Courtesy Adaderana

Business tycoon Dhammika Perera is tipped to enter the parliament through the National List of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), sources told Ada Derana.

According to sources, Mr. Perera is also expected to take up a ministerial portfolio involving the investment sector.

Reportedly, Mr. Perera will fill the National List parliamentary seat likely to be vacated by former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

It was reported earlier today, that the former minister is planning to step down from his parliamentary seat.

Courtesy Adaderana

Former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has decided to step down from his parliamentary seat, political sources of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna told Ada Derana.

According to sources, Basil Rajapaksa is expected to deliver a special statement in this regard tomorrow. 

KAMALIKA PIERIS

The departure of Mahinda Rajapaksa from the Pohottu government resembled a scene from a film. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had asked Brother Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign as Prime Minister. Instead, on May 9. 2022, Mahinda Rajapaksa convened a meeting of his supporters,   at Temple Trees, and asked them whether he should go or stay. Stay! yelled the loyal supporters. Mahinda Rajapaksa agreed to stay. This was shown on television news.

Then to the surprise of the watching television audience, his ‘supporters’ dashed to Galle Face, armed with poles   and attacked the Gotagama protesters there. They systematically tore down the tents and destroyed the stalls. Television cameras were there filming it all. In events like this, television cameras usually come after the event. In this case they were running alongside, recording for posterity.

There was an immediate reaction by the ‘peaceful’ group. Their reaction was anything but peaceful. They tracked down the Mahinda Rajapaksa supporters who had come from outstation. They knew exactly where the buses that brought them were parked. They went there and damaged the buses. Supporters were pushed into the Beira canal and made to stay there. All this took place amidst much shouting and jeering. No film director could have orchestrated this better. In fact it was just like     watching an action film. Better actually, because this was ‘live’.

Who organized this, asked Shenali Waduge. Who instructed them to attack the unarmed peaceful protestors”. Did they bring poles with them to the meeting or were they given poles at Temple Trees. It is suggested that supporters inside Temple Trees did not have poles. By 3 p.m. another set of people, mostly youth had arrived. They, it seemed, were armed with the poles.

Within a few hours of the Gotagama attack, came the announcement that Mahinda Rajapaksa had resigned as Prime Minister. No reason was given. There was much rejoicing. Then the protestors converged on Temple Trees and wanted to get inside. That was also shown to us on television. It was reported that at least 10 petrol bombs were thrown into the compound.

In a  pre-dawn operation, Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family were evacuated to safety by helicopter, by the army. He was airlifted out of Temple Trees as the crowds were waiting to attack him if he came out of Temple Trees.  Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family  were taken to Navy House inside  the  Navy  Headquarters in Trincomalee .

The next morning crowds arrived  at the entrance to the Navy headquarters  in Trincomalee and started to abuse Mahinda Rajapaksa calling him a thief and traitor. They wanted him taken prisoner. They kept up the verbal attack for hours. Each time you looked at TV news there they were, yelling. Those in front can be easily identified. They looked well rehearsed.

 Later, Mahinda Rajapaksa in a statement to the CID  said that he had not incited SLPP supporters to attack  Gotagama. He said  that if he  knew about the attack, he would definitely, have  stopped  it. We can accept this. Mahinda Rajapaksa is   Sri Lanka‘s most seasoned politician.  He is hardy likely to   commit such a blunder. The attack on Gotagama was staged by  an  anti- Mahinda group.

People are puzzled as to the animosity towards Mahinda Rajapaksa .People have asked me why do people hate Mahinda Rajapaksa so. Anura Gunasekera has offered an answer. Despite his easy camaraderie, hail-fellow-well-met persona and the diligently cultivated rustic appeal, Mahinda Rajapksa is fascist to the core. Mahinda is a total hypocrite, said Anura Gunasekera.

The long political career of a vainglorious man, signposted by overwhelming political victories, ignominious rejection and defeat, miraculous resurgence, accusations of massive corruption and complicity in the intimidation of opponents, has come to an inglorious end,   said Anura.

 It is the hypocrisy of this man,  so easily believed by the gullible Sinhala-Buddhist polity, which has brought our nation to this sorry pass. Such evil men must never be allowed access to positions of power. It is the Sinhala-Buddhist majority which gave them the license to pillage the nation,. Perhaps the grim present provides a lesson that they will not forget in the future, concluded Anura Gunasekera (.Island 5.6.22 p 9 )  

On the contrary, Mahinda Rajapaksa  is the only politician in Sri Lanka today, who has  a  well earned personal following. No other politician can  match this. People still remember, with gratitude,  that he  ended the war.  He    has many  significant  development projects to his credit as well.

When Mahinda Rajapaksa lost in the general election of 2015, crowds ran to his residence in Tangalle the day after. They wanted him back. They attended rallies in support of him. It was the fastest post-defeat turnaround in Sri Lankan political history, said Dayan Jayatilleke.  Mahinda Rajapaksa was  an important factor in the 2019 election as well. The vote for Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019  was actually a vote for Mahinda Rajapaksa .

Mahinda Rajapaksa was humiliated, jeered at  and chased away from Temple Trