuel etc. from Russia at discounted rates in Rubles, or in exchange for tea, rather than succumb to US-EU’s latest sanctions on Russia, GSP removal threats, and the IMF’s debt trap “bailouts” and debt re-structuring projects and invite India and China to help it roll over some the debt.
After all, the US has printed 9 Trillion in the past 2 years alone as “Covid bailouts” and is the Most Indebted Country on the planet, with a debt of $ 20 Trillion and counting, yet its Hedge Funds are asset stripping in Asian and African countries whose economies were hard hit hard by the World Health Organization’s criminal Covid Lockdown policy recommendations. Meanwhile, Euro-America channels more funds into the environmentally destructive NATO war machine, with the Ukrainian people as the latest victims of the global military business industrial complex and US Proxy Wars.
It is increasingly evident that there are no purely economic’ (IMF-crafted), solutions to fundamentally political and geo-strategic problems in Sri Lanka or anywhere else. Sri Lanka due to its location at the center of the IO has long been in the cross-hairs of great power rivalry that increasingly includes Over the Horizon (OTH), economic and hybrid cyber-trade war operations by external state and non-state actors: It is a fact that several big powers would like to have military bases in the strategic island. Unlike Singapore and Dubai, with which Sri Lanka is often compared negatively because of its lack of economic success, the island does NOT have an American military base.
Look East for development
Increasingly calls are being made for Sri Lanka to look East, to counties in the Association of South East Asia (ASEAN) and China, and stop following the experts” and Debt-trap Development Advice” of the Washington Consensus (IMF, WB), and Organization for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD), Paris Club of Aid Donors that have dictated the colonial development policies that structure the island’s economy.
NO country can develop without a degree of industrialization, state-led investment in Research and Development (R&D), and transfer of technology. This is what World Systems theorists of Dependency and Under-development (Samir Amin, Andre Gunde Franke, Emmanuel Wallerstine, etc.) wrote about.
In a nutshell, dependency theorists argue that that valuable natural resources, primary commodities and raw materials flowed from the periphery of the world system, i.e. from poor and underdeveloped states in the post/colonies of Asia, Africa and Latin America to a core of wealthy nations in the so-called First World or Euro-America. In other words, countries in the Third World or Global South pay for the enrichment of wealthy states, and continue to be dependent on them due to colonial modes of production, thinking, and exchange. So too development discourse and experts actually disabled knowledge and technology transfers.
Samir Amin’s work focused on global structures, that underpin an international system of exploitation, both the structure of the global economy and the structural prejudice of eurocentrism. In these times when the social sciences are increasingly given to ‘methodological individualism’ and/or ‘methodological nationalism’ (the notion that individuals and nation states are the most relevant units of analysis), underpinned by Rational Choice Theory– the world system’s theorists’ attention to global structures, that underpin an international system of exploitation is much needed to understand decades of debt-trapped ‘development’ in countries such as Sri Lanka.
A Post-colonial Dependency Culture
After putative independence” from the British in 1948 in Sri Lanka, a pliant transnational political and business elite (later Diaspora), have effectively stymied strategic development thinking, independent research and development (R & D) , and technology transfer to enable industrialization and use the island’s massive Ocean and mineral resources, and leverage its Geostrategic location in the Indian Ocean Region for national development, also due to dependence on foreign donors” and experts by successive governments.
The current model of neo-liberal economic development since the introduction of the Open economy” reforms in 1977, may be viewed as a form of Colonialism by other means”. Sri Lanka’s economy services and benefits the imperial metropole core countries and like many other debt-trapped Third World countries, impoverishes the island’s people, which remain dependent on capital and markets in the West, and hence service western needs.
This is why Sri Lanka effectively remains a ‘Banana Republic” as Feminist political economist and academic Cynthia Enloe’s book Bananas, Beeches and Bases” has traced; manufacturing underwear for Europeans, begging for GSP handouts (that sustain economic dependence on EU markets), and running behind white tourists and digital nomads.”
So-called GSP and GSP Plus Trade Concession’ have actually kept the Sri Lanka Business community, policy makers and politicians colonized for DECADES, and following the dictats of the Paris Club and Washington Consensus debt trap development, rather than enable Sri Lanka to craft independent development policies. GSP, like the Human Rights Discourse that is strategically deployed to advance western interest in Sri Lanka, is an exemplar of how colonial development policy works through trade instruments that trap dependent developing countries.
At this time Sri Lanka should not cave into the Euro-American sactions regimes on Russian oil and gas, and succumb to EU GSP removal threats.
Sri Lanka’s economic development was also “islanded” and stymied by 30 years of externally manipulated ‘internal conflict’ due to lack of strategic and intelligent political leadership during the Cold War period which saw the weaponization of ethno-religious identity politics by external State and non-state actors and transnational networks, followed by the US led Global War on Terror in the IOR. The latter saw mysterious ISIS claimed attacks hit sea-front luxury hotels and the tourism-dependent island economy on Easter Sunday 2019 dealing it a crippling blow. The scenario at this time is reminiscent of the multiple crisis in Lebanon last year after the blast at its strategic port the previous followed by never ending investigations that never identify the external actors involved in such attacks despite and because of foreign intelligence agencies participating in ”investigations” !
Finally, a mind-set of colonial dependency among the island’s business, financial and political elites, with spiraling political corruption has ensured the lack of a Strategic National Vision for Post- Independence Economic Development by succeeding governments.
Banana Republic: Service Economy, Aid Dependency and Dutch Disease
Service Economies remain colonial dependency economies, designed to service the imperial Euro-American metropole powers, unless visionary leaders are able to lead a country’s economic development and re-structure it in the Global South.
Almost since the Open economic reforms” of 1977, the Paris Club donors and advisors along with a pliant and colonized political elite and Lankan business community solely lacking in innovation and enterprise with a few notable exceptions have turned the island’s economy into a Banana Republic Service Economy, dependent on US-EU Aid, experts and markets!
UN SDG experts and Washington Consensus ‘advisors’ have also helped maintain a model of Neo-colonial Economic development, dependent on Euro-America and its Corporates, albeit with help of increasingly transnational political and business elites of the island.
Sri Lanka has missed the opportunity to leverage, Transfer Technology, industrialize and value add to its valuable mineral (including Rare Earth Elements (REE) and ocean resources which ae being looted by so called “Aid Donors” like Germany and Suisse (Graphite, Titanium, Zircon), France, EU and Japan (Fisheries).
Lack of State-led investment in Research and Development based on a post-colonial National vision and policy to up-scale enable the country to leverage its strategic resources, along with institutional decay and corruption at key higher education and national research institutions like the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau (GSMB), National Aquatic Research Agency (NARA), Marine Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA) etc. have also hampered the country reaping the benefits of its abundant ocean and mineral resources through industrialization, transfer of technology and value addition.
Service economies remain dependent on foreign aid, consultants and experts for Research and Development, (R & D), and do not generate independent economic research institutions that critiques and or moves beyond the Euro-American neoliberal growth paradigm, and established power/Knowledge hierarchies.
Research and development institutions have been rendered dependent on western donors” and hence service foreign interests and external research interests, rather than the economic and development interests of the people of Sri Lanka. Dependence on Western donors and markets has resulted in what may be termed a form of aid induced Dutch Disease”, another symptom of under-development in a pot/colony. So too many Colombo NGOs involved in research and economic think tanks like the Institute for Policy Studies, the Center for Poverty Analysis, Verite Research, Pathfinder Foundation remain dependent on Euro-American funding and research paradigms, unable to think outside the frame of received education in the Euro-American academy, cheer leaders of and for the IMF and Paris Club.
Going forward as a short and long-term development strategy, it is increasingly clear that Sri Lankan State should invest in R & D in order to:
a) use its Graphite and Rare Earth Minerals to INDUSTRIALIZE and manufacture solar panels, batteries and Graphene Oxide (also used in mRNA gene therapies), and integrating into regional value chains rather than exporting ‘mineral sands” (Titanium, Zircon, Ilmenite etc.) cheap, that are not even listed as contributing to the counties foreign income!
b) Rather than have an artisanal” fishery sector the island, richly endowed with oceans resources, could have developed an export oriented fishing industry and bi-products, such as, high end Fish Oil Pharmaceutical manufacturing.
C) Leverage its strategic Indian Ocean location for economic development and TAXING SUBMARINE Under Sea Data (UDC) Cable Companies that use Sri Lanka’s Seabed Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Sri Lanka is intrinsically a Wealthy Nation, given abundant water with two annual monsoon seasons, mineral rich sea-bed, and mother nature’s environmental largess, but has been rendered a ‘beggar’ nation due to fake independence, a dependent development model rooted in Euro-American corporate colonialism, foreign aid, experts and the dependency complex of its business elites and of course local political corruption in the post/colony.
Finally, as the IMF tightens its noose on Lanka’s long suffering people with the help of the dual US citizens, Finance Minister, Basil Rajapakse and his brother President Gotabaya Rajapakse, we may well ask why the IMF has not yet declared the United States of America with it 20 Trillion Debt a Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) and offered it HIPC status?!
Increasingly people are challenging the Double standards of the Washington Consensus and Paris Club that use their Imperialist past to print trillions of Euros and Dollars as Covid Bailouts” and asset strip in the Global South and increase inequality among nations and peoples.
Desperate times warrant out of the box solutions. At a massive opposition protest in Colombo organized by an opposition party this week on March 15, there were calls for President Rajapaksa and his brother, the US citizen Finance Minister’ to go back home to Los Angeles, USA”!
PRESS RELEASE Embassy & Permanent Mission of Sri LankaBangkok
The President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand Chuan Leekpai handed over a cheque valued 700,000 Thai Baht to Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Thailand and Permanent Representative to the UNESCAP, C. A. Chaminda I. Colonne, at the Parliament in Bangkok on 25th April 2022.
While expressing gratitude for supporting his initiative taken to assist Sri Lanka at her difficult times, the President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand Chuan Leekpai highlighted that Sri Lanka is the only country in the world, which Thailand has developed a long-standing relationship in terms of Buddhism since Lankawong to Siamwong in Rattanakosin era. He added that When Sri Lanka is facing a crisis, Thai politicians and the member of the House of Representatives and senators discussed on how to help Sri Lanka. The donation amount of 700,000 Thai Baht is not much, but this represents a feeling of true friends helping each other in the difficult times”.
Most Venerable Somdet Phra Maha Thirachan, the Abbot of Wat Phra Chetuphon Wimon Mangkhalaram Rajwaramahawihan and the Committee of the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand emphasized that during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and economics crisis around the word, there is a positive sign of the support and kindness of all human beings. Somdet Phra Maha Thirachan also expressed his gratitude to the well-wishers of all religions.
Ambassador C.A. Chaminda I. Colonne extended her heartiest appreciation to the President of the National Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand Chuan Leekpai for his initiative taken and to the Buddhist Sangha, House of Representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand, and all well-wishers for kind assistance.
Most Venerable Phrapromsenabodee, the Abbot of Wat Pathum Khongkha and the Committee of the Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand, Most Venerable Phradhammabhotiwong, Dhammaduta India- Nepal and the Abbot of Wat Thai Buddhagaya, Senator of the Committee of International Affairs of the Secretariat of the Senate Pikulkeaw Krairoek, Representatives from Democrat Party Dr. Issara Sereewatthanawut and Ongart Klampaiboon, were also among the participants. Ambassador was accompanied by First Secretary A. W. S. Samanmali of the Mission.
On 21st April 2019 after exactly 10 years following 30 years of brutal terror, another form of terrorism struck. Everyone is seeking justice – but from whom, is the question. The Pope and the Vatican who has been appraised by the Cardinal is also seeking investigation. No investigation can be completed unless there is honesty of acceptance of a historical legacy associated with the killings.
Who is the mahamolakaruwa”
Religious suicide bombing is nothing knew & has taken place throughout history. Many have committed suicide quoting religious texts – killing people in the name of their religion. To die in the name of one’s religion is not considered a crime in Islam. This is proven in the tape recorded by Zaharan & team before committing Easter Sunday mass murders.
Naufer Moulavi was only the middle man who used the religious texts to brainwash a group headed by Zaharan to commit the murders on Easter Sunday.
He is the ‘molakaruwa’ behind the mahamolakaraya”.
The religious texts are manipulated to create people like Zaharan & this requires the religious heads of Islam to look at the texts and seek ways to ensure verses are not manipulated to kill. Easter Sunday was not the first nor will it be the last suicide in the name of avenging wrongs done to one’s religion unless the texts that are used to manipulate people to kill are dealt with.
2) Who are the pawns of the mahamolakaraya”
If the religious texts are the true mahamolakaraya”, Naufer Moulavi is the molakaruwa who brainwashed a group to kill. Thus Zaharan (team leader) & team are pawns. They have all lost their lives, some of the wives and families have also been killed simply because a man brainwashed them manipulating religious texts.
Naufer Moulavi planned & Zaharan & Team executed the plan – mass murder
While the mahamolakaraya” is not a living being, the pawns need to be named & charged as well as all those who aided & abetted this crime, united in the common goal of revenge killings. Who are these 79 persons being charged by the GoSL
Both 1) & 2) are partners and one could not have been done without the other. There would be no suicide bombings based on religious texts, unless there was religious quotes that could be manipulated to brainwash people to kill.
3) Who knew but neglected to the prevent the attacks
While the initial culprits were planning their attack – foreign intel intercepted the plot & sent over 90 warnings to their counterparts in Sri Lanka.
Who were directly sent intel warnings from India
Who were next kept in the loop
Why did they neglect to take action to prevent any attack?
Who were the outsiders aware of the impending attacks & how did they come to know (ex: HarinF’s father)
Why did the above not inform the Cardinal/Church or did they?
Why did the above not inform the hotels to beef up security?
We cannot confuse 1) & 2) with 3)
1) & 2) are guilty of planning & executing the crime while
3) is guilty of negligence in being aware of a crime but not doing anything to stop it.
The foreign secretary admitted that they knew something would happen but they thought it was something small.
The reaction of the government after the attacks shows their lack of empathy for what occurred.
The behavior of the intel agencies and their statements before the Commission of Inquiry, shows how the former government had divided the officials along political lines & to follow political orders without independence to their job role. That they were able to make quick arrests after the attacks revealed that their network was in place but that they lacked the needed authority to take action. The imprisonment of military/intel personnel & closure of monitoring units also played a key role in dropping the moral of the forces & intel units.
If then Minister HarinF’s father who was in hospital & was told about an impending attack & he informed his son (a staunch Catholic) to not attend Church on Easter Sunday, why wouldn’t they inform the Cardinal of a likely attack?
Was there a reason not to tell the Cardinal or did he know & now everyone’s conscious is pricking them. With many Catholics in government, with many of them also in the know” it is surprising why they would keep this a secret from the Cardinal.
Only Hemasiri Fernando admitted he knew something ‘small’ would happen – who are the others who knew but kept quiet?
The People are demanding those who knew in the Government / in the Law & Order apparatus & even in the Church to be held accountable even if they knew something ‘small’ was to occur.
Presuming that the Government & Law & Order apparatus knew – all that had to be done was to deploy the army & police to catch the network that the Indian intel warnings had given, inform the hotel to beef up security.
If the Church knew, all that they had to do was to cancel Easter Sunday Mass & prevent people from coming to Church. The police & army could have blocked entrances & asked people to return home.
4) Was there a political conspiracy behind the attacks?
Of late there is a notion that there a political conspiracy involved to favor the present president to power.
Since early April warnings had been sent from Indian intel about a possible attack. It is also strange that this intel did not reach anyone even in the media.
Hours prior to the attacks, names, mobile numbers and names of target venues had also been given. If over 90 warnings were given with such meticulous details – would they not inform if there was a political conspiracy involved?
Given that the Indian intel played a key role in bringing the Maithripala-Sirisena government into power would they not inform if there was a conspiracy to overthrow the government they helped bring to power?
Notion 4) could have been accepted had the tape by Zaharan & team before committing the mass suicide did not emerge, where he very clearly gives reason for preparing explosives with their own hands & own money to avenge the deaths on churches & foreigners for crimes committed upon adherents of Islam. It is important for everyone to listen to the tape & the translation & pass this to the Vatican & the Pope as well. The reason for this is that if any reconciliation is required it is to bring peace to the adherents of Islam/Catholicism some of whom are carrying forward a historical grudge & vengeance. This is an issue that the Vatican/Church/Pope will need to take up separately with Islam.
Presuming notion 4) to be true we are all baffled how 8 Muslim men, staunch adherents of Islam, could be brainwashed by an equally staunch Muslim, using Islamic religious texts, to commit mass murder simply to bring a Sinhalese to become President?
This notion is however, negated by the suicide bombers themselves who in the tape released before their mass suicide clearly gives reason why they are committing suicide. The reason for their suicide is to avenge the crusades/Holy Wars that attacked Muslims/Islam over centuries. The tapes clearly reveal this. There is not a single line that even remotely leads us to presume or infer anything else.
Who brainwashed 8 men to commit mass suicide, who brainwashed their families to also join
Why did 8 men wish to commit suicide, why did their families wish to join
Who knew the intel warnings & why did they not do anything to prevent the attacks
Is there grounds to believe that 8 Muslim men would have plotted to blow themselves to smithereens preparing their own explosives, involving their families and eventually killing their wives and children simply to help a Sinhala leader come to power?
This series will not be a series of expert essays, discussing the economy of Sri Lanka. That must be done by economists. This series brings before the public certain aspects of the economy which may be of public interest.
The initial favorable economic conditions that Sri Lanka inherited from its colonial past, provided the necessary resources to expand our welfare state including free health care, free education, and subsidies on essential consumer goods and services, said economist Srimal Abeyratne. Sri Lanka was among the highest nations in Asia in all such areas, because we had this inheritance from the past.
It must be pointed out however, that this was not a benefit of British rule. These welfare measures were initiated in the 1930s by the Ceylonese councilors in the State Council. The credit must go to them. Sri Lanka has continued this policy in the post independence period. Literacy was 92 % in 2018. Life expectancy is 77 years in 2022.
Therefore, continued Srimal, we surprised the world and achieved best standards among developing countries in terms of our health care, education, and human development but it was without improving productive incomes and productive jobs of the country.
Throughout our development history, many other nations in Asia which were behind” Sri Lanka at that time have surpassed us not only in generating resources for people, but also in achieving better health care, education, and human development standards.
You might ask a question here: How was it possible for many of our neighboring countries to achieve what they have achieved today, even by eroding and surpassing Sri Lanka’s initial advantage?” My answer is very short: It is the vision and the integrity of those leaders. At times where the leaders failed in their vision and integrity, the progress of some of these nations slowed down too, concluded Srimal Abeyratne.
He is thinking of the four East Asian Tiger economies, led by Park Chung Hee of South Korea, Li-Kwoh-ting of Taiwan, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore and Deng Xiaoping of China. They were the architects who transformed their countries to miracle economies by providing direction and stable political environments which ensured policy continuity. These leaders were pragmatic, decisive and willing to unlearn and learn when providing leadership to their countries.
The rapid economic development in these countries, took place under stable political environments said analysts. These four leaders ensured that their states had the political stability needed for economic success. However, this political stability was achieved through authoritarian rule. ‘Political stability’ meant the same political party continued in power election after election. This, it appears, was essential for economic development. Analysts noted that Japan also had only one party in power throughout its high growth period.
The population of all four Tiger countries was Chinese. (Korea is in the Chinese peninsula). This has to be a critical factor in the rise of these Tigers, though it is never discussed or mentioned. These Chinese, hardworking and bright, clearly have been amenable to authoritarian control. South Asians do not have that mentality.
Sri Lanka, unlike the Asian Tigers, never had such a leader. Sri Lanka never wanted such a leader, either. They wanted a leader they could push around. They also wanted a periodic change of leaders. Not the same chap ruling forever. Sri Lanka’s political leaders therefore concentrated on getting and keeping political power. They had no economic vision whatsoever. Their minds were on other things.
Sri Lanka was introduced to party politics when it was under British rule. The public had voted in three elections, before independence. They were the two State Council elections of 1931 and 1936 and the Parliamentary election of 1947. The electorate approached these elections with much enthusiasm and some thuggery. I was given an entertaining description of the 1931 State Council election from my mother, who had electioneered for her relative Susanta de Fonseka who was a candidate for Panadura.
Sri Lanka took to party politics and elections like a duck to water. Sri Lanka liked the merry go round that went with it. Sri Lanka’s focus was on the political party, not on its leader. The vote went to the party, not the candidate. The public loved to say ‘apiyouanpee’ or ‘apiemeepee” or ‘apialasaspee’. Mahinda Rajapaksa was the only politician in recent times, who had a personal following and could get the vote to go where he went.
The public enjoyed the regular General Elections. There was no voter apathy in Sri Lanka .The public liked listening to election speeches, and going to vote. The election results were exciting because there were sharp swings of power, with clear winners and losers. The party in power usually lost, the opposition came in.
The wining party and the defeated one went at each other once the election ended. Those who had been loyal to the previous government, were penalized by those in the new government .This was the main preoccupation of the winning party during the first few months after taking over.
Sri Lanka never wanted ‘one party rule’ with one economic policy. The regular swing away from the ruling party to the opposition party meant a sharp change in economic policy as well. This also was welcomed, regardless of what it did to the country. A new economic policy meant that a new lot of voters would benefit and the old lot will be brought down. (Continued)
During Mahinda Rajapaksa’s time at the helm of Sri Lankan politics, the 30 year war was won, GDP growth reached 7% by 2015, per capita income rose from USD 1065 in 2004 to USD 3843 by 2015 and GDP rose from USD 20.66 Billion in 2004 to USD 80.6 Billion by 2015. These are World Bank statistics and should not be forgotten. Mistakes may have been made, but the challenge now is to learn from them and move forward and not to vilify Mr Rajapaksa.
Sri Lanka seems to be a Nation with very short memories. Perhaps dementia is more common than what is believed. The significant achievements of past leaders have been forgotten and whatever mistakes and errors of judgment they made as human beings have taken center stage. The reasons why SWRD Bandaranaike introduced a Swabasha policy and many other nationalistic policies which moved the country closer to its people has been overlooked and forgotten and instead the erroneous slogan Sinhala only in 24 hours” has come to define Mr Bandaranaike and as the epicenter of everything that went wrong in the country due to him.
Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s socialist policies especially from 1970 to 1976 where she embarked on a food production and industrialization drive to make the country self-reliant and less dependent on imports, were vilified and forces that gathered to do this paved the way for Mr J R Jayewardene to become President in 1977. His policy of an open economy opened the stable doors and the horses that fled have created havoc. Mr Jayewardene cannot be blamed entirely for this as those who succeeded him made no attempt to identify shortcomings in his policies and refocus on food production and selective industrialisation.
Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga’s defining policies in education reform, among other things, have been forgotten and she is remembered for whatever personality squabbles between her and her successor Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s achievements, stated at the outset, are now forgotten, and he is vilified for robbing the country although there is so far no proof he has done so. It is true that the debt accumulation began under his leadership and continued to increase after him. However, the economic data given by the World Bank demonstrates a hefty economic growth during his time, and that debt had been used to fund this growth. Among other things, if one were to pick a hole in the economic strategies adopted during his time, investing in projects without well considered return on investment (ROI) studies, and not building the country’s foreign reserves using its own money and not counting loans as reserves, could perhaps take center stage, in hindsight.
More than anything else, the fact that Mr Rajapaksa gave political leadership to end a 30 year conflict, and for all Sri Lankans to be able to walk freely anywhere in the country, protest freely, and practice democracy, Sri Lanka style of course, cannot and should not be forgotten. Had Mr Rajapaksa followed his war victory with a peace victory and laid the foundation to bring an end to the reasons for the conflict, he would have achieved even more of a victory. Being a forgetful Nation, no doubt that too would have been forgotten even if he had laid that foundation.
The clamour for Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign from his Prime Ministership is one thing but vilifying him in the way that clamour is being orchestrated is another thing.
Whatever responsibility he bears for the sorry state of the country today and any consequences arising from that is a price he will have to pay. People do have a right to seek accountability from him, the President, and the government. However, the degree of vilification demonstrated is an indication of a flaw in the character of those who are spearheading this vilification campaign as a means of seeking this accountability. It is a reflection on the superficiality of people who clamour for moral and ethical behavior on the part of leaders but who are unable to adhere and practice such morality and ethical behavior themselves.
There are constitutional and legal procedures that are available to remove leaders from office. Unless these are employed, the country could descend to anarchy and be in a worse position than now. It is possible that this maybe exactly what some in the political arena want as their end objective. A chaotic, anarchic situation where the constitution becomes worthless and a new so called peoples revolution” takes over and gives way to a one-party State based on Marxism. There are elements within the political arena which has tried this before and failed. They could well be making another attempt, cashing in on a situation created for them by the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and the errors of judgement on the part of the country’s leadership to manage the consequences of the pandemic.
The increasing number of protests, strikes, marches spurred on by the hardships faced by the people point out to a scenario that is being choreographed by unseen hands. They all know that a change in the Presidency or the Prime Ministership will not solve the food, medicine, gas or diesel shortages overnight although that is the message they are giving to ordinary people who are participating in these activities. When a new government, for example should one led by the Opposition take over, they will not be able to solve the immediate issues overnight, and it is as clear as mud as they say, that protests will resume with greater intensity against the new government.
Protestors should ask themselves, what then? Who does one turn to?
A chaotic and anarchic situation could also be the work of unseen external hands. It is no secret that this has happened in other countries and an opportunity for such an external hand to get a foothold in Sri Lanka which they have not been able to get through normal bilateral discussions. Sri Lankans should not be naïve and should not be deceived by such external elements. As the saying goes, one has to be beware of Greeks bearing gifts!
Protestations are important and peoples’ voices should have been heard and heeded. However, protestors should be aware of the dangers that unscrupulous and opportunistic elements pose which could well hijack genuine protests, and in fact discredit their efforts.
If all political parties represented in Parliament are genuine about a solution, and not give way to chaos, anarchy, rendering the constitution useless, and the emergence of a one-party State, they should all join in forming a multi-party government for a given period like 12 months by forming a multi-party governing council. This council should determine policies that should be applicable for the next 12 months, and also develop a long term economic and social policy for at least the next 10 years in consultation with industry, business leaders, unions, academics, women’s organisations and grass root representatives drawn from agriculture, fisheries, local industries etc. An election in 12 months will determine who gains office and carries out the long term economic and social policy agreed to by all parties in the governing council. In such a situation, it is the governing council comprising of party leaders and not who holds the office of the President, Prime Minister or a cabinet minister that assumes greater importance for the next 12 months.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has extended an invitation to form an all-party government comprising all political parties represented in the Parliament, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said in a statement issued today regarding the meeting held with party leaders and representatives who now sit independently in Parliament.
The discussion was held at the President’s House in Colombo this morning.
Attention was drawn to the need to form a National Consensus Government to continue the activities of the government and to appoint a National Council with the participation of the leaders of the political parties represented in Parliament as its initial step.
The President has stated that he would agree to the points contained in the common proposal presented by the party representatives if it receives the support of all political parties.
It was also decided to nominate five representatives from among those who took part in the discussion, to take forward the mechanism of forming an all-party government.
Discussions were held on formulating a systematic program after obtaining the views of other political parties in Parliament, including the Sri Lanka PodujanaPeramuna.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena, Nimal Siripala de Silva, Susil Premajayantha, Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa, Udaya Gammanpila, Mahinda Amaraweera, Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Tissa Vitarana, W.D.J. Seneviratne, Dayasiri Jayasekara, Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Nimal Lanza, Jayantha Samaraweera, Jayarathna Herath, Tiran Alles, Jagath Pushpakumara, Nalin Fernando, M.M. Athaullah, Gevindu Kumaratunga, Weerasumana Weerasinghe and Asanka Navarathna were present at the discussion.
Sri Lanka’s finance minister has told the BBC he has no choice but to hike the country’s sales tax as it faces its worst-ever economic crisis.
In an exclusive interview, Ali Sabry conceded the government made a mistake when it almost halved the rate of value-added tax (VAT) to 8% in 2019.
Mr Sabry says the nation needs $4bn (£3.2bn) over the next eight months to pay for imports of daily essentials.
His comments come amid mass protests over government economic policies.
Mr Sabry – who is leading negotiations with the IMF as well as other lenders such as India and one of its largest creditors China – said raising taxes was just one of the difficult decisions he would have to make as talks continue over a bailout deal.
We have to increase the taxes. We need to find a way to bridge the revenue gap and expenditure which we have,” he said.
He added that the current level of VAT is definitely not sustainable” for a country like Sri Lanka that is dependent on the imports of essentials and said the rate should be raised to 13% or 14%.
He also admitted that a move to cut taxes in 2019 soon after Gotabaya Rajapaksa became president was wrong, adding that the government had waited too long before calling on the IMF for help.
Mr Sabry was also cautiously optimistic that the country will be able to start paying its international creditors again by next year, but said it was very, very difficult for me to give a timeline, I hope and pray that it is as soon as possible, probably six months one year down the line. But I don’t know.”
Earlier this month, the Sri Lankan government said it would temporarily default on $35.5bn (£27.3bn) in foreign debt as the pandemic and the war in Ukraine made it impossible” to make payments to overseas creditors.
Since then, it has officially requested emergency financial help from the IMF as bailout talks got under way in Washington.
Mr Sabry is leading the negotiations with the country’s diverse set of creditors on restructuring its loans, a prerequisite for an IMF package.
China is one of Sri Lanka’s largest creditors and talks between the two countries may be tough after Beijing signalled its displeasure over Colombo approaching the IMF for help.
Last week, China’s ambassador to Sri Lanka, Qi Zhenhong, said China did its best to help Sri Lanka not to default but the government chose to go to the IMF on short notice has unavoidably had some impact on the current discussions.”
Successful negotiations with China are crucial for Sri Lanka.
The ambassador for China in Sri Lanka had mentioned that it was not the most desired thing for Sri Lanka to go for IMF. But on our part, we did not have a choice, we will explain to them and we will continue to discuss with them and they are a good friend of Sri Lanka for a long period of time,” he said.
Meanwhile, India has offered a $1.5bn credit line for fuel supplies and Mr Sabry said India has agreed to another $500m credit line in principle.
Sri Lanka is set to receive $400m-$600m from the World Bank immediately, which could be used for cash transfers and building a social safety net for the vulnerable,” Mr Sabry added.
The coronavirus pandemic, rising energy prices, tax cuts and rapidly shrinking foreign currency reserves have left Sri Lanka without enough dollars to pay for vital imports of fuel, food and medicine.
The capital Colombo has seen huge protests in recent weeks as the country has been hit by soaring inflation, shortages of essential goods and major power cuts.
On Thursday, many schools in the city were closed and several train stations deserted as teachers and train drivers joined mass walkouts as they called for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his government.
Hundreds of workers from Sri Lankan state-run banks also joined other bank trade unions in a protest march to the president’s office as thousands of people took to the streets around the country.
Even as he leads negotiations to resolve Sri Lanka’s economic crisis, Mr Sabry said he had no indication of when shortages of essential items will end: It all depends on how much of foreign currency inflows come to the country.
So that all depends when the Sri Lankans decide to send their money through the proper channels, the banking channel.”
There is little sign of improvement in the amount of foreign currency arriving in Sri Lanka as money sent to the country by its citizens living and working abroad fell to $318m in March, almost half the level seen last year.
Finance Ministry will issue a new gazette notification under the Import and Export Control Act, making all payments on imports to Sri Lanka through a banking system compulsory, says the Central Bank Governor.
Addressing a special media briefing this evening, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said several measures will be taken by the Finance Ministry and the Central Bank to curb the transactions in foreign exchange outside the banking system.
He noted that the reason for the foreign exchange shortage in the local banking system is the remittance of funds through informal transfer systems such as Hawala and Undiyal.
As the first step against informal fund transfer methods, a gazette notification is expected to be issued either today or tomorrow to make it mandatory that all payments for imports to the island are made through the banking system.
He also assured that the Central Bank would give its best to minimize these informal fund transfers and demand for such transfers.
If the payments are not made through the banking system, the imported items will not be cleared by the Customs, the Central Bank governor added.
In response to a question on the mandatory foreign currency conversion by tourists in order to obtain goods and services, Dr. Weerasinghe said the Central Bank will look into relaxing the directive to encourage all foreign currency remittances to be routed through the banking system. This is not good for the tourism industry and it is an inconvenience for the tourists, he added.
Meanwhile, with regard to the recruitment of debt advisors, Dr. Weerasinghe said the process is in progress and that the Central Bank expects to submit its proposals to the Cabinet of Ministers within a period of one or two weeks.
While external debt restructuring remains a top priority for the Sri Lankan government, domestic debt in the form of government securities and Sri Lanka Development Bonds will not be restructured, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe announced Thursday (April 28).
Dr. Weerasinghe made these comments while addressing a meeting of the Committee of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce at which he was the Guest Speaker.
During the meeting, he also provided an update on the progress made during the recent discussions with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank last week.
Noting that encouraging progress had been made towards establishing a macro-fiscal policy framework and initiating structural reforms, he expressed confidence that a staff-level agreement with the IMF is likely to be reached within the next two months.
Dr. Weerasinghe also announced that additional measures will be implemented in order to address urgent economic concerns. The measures include introducing regulations to encourage USD flows currently transacting in the informal market to be channeled through the formal banking system. As a result of policy measures already introduced by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) and the government, he is of the view that expenditure on imports will be declining further to more sustainable levels.
The Governor also highlighted the need to strengthen the social safety net with the rising cost of living. To this effect, multilateral agencies such as the World Bank will be looking to reallocate funds committed for projects towards assisting vulnerable segments of the population, he stated.
While expediting IMF negotiations and implementing sustainable economic policy reforms being the main priority, he added that IMF action will continue irrespective of the political landscape, and also stressed that all creditors will be treated equally in the debt-restructuring process. The Governor sought the assistance of the private sector in successfully implementing measures to stabilize the economy.
The following Order was delivered by the Supreme Court Bench comprising Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva and Justices Shiranee Tilakawardena and A.M. Somawansa;
Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva read out the Order in Court, as follows;
The proceedings in this case commenced with an application by the Trustees of the Kapuwatte Mohideen Jumma Mosque of Weligama impleading the action of the 2nd Respondent, (A.S.P. Weligama) in not issuing a loudspeaker permit under Section 81 of the Police Ordinance to the extent permitted in previous years and in imposing restrictions on such use, as being in breach of their fundamental rights.
When the matter was supported on 25.2.2007 for leave to proceed the Court noted that the application raises fundamental issues with regard to sound pollution and the standards that should be enforced by the Central Environmental Authority, and the guarantee of the equal protection of the law (Article 12(1) in this regard.)
Accordingly notice was issued on the Central Environmental Authority which was later added as the 6th Respondent.
The Environmental Foundation Limited being a non-governmental organization that has consistently engaged in public interest litigation to preserve and protect the environment was permitted to intervene in the case in view of the general concern that emerges in this case requiring adequate legal safeguards to protect the People from exposure to harmful effects of sound pollution.
Mr. Senaka Weeraratna, Attorney at Law, sought to intervene representing the interests of persons affected by noise pollution. He was added as the 8th Respondent.
In his affidavit dated 29.6.2007, he contradicted the claim of the Petitioners for unrestricted use of loudspeakers in the call to prayer from the Mosque. He also contended inter alia that such unrestricted use makes:-
Captive listeners of people of other religious faiths and violates the fundamental rights of the general public, such as the right to silence and the right to quiet enjoyment of property.”
As a matter of personal experience, he contended in paragraph 4 of his affidavit that he is an aggrieved party as a result of similar conduct of a place of worship situated on the Marine Drive between Jaya Road and Nimal Road in a residential area in Colombo where
the high pitched sound of a call to prayer is amplified five times a day beginning in the early hours of the morning, that is at 5.00 a. m and ending at 8.15 p.m and repeated daily and which conduct is causing unnecessary hardship and much disturbance, to residents in the neighbourhood the majority of whom belong to other religious faiths and which locality comprise in addition to residential dwellings, schools e g. Holy Family Convent, private Accountancy Studies Institutions, Buddhist temples, Kovils, Churches .
With the inclusion of the aforesaid parties, and considering the material presented and the submissions that were made the Court proceeded with the matter as being of public interest, to make a determination as to the effective guarantee of the fundamental right enshrined in Article 12(1) of the Constitution for the equal protection of the law in safeguarding the People from harmful effects of noise pollution. The impact of pollution is pervasive and its effect cannot be identified with the right of any particular person. The matter has to be viewed as being of general and public concern affecting the community as a whole.
The second Respondent whose action has been impleaded in this case filed an affidavit supported with several other affidavits and documents. It appears that the particular dispute with regard to the action of the 2nd Respondent, the A.S.P., being himself a Muslim, arose as a result of loud speaker permits granted to three mosques situated in close proximity in the village of Kapuwatte in Weligama.
The dispute is between the Kapuwatte Mohideen Jumma Mosque and Jiffery Thakkiya Mosque on the one hand and the Jamiul Rahman Jumma Mosque on the other.
In paragraph 5 of the affidavit the 2nd Respondent has stated that to the best of his knowledge from about April 2004 residents in the area where the three Mosques are located have complained of noise pollution due to the excessive use of the loudspeakers by the three Mosques.
That subsequently a dispute had arisen between the persons associated with the Mohideen Jumma Mosque and Jamiul Rahman Mosque with regard to the use of loudspeakers which resulted in the parties lodging complaints against each other at the Weligama Police Station. The Police conducted investigations into the incidents and being apprehensive of an imminent breach of peace filed a B” Report bearing No. 2154/04 in the Magistrate Court of Matara citing persons associated with the said Mosques as parties. It appears that the proceedings are continuing. The allegation now appears to be that the 2nd Respondent has given more favourable treatment to the Jamiul Rahman Mosque.
The 2nd Respondent has produced marked 2R4A” to 2R4G” photocopies of some of the complaints and affidavits of persons, all of whom are Muslims that specifically state that noise pollution resulting from excessive noise emitted from loudspeakers of the Mosque, has caused severe health problems. Two of the deponents have coronary ailments and have produced medical evidence in support. The ASP has stated that it was in these circumstances that he reduced the use of loud speakers in the call for prayer to 3 minutes since in his view as a Muslim that period is adequate. The Petitioners have not sought to contradict the material adduced by the 2nd Respondent.
It is seen that complaint emerge from Muslims themselves as to the harmful effects of excessive emission of noise from loudspeakers in Mosques. Thus Mr. Weeraratna does not stand alone as a victim of such excessive noise.
Although there is no contest in the case as to the harmful effects of noise pollution the case has gone on for more than 2 years to enable suitable regulations to be made to be implemented by the Central Environmental Authority effectively.
Section 23P to Section 23R of the National Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980 as amended provided for restrictions on noise pollution. The scheme of Section 23P and 23R is that it would be an offence to emit noise in excess of the volume intensity and quality of the standards or limitations that are prescribed which thus becomes a pre – requisite for the effectiveness of these provisions. Deputy Solicitor General submitted that the standards and limitations that have now been prescribed in relation to industrial noise cannot be used in respect of community noise (Vide. proceedings 28.3.05).
In the circumstances the parties agreed for adjournments to facilitate the formulation of Regulations. Draft regulations have been tendered from time to time to Court.
The Environmental Foundation limited made a comprehensive written submission that the initial draft regulations would be unworkable and ineffective and that in contrast the existing legal regime as contained in; Section 80 of the Police Ordinance regarding the grant of permits for the use of loudspeakers, amplifiers and the like; Section 261 of the Penal Code with regard to the offence of public nuisance; the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure with regard to the abatement of any nuisance and the National Environmental (Noise Control) Regulations No. 1 of 1996; are adequate and that suitable directions could be issued by this Court in terms of Article 126(4) of the Constitution to assure the people equal protection of the applicable legal regime.
The Court noted that it is desirable to grant further time to formulate suitable Regulations and the added parties were permitted to make representations to the relevant authority to improve the draft. Several postponements have been granted but there appears to be indecision, disputes, vacillation and on the whole a lack of collective will to take positive action. Deputy Solicitor General now submits that she has received instructions to move to add the Ministry of Religious Affairs as a party. This, in our view puts the matter back to square one.
It has to be firmly borne in mind that Sri Lanka is a secular State. In terms of Article 3 of the Constitution, Sovereignty is in the People at common devoid of any divisions based on perceptions of race, religion, language and the like. Especially in the area of preserving the environment and the protection of public health, being of immediate concern in this case, there could be no exceptions to accommodate perceived religious propensities of one group or another. No religion advocates a practice that would cause harm to another or worse still as would cause pollution of the environment, a health hazard or a public nuisance being an annoyance to the public.
We have had in this country probably the oldest jurisprudential tradition of a secular approach in dealing with matters that constitute a public nuisance. I would refer to the Judgment of this Court handed down in the year 1895 in the case reported in Marshall vs Gunaratne Unnanse – (1 NLR page 179). In that case the principal trustee of a Buddhist vihare in Colombo was charged for creating noise in the night and disturbing the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. The report to Court was under the then applicable Section 90 of the Police Ordinance. Considering the particular circumstances of the case Bonser C.J., upholding the conviction stated as follows
(at page 180):
……the idea must not be entertained that a noise, which is an annoyance to the neighbourhood, is protected if it is made in the course of a religious ceremony. No religious body, whether Buddhist, or Protestant, or Catholic, is entitled to commit a public nuisance, and no license under Section 90 of The Police Ordinance, 1865 will be a protection against proceedings under the Penal Code, though it may protect them from proceedings under the Police Ordinance.”
It is to be noted that in terms of Section 261 of the Penal Code a person is guilty of public nuisance who does any act or is guilty of an illegal omission, which causes inter alia any annoyance to the public or to the people in general who dwell or occupy any property in the vicinity. Section further states as follows
A public nuisance is not excused on the ground that it causes some convenience or advantage.”
The proposition of Bonser C.J., which could be cited as a classic statement of a secular approach in dealing with a public nuisance is referable to the final sentence of Section 261 cited by me above. A perceived convenience or advantage to some based on a religious practice cannot be the excuse for a public nuisance which causes annoyance to the public or to the people in general who dwell or occupy property in the vicinity”.
Subsequent jurisprudential developments in other countries follows a similar trend of reasoning.
In the case of Church of God (full gospel) in India vs K.K.R.M.C Welfare Association – AIR 2000 SC page 2773 the Supreme Court of India posed the selfsame question as follows:
Whether a particular community or sect of that community can claim right to add to noise pollution on the ground of religion?”
Shah J, in his Judgment at page 2774 stated as follows in answer to that question:
Undisputedly no religion prescribes that prayers should be performed by disturbing the peace of others nor does it preach that they should be through voice-amplifiers or beating of drums. In our view, in a civilized society in the name of religion, activities which disturb old or infirm persons, students, or children having their sleep in the early hours or during day-time or other persons carrying on other activities cannot be permitted. It should not be forgotten that young babies in the neighbourhood are also entitled to enjoy their natural right of sleeping in a peaceful atmosphere. A student preparing for his examination is entitled to concentrate on his studies without there being any unnecessary disturbance by the neighbours. Similarly, old and infirm are entitled to enjoy reasonable quietness during their leisure hours without there being any nuisance of noise pollution. Aged, sick people afflicted with psychic disturbances as well as children upto 6 years of age are considered to he very sensitive to noise. Their Rights are also required to be honoured.”
It transpired in the course of the submissions that at times there is rivalry between respective religious groups. In this case the rivalry appears to be between different places of worship of one religious group. It is commonly known that when there is call to prayer in the early hours of the morning at about 5.00 am, on the other hand amplifiers and loudspeakers blare forth recorded chantings of pirith”. The proceedings in this case evoked much response of persons who are buffeted by the countervailing forces of such amplified noise.
It may be appropriate here to state albeit briefly some matters with regard to the chanting of pirith” which dates back to the time of the Buddha. The chanting of pirith” takes place only upon an invitation addressed three times to the Maha Sangha. Chanting follows with compassion to the devotees who address the three-fold invitation.
Much respected Piyadassi Thero in his work titled The Buddha’s Ancient Path” has stated as follows (at page 17). That benefit could be derived only, by listening intelligently and confidently to paritta sayings because of the power of concentration that comes into being through attending whole-heartedly to the truth of the sayings.”
Thus there must necessarily be a close proximity between the person chanting and the person who is listening. Blaring forth the sacred suttas and disturbing the stillness of the environment, forcing it on ears of persons who do not invite such chant is the antethesis of the Buddha’s teaching.
I would finally refer to the important case in India In Re. Noise Pollution AIR 2005 S.C page 3136 especially because in that case the Supreme Court of India issued several directions in order to safeguard the people from the harmful effects of noise pollution.
The motion of the intervenient 6th Respondent is that similar directions be issued pertinent to our legal context in terms of Article 126(4) of the Constitution.
The Chief Justice of India commences his judgment delving into the etymology of the term ‘Noise’ itself and has noted that it is derived from the latin Nausea’ defined as unwanted sound. He has cited a leading authority which describes unwanted sound as a potential hazard to health and communication dumped into the environment without regard to the adverse effect it may have on unwilling ears and has continued to state that
noise is more than just a nuisance. It constitutes a real and present danger to people’s health. Day and night, at home, at work, and at play, noise can produce serious physical and psychological stress. No one is immune to this stress. Though we seem to adjust, to noise by ignoring it, the ear, in fact, never closes and the body still responds – sometimes with extreme tension, as to a strange sound in the night.”
Further, that noise is a type of atmospheric pollution. It is shadowy public enemy whose growing menace has increased in the modern age of industrialization and technological advancement.” (pages 3141 and 3142).
The Supreme Court of India has firmly rejected the contention that there is a fundamental right to make noise associated with the freedom of speech and expression. The Chief Justice observed –
Nobody can claim the fundamental right to create noise by amplifying sound of his speech with the help of loudspeakers. While one has a right to speech, and others have a right to listen or decline to listen. Nobody can be compelled to listen and nobody can claim that he has a right to make his voice trespass into the ears or mind of others. Nobody can indulge in aural aggression.” (page 3 141)
In an exhaustive survey, the Supreme Court of India has dealt with the developments in many other jurisdictions where comprehensive provisions have been made to safeguard people from the harmful effect of the public nuisance of noise pollution and finally the Court issued several directions (pages 3164 – 3165) including a direction that no one shall beat a drum or torn tom or blow trumpet or beat or sound any instrument or use any sound amplifier at night (between 10.00 and 6 am) except in public emergencies”.
There is no dispute in this case that People have been denied the equal protection of the law by the failure of the executive to establish by way of regulations an effective legal regime as mandated by Section 23P of the National Environmental Act No. 47 of 1980, as amended by Act No. 56 of 1988 to safeguard the public from the harmful effects of noise pollution. The facts also reveal that there are no guidelines for the effective implementation of the applicable provisions of law so as to provide to the people equal protection of the law guaranteed by Article 120) of the Constitution.
Directions
Accordingly, we consider it to be just and equitable in the circumstances of the case to make the following directions in terms of Article 126(4) of the Constitution:
i) That the emission of noise by the use of amplifiers, loudspeakers or other equipment or appliances which causes annoyance to the public or to the people in general who dwell or occupy property in the vicinity be considered a public nuisance in terms of Section 261 of the Penal Code and that the Police should entertain complaints and take appropriate action for the abatement of such public nuisance;
ii) That all permits issued by the Police under Section 80(1) of the Police Ordinance shall cease to be effective forthwith
iii) That no permits shall be issued in terms of Section 80(1) of the Police Ordinance other instruments for the amplification of noise as specified in that section covering the period 10 p.m. (night) to 6 a.m. (morning). Such permits may be issued for special religious functions and other special events only after ascertaining the views of persons who occupy land premises in the vicinity, a record of such matters to be maintained and the grant of any such permit shall be forthwith reported to the nearest Magistrates Court;
iv) That in respect of the hours from 6.00 a.m. to 10.00 pm permits may be issued for limited periods of time for specific purpose subject to the strict condition that the noise emitted from such amplifier or loudspeaker or equipment does not extend beyond the precincts of the particular premises.
v) Where a permit is issued in terms of Section 80(1) as provided in direction (iii) and (iv) sufficient number of Police Officers should be designated and posted to the particular place of use to ensure that the conditions imposed are strictly complied with;
vi) That the Police will make special arrangements to entertain any complaint of a member of the public against any person guilty of an offence of public nuisance as provided in Section 261 of the Penal Code or of using any loudspeaker, amplifier or other instrument as provided in Section 80 of the Police Ordinance contrary to any of these directions and take immediate steps to investigate the matter and warn such person against a continuance of such conduct. If the conduct is continued after that warning to seize and detain the equipment as provided in Section 80(4) of the Police Ordinance and to report the matter to the Registrar of this Court.
Copies of this Judgment to be sent to the Secretary, Ministry of Defence and the Inspector General of Police for immediate action to be taken in regard to – Directions stated above.
The Inspector General of Police to submit a report to Court as to the action taken on the judgment.
End
………………
Complaint against use of Loudspeakers at Temple Trees
The complainants staging demonstrations outside the Temple Trees have used the precedent of a Supreme Court Judgment of Chief Justice Sarath Silva delivered on November 09, 2007 in case No. 38 / 2005 as the legal basis of a complaint to the Police against Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse for using loudspeakers and amplifiers to broadcast Pirith at high decibel levels at Temple Trees to drown the sounds of the protests on April 28, 2020.
The Interim Order of the Supreme Court issued on November 09, 2007 required all Loudspeakers at Mosques to be dismantled and fresh applications be made for permits to use Loudspeakers under strict guidelines. The Police was required to seek the consent of the people in the neighborhood of the Mosques before deciding on the grant of a permit.
Apparently the caretakers of Temple Trees have not obtained a prior permit from the Police as required under the guidelines of the Interim Order of the Supreme Court before using the loudspeakers to broadcast Pirith.
That is the basis of the complaint to the Police. The public have a Right to Silence. Loudspeaker is not part of the fundamental right of freedom of worship.
Colombo, April 28 (DailyMirror) – Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is presently facing one of the toughest challenges in his political career with certain sections of the population calling on him to step down with the present crises.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Mirror, Mahinda Rajapaksa has urged the people to be patient, stating it was not practical for him and the President to resign because they had been elected through a mandate. He further said, there was no split between the two brothers and they were resolving the issues to restore normalcy soon.
Excerpts –
Q Prime Minister, today, I am meeting you at a time when certain sections of the population are calling on you to resign and go home. Just last year no one would have imagined this. What do you feel about this?
It is alright for me to see this. In a country like Sri Lanka, there is a democracy where people are against me and for me, so people can express their views and opinions. They have a right to do that. Back then when I delivered what the public wanted by ending the war, doing development, bringing in investments, strengthening the economy etc., they wanted me. But today certain sections do not want me anymore, so they are calling on me to go. So that is alright. That is human nature to forget what has been done for the people of this country. They are free to express their opinions because of the very democracy that we protected and gave them.
It is alright for me to see this. In a country like Sri Lanka, there is a democracy where people are against me and for me, so people can express their views and opinions. They have a right to do that. Back then when I delivered what the public wanted by ending the war, doing development, bringing in investments, strengthening the economy etc., they wanted me. But today certain sections do not want me anymore, so they are calling on me to go. So that is alright. That is human nature to forget what has been done for the people of this country. They are free to express their opinions because of the very democracy that we protected and gave them.
We have got a mandate and if people want to change us, they can do it through an election”
Q You polled in with the highest preferential votes at the 2020 General Elections. But today people are on the roads against you and the President. What can you say about that?
Only certain sections of the people are saying this. There are some groups within these sections who are those who were always against us. It is these people who are asking us to go. But it is not practical. We came in through a mandate. Just because certain people want us to go does not mean we will go. We have got a mandate and if people want to change us, they can do it through an election.
Q But even now do you think your vote base is intact?
Absolutely. These same voters will vote for me again at the next elections, because they know who I am and what I am. I have that confidence. See, those masses are not protesting against me. Just because certain sections are calling on me to go, does not mean those hundreds of thousands who voted for us, want us to go. These protestors alone do not represent the entire population, although their views are also respected.
Q Prime Minister, the Rajapaksa name has been severely tarnished because of the present issues. People are carrying out the ‘GoHomeRajapaksa’ campaign in full swing. How do you feel about this?
This is not new to us. This has been going on for many years. But still, we are here. We came in through a mandate because we are the people’s choice. We are with the people. We are from the people. When we are with the people, we have confidence as well and we perform accordingly. We are here because the people want us. The day the people want us to go, we will go. In 2015, we lost the elections. And then in 2019, we came back. So the majority are with us.
Q Right now there are reports of a split between your brother President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and yourself. There are reports of infighting between the two brothers and this has led to severe political instability in the country. What can you say about this?
This is all false. Gotabaya Rajapaksa is the President. So I must always respect him as the President. He maybe my younger brother, but that is a different matter. That is a personal relationship. But he is the President and I respect him for that. Like everyone else we also argue, even in the cabinet we argue. But our arguments stop there. He is the President and I am the Prime Minister and we are on the same page. If there are arguments between both of us we cannot continue to function as President and Prime Minister. It is not good for the country. So there is nothing of that sort what you have said in your question. We are able to sit together and discuss all the present issues and reach agreements on how to move forward.
We are in discussions with several countries. We are meeting the Ambassadors here very frequently.”
Q Prime Minister, you presented your brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the presidential candidate in 2019. You convinced the people to vote for him. Today, see where we are. Do you have any regrets?
Not at all. I personally feel Gotabaya Rajapaksa has performed well and done a fantastic job. It is true that we are facing issues today, but we are also working hard to restore normalcy as soon as possible. All we care about right now is providing relief to the people and seeing ways in which we can get the economy back on track. You must realize when Gotabaya took over the Presidency we had the COVID-19 pandemic and that impacted us. Our foreign exchange inflow was severely impacted. But at the same time, we also vaccinated the population when countries were still struggling. So it is not true when anyone says the President failed. Together, we are now looking at ways and means to sort the ongoing economic issues and we are confident this will all be over soon and the people will get relief.
Q So you are confident that these issues can be sorted by you and the President?
Absolutely and we are already working on it. With the cabinet, and with the MPs, we can definitely get out of this and resolve these issues soon.
Q You say you are working on it, but even today people are not getting their basics. There is a fuel shortage, power cuts are continuing, there is a shortage of medicines and food. You have not been able to give the basics to your citizens. So how are you confident that you can end all this?
You see every government had faced this issue. Not only this government. We are short of money at this moment. And we have to pay for the oil as we depend on other countries for our oil purchases. Although there have been delays we have been making payments and getting the consignments released. We are ensuring that these basic essentials are supplied to the citizens as much as possible. Today we have been able to reduce the duration of power cuts. We are distributing fuel to the sheds as soon as the consignments are unloaded. Parties such as the World Bank and other agencies are assisting us in getting the much needed medical supplies. We are ensuring the people have food. Of course, we cannot deny there is an issue. But we as a government are also ensuring that the supplies continue and it reaches the public as soon as possible. Just be a bit patient as we will resolve this economic crisis soon. And we are being able to do that is because this government, its cabinet and its MPs are strong.
Back then when I delivered what the public wanted by ending the war, doing development, bringing in investments, strengthening the economy etc., they wanted me. But today certain sections do not want me anymore, so they are calling on me to go. So that is alright”
Q You say this government will resolve this crisis soon to restore normalcy. But how exactly do you plan to do that?
As an immediate solution there are countries which are willing to help us. And we have started discussions with them and they have responded positively.
Q Do you think your government can end these shortages and resolve the economic issues by this year?
Yes. We are confident of that. That is why we are asking people to be patient. Because once this is resolved we have a lot of investments and development planned. A roadmap to economic recovery. Just be a bit patient. Any government would have faced this today. Not only us. But it is because this government is so strong that we can resolve this soon. I am confident we will come out of it.
Q What are the countries you’re in discussions with to seek economic assistance?
We are in discussions with several countries. We are meeting the Ambassadors here very frequently. The Finance Minister met many leaders on the sidelines at the IMF meetings. They have all promised to help us and now our discussions with them have begun.
Q Where did you all go wrong Prime Minister? How did it reach the situation we are in today?
We are studying this. We have already sought the advice of some top economic experts regarding this.
Q On the political front the SJB has moved a no-confidence motion against you. Now your own MPs- who were loyal to you at one time- are against you and gathering support for this motion. Some of the examples I can take are Udaya Gammanpila, Wimal Weerawansa and Tiran Alles. There are other names as well. What can you say about this?
There has to be a reason for them to do what they are doing to go against me. I do not know what this reason is, but that is something only they know. They have not come and met me, but when I see them, I do speak to them. But they should have come and spoken to me, before they made any decision. If we had worked together that would have been the right thing to do rather than go against me like this. Even today I am ready for discussions with them and see what their concerns against me are. But it is up to them.
It is true that we are facing issues today, but we are also working hard to restore normalcy as soon as possible. All we care right now is providing relief to the people and seeing ways in which we can get the economy back on track. You must realize when Gotabaya took over the Presidency we had the COVID-19 pandemic and that impacted us. Our foreign exchange inflow was severely impacted. But at the same time we also vaccinated the population when countries were still struggling”
Q On Monday Gammanpila went far as to say that 120 MPs were now ready to vote against you in the NCM. He said you have also conveyed to certain groups that you are ready to resign as the Prime Minister. Is this true?
At this moment I still hold the majority seats in Parliament. But I do not know if this would change. That is politics. If a majority of the MPs feel I must go, then I must go. There is no question about this.
Q So if you lose your 113 seats and lose the majority, would you step down?
Yes I will. Why should I hold on to my position then? I will not hang on. I am not a leader like that. After my defeat in 2015, I returned to power because a majority of the citizens in this country wanted me back. I came in through a mandate.
Q If you lose the majority, what would your plans be? Will you quit the government and sit in the opposition?
It all depends on how many MPs are with us. If we have the majority we would continue being in the government. If we lose the majority we would have to go sit in the opposition. The opposition is not a strange place for me.
Q Right now there is a protest outside Temple Trees. Can you hear the protestors saying your government has failed?
This is democracy. This is not the first time though. There have been protests earlier against me as well. People have the right to voice against me. But when an election approaches the people will vote for us, because we have delivered over the years.
Q There are rumours that you are in talks with UNP Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to form a fresh government, under Ranil’s presidency. Is there any truth in that?
Not at all. I have not discussed any such thing with him. I have not held talks with Sajith as well, because Sajith thinks he can be the President, if not the Prime Minister.
Q You mentioned in Parliament that you want to bring in the 19th amendment and abolish the Executive Presidency. What is happening to that?
A subcommittee has been appointed to study how we can bring back certain clauses from the 19th and 20th amendment and incorporate this into the 21st amendment. So that is being worked on. But that will take a short while. Till then we have to accept that people have voted for an executive president.
Q My final question. You have a son in Parliament. Do you think the present situation has put an end to his political career?
It all depends on him. He (Namal) cannot sell his father’s name, or his uncle’s name or his grandfather’s name to be in politics. He has to come up with the people. If you are with the people, no one can remove you. This is what happened with me. I was with the people, and I am still with the people. For 55 years I have been with the people. No one can deny that. From 1970s I have dedicated myself to the people every day, to this day and will continue doing so. (Jamila Husain)
The case filed against former Minister Namal Rajapaksa and five others, for allegedly purchasing stocks using ill-gotten funds amounting to Rs 30 million has been fixed for further hearing.
When the case was called today, the accused including Namal Rajapaksa appeared before Colombo High Court Judge Navaratne Marasinghe.
Further examination of evidence in the case was postponed to September 14 and the witnesses were issued summons to appear before the court on that day.
The case was filed during the Yahapalana government, pursuant to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, against six individuals including MP Namal Rajapaksa for allegedly investing misappropriated money of Rs 30 million to purchase stocks from the Gowers Corporate (Pvt) Ltd.
The concept of democracy for government administration arrived in Sri Lanka with foreign invasion, especially by Europeans. In the book of John Doily, the sketch of the Kandian Kingdom attempted to give reasonable details of the system of administration in Sri Lanka in the past and it indicated that Sri Lanka had an authoritative rule and people did not attempt to question the administration anything about the rules and the format of the government and attempted to bear the consequences of administration as they were own problem but not the issue of the government. People did their work for a living and they did not want to earn qualifications and experience and skills to go overseas. The environment has been changed during the past several decades and leftists educated people to fist against the administration on the role of contribution. Current Galle Face Protest reflects the reality of misleading politics.
It was the nature of administration in other countries and tourists arrived in Sri Lanka for example Marco Polo also confirmed the nature of administration and it is clear that there was no proof of democracy in political administration in Sri Lanka. However, John Doily noted that the king had been listening to the views of chief Buddhist monks because if the decision of the government went against Buddhist feelings it could be an administrative problem in the country and people would have gone against the administration of the king.
The current protest indicates that protestors have neither vision nor a plan to administer the country. How to solve current problems they have no idea and many were motivated by alcohol and other individual incentives. The rule of a free market system could be used to destroy the society and the education obtained by protestors is not used to critical think about the outcomes of protests.
Sri Lanka had complicated issues that were related to the economy, religions, castes, languages and many others, despite these issues, people did not ignore performing production and service activities and they performed their work, Robert Knox pointed out a crisis and how the king attempted to solve the problem. A similar situation may have been in other countries, but they are ignored and their approach of them seems to be different from one country to other.
Mahinda Rajapaksa gave leadership to settle an ethnic issue, later Rajapaksa family misunderstood the role and allowed many members of the family to enter political administration people did not like such authority and the opposition people gradually developed and Rajapaksa was silent on this matter.
The current crisis in Sri Lanka is associated with many issues and it has gone to the international level, people who are motivated are in a difficult situation to manage the problem. The main issue is those who provided food and drinks to protestors are relegated to spending their wealth to maintain the protest and motivators have become vindicated. For a short period, they can financially afford it, but they expected this type of cross to carry. One way, motivated and associated leaders of the protest were relegated to many difficulties spending their wealth for work like charities and deteriorating the expected result and it is a gradually coming to a situation explains in a traditional saying of Sri Lanka, if you go home your wife will be killed and if you stay on the road you would be killed by the secret lover of own wife”. This is also an example of another traditional Sinhala saying Think before Jump to a conclusion”.
It seems that university students manipulated the crisis and certain capitalist media owners supported it, now all want to give up and they (supporters) don’t want to show that they lost money and many others. According to a general estimate based on the past information, this is the outcome of the leftist and Marxist based struggle in Sri Lanka. The biggest mistake done by the Rajapaksa family as they attempted to get power into their hands and it was reflected by people and had sufficient evidence to go against it.
It seems that president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has wisely handled his situation, one thing his decisions were reviewed and made decisions without allowing protesters to break the law and giving them time to get tired of the protestors. The probable reaction of protestors may go against leaders who have no answers to the problems of the country and although they expected the killing of more protestors by the government forces such actions have not come to be realized. The history of Sri Lanka has confirmed this type of outcome many left political parties dead at their birthplace and financial contributors to protest lost an unexpected volume of money.
Many supporters of the struggle have no idea that radical university students are associated with the struggle and have honestly support for protest or not and they are following the statement of Rohana Wijeweera that we have nothing to lose but there is a world to win. This was a blind idea based on Marxism. Where is that world on this planet or somewhere else, nobody knows? Finally, all supporters need to understand that there is no medicine for stupidity. After the revolution in 1917 people had to bear many difficulties.
One thing true in the current situation is if the Rajapaksa family got away from the politics, the crisis would have not come effective and they should have wisely thought about the situation. India, China, Japan, America and other countries knew about this situation and ethnic leaders and religious leaders knew about the situation. Why didn’t religious leaders advise the Rajapaksa family about this situation? The Rajapaksa family has been in the wrong footage that people would agree with them. Sri Lanka has many economic problems that cannot solve overnight.
On 21st April 2019, 8 suicide bombers carried out attacks on 3 churches, 3 hotels and 1 guest house. This mass suicide killed close to 300 people and has injured many more. It took place during the government of President Maithripala Sirisena & Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe. The suicides took place inspite of over 90 intel warnings from India before the attacks, giving even names of the suicide bombers & locations of the attacks. These facts are well known to all in particular the Cardinal. The subsequent investigations reveal that a number of people (politicians, public officials & others) were also aware of the intel on the attacks while weeks previously there was enough of evidence to presume something was brewing after discovery of weapons & other untoward incidents. However, suddenly, the whole narrative is being changed & the key to returning to the correct narrative is found in the tape released by Zaharan & his suicide team hours before the suicide attacks.
The link will enable you to listen to the entire tape & the English translation, however to facilitate the discussion & to ensure Cardinal & his team are not led astray Zaharan’s reasons for the attacks are given below.
Zaharan begins by acknowledging his allegiance to Allah as the Supreme.
Here, we are told that Zaharan & team are only carrying out a ‘noble’ deed ‘encouraged in Islam’ – we presume this to be taking one’s life for one’s faith.
This confirms that Zaharan & team are sacrificing their lives & they view the suicide attack as a ‘heroic death attack’ and towards martyrdom.
Zaharan has also provided the answer to why he is carrying out the suicide attack. Unfortunately, it is not to bring any political party or individual to power as is being suddenly promoted. Zaharan refers to a village in Syria which had been victim of over 80 crusades & the village had been completely destroyed after showering white phosphorous.
Zaharan says that he is doing the suicide attack on behalf of these people who were burnt by the crusade countries.
We do not need to remind Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of that dark past as he will know only too well how white phosphorous was also used in the recent past.
Zaharan goes on to bewail the deaths that occurred to have children lose their parents, their husbands and killing of mujahideens but his assertion that the people whom he killed committed these murders is wrong & unfair by the dead. Zaharan says that he and his team are avenging the murders during the crusades.
So for crimes that took place hundreds of years earlier Zaharan & his team is carrying vengeance to follow an eye for an eye revenge triggered by the New Zealand mosque attack.
The Cardinal must seriously address this issue for obviously there are many who are holding grudge against the crusades & likewise vice versa. It is unfortunate that people who had nothing to do with the crimes during the Crusades or the crime that took place in New Zealand were targeted & killed.
That the Cardinal needs to revisit this dark past is imperative because Zaharan said that this struggle is a Creed Struggle & that they will not think twice about become martyrs for a cause. This issue is something between these 2 parties & unnecessarily impacting on others.
Zaharan has made clear what the ultimate goal is – to turn a nation into Shariah and use jihad to do so. There is no negotiations & we are to expect bombs. This was exactly what happened. There is again no mention of any political party, elections of preference for any politician.
Zaharan warns everyone of the consequences.
We are told that his men would travel in vehicles laden with explosives & this was exactly what happened. Each of them had no skull left.
Zaharan next says to go after ‘disbelievers’ – who are they?
Zaharan next gives further examples of why he & his associates are carrying out the attacks.
Zaharan says that Islam does not differentiate a civilian & army and Islam has only 2 divisions – Believer and Disbeliever. A Disbeliever is spared only if he pays taxes. These are all topics separate to the discussion. But it does however highlight a historical angst that the Cardinal may need to deal with & provide closure. This is where real reconciliation is needed. This is an anger getting carried forward through centuries.
Luckily this guy is no more!
Once again Zaharan reiterates that the suicide is for Allah & his religion – Cardinal it is not to put anyone in power as someone has led you to believe.
The other important fact mentioned here is that the explosives were prepared by them with. The money used for this was their own & no disbelievers money was used. This also nullifies any of Cardinal’s overtures that the Easter Attack had political motives in planning or execution.
This is a premonition of what was to come. The tapes came to be known only after the attacks but the tapes tells us of the reasons why Zaharan & team desired to sacrifice their lives & attain martyrdom.
This is the first reference to Sri Lanka. Zaharan has throughout the tapes made mention of only 2 Sri Lankan names – one being Gnanasara Thero & the other is probably Mohammadu Ibrahim Mohamed Naufer, the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks or Mohamed Ibrahim the father of the 2 suicide bombers.
Listen to the entire transcript of the declaration hours prior to the suicide attacks. Their body language does not show any signs of remorse, sorrow or hesitancy for the acts of crime they were about to commit. From the tapes it is clear that martyrdom is viewed as a gift and suicide in the name of religion is not a crime in their eyes. These are certainly topics for debate yet the reason at this juncture is the erroneous manner the Easter Sunday attacks are being diverted to which is completely contradictory to what the suicide bombers planned to do as given in their own confessions.
Therefore, having listened to the tapes it completely nullifies the notions the Cardinal and the Church are suddenly peddling & it would be best that they listen to the tapes & relieve their doubts.
However, innocent people whatever their religion or ethnicity should not have to be victims of ancient rivalries. The Church & Islam must separately sort out their differences.
In the case of Easter Sunday mass murders – the reasons for the suicide is confessed by the main suicide bomber himself.
Therefore, the Cardinal & others peddling a political twist should allow the dead to rest in peace.
The sign “The Buck Stops Here” that was on President Truman’s desk in his White House office was made in the Federal Reformatory at El Reno, Oklahoma. Fred A. Canfil, then United States Marshal for the Western District of Missouri and a friend of Mr. Truman, saw a similar sign while visiting the Reformatory and asked the Warden if a sign like it could be made for President Truman. The sign was made and mailed to the President on October 2, 1945.
Buck passing, or passing the buck, or sometimes (playing) the blame game, is the act of attributing to another person or group one’s own responsibility. It is often used to refer to a strategy in power politics whereby a state tries to get another state to deter or fight an aggressor state while it remains on the sidelines -Wikipedia
Going by experience, if President Truman was a Sri Lankan, he may have to change the sign on his desk to The BUCK DOES NOT STOP here. One cannot recall a single instance when a President or a Prime Minister or a Minister accepted responsibility for actions, or inaction, that resulted in the breach of the social contract they have with the people. There have been many such instances. Politicians including those holding the highest office in the land, are elected to hold an office for a given period as representatives of the people, by the people. As Dr Deepika Udagama, former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka said at a recent interview, they are not elected to power” but elected to an office. That office has constitutional responsibilities and unwritten moral and ethical responsibilities.
The office holder at the apex, the President of the country, is elected to that office as the voters opine that he or she is the most suited to hold it. There is an expectation therefore that the office holder will act in a timely, wise, and informed way to ensure the people are not disadvantaged and lead to situations that could have been avoided had suitable action been taken in a timely, wise and informed manner.
The economic and increasing social calamity that has befallen the country is different to a Tsunami that could hit any country without notice, perhaps a days’ notice as experienced by Sri Lanka. The economic and social Tsunami that has hit Sri Lanka now did not unleash itself in a day, or two or a month, but waves were gathering at least for 18 months if not more, giving ominous signs of the impending disaster.
The worldwide impact of the Coronavirus was known that long ago. Its impact on Sri Lanka was known that long ago. It did not manifest in February or March this year. Sri Lanka knew the financial impact on its foreign income due to the hit on tourism, and on foreign remittances. Sri Lanka knew its foreign debt and debt interest commitments for 2020, 2021 and 2022, and well beyond into decades from now.
It knew the impact on its rupee income arising from a very injudicious decision taken to reduce numerous taxes, done entirely if not mostly to meet the demand of cronies who supported and perhaps funded the ruling party to come to power. It knew that it was subsidizing loss making State enterprises and bleeding the country for years. The worst of all such institutions being Sri Lankan Airlines which reportedly had an accumulated loss of Rs 316 billion as at 2020.
It printed rupees to cover the drop in income in a situation where the budget deficit was very high and unbridgeable for the foreseeable future. It printed money knowing inflation will rise very steeply, and cause prices to rise. Then, to make matters worse and compound the disaster, the suicidal decision to float the rupee was taken, causing the absolute calamity it has given rise to.
The rupee depreciate has exceeded 70 % now in less than 3 months, with no signs of any stability of the rupee. Many experts are of the view that had the depreciation of the rupee been done progressively, over a period, the catastrophe caused by the floating could have been avoided or at least mitigated.
Whoever the Executive President or Executive Prime Minister is, the office holder has access to the best brains of the country and the opportunity to seek advice from overseas experts as well. However, the availability of expert advice, and the ability to seek, listen and make a final considered judgement and decisions of course are two different things. This ability depends on the capability of the office holder to listen to advice offered, often by too many experts, weigh the advice given for its pros and cons, and make decisions that are more common sense oriented rather than on an ideological basis.
Given all of above, readers could make up their minds about how our leaders have taken responsibility for their actions or their inaction.
In 1983, the worst ever attack on innocent Tamils took place during a pogrom organized by a section of the government. No apology was offered by the then President and no action taken against anyone for the heinous incident. In more recent times, Sri Lanka had a President under whose watch 290 people were killed during a preventable terrorist attack on Easter Sunday in 2019. The buck certainly didn’t stop with the President, and to the best of the writer’s knowledge, not even an apology was offered to the families of people who lost their lives and to the country for letting this debacle happen. That buck roamed free and found some scapegoats.
In 2022, Sri Lanka has been subject to its worst ever economic shock and a never before bankruptcy of the country. Again, at least the severity of the hardships faced by the country could have been prevented had action been taken at least 12 to 18 months ago. This could have been done and no amount of excuses could exonerate the leaders from responsibility for not doing so. No one has taken responsibility for this catastrophe and the buck is roaming free once again looking for scapegoats!
It is unclear whether those at the top of the political heap genuinely feel and understand the pain felt by virtually all people of the country. Cooking gas shortages, huge price increase of gas when available, medicine shortages, food shortages, fuel (diesel, petrol and kerosine) shortages, power cuts, small business being shut due to their inability to exist, unbearable price increases of all essential items, queues for all essentials, have all become the day-to-day life for millions of people.
In this desperate situation, people are being subject to a political drama with each side crowing they could do a better job than the other side. At a time when political parties should have got together to agree on immediate steps that need to be taken to alleviate the pain experienced by ordinary people, and work together on the steps agreed, the campaigns being fought are to secure power, not to address the immediate problems and the suffering of the people.
If there is any genuineness on the part of the political parties, they should defer their quest for power and work together at least for the next 12 months until the suffering of the ordinary people could be alleviated, and their essential needs made available to them along with a financial compensation package considering the sky-high cost of living experienced by them. The tax cuts that were made late in 2019 should be reversed and the revenue generated utilized to meet the cost of such a compensation package.
Experts of all shades are doing a great analysis as to what led to the current situation. This is good although most of these experts were not airing their views and analysing the flawed policies when successive governments followed these flawed policies. The challenge now is an immediate one. That is to find money to buy food, medicines, fuel and gas. The country cannot debate the flaws on the cart and its wheels when the horse is about to die. There will be a time for that when the horse is well enough to pull the cart.
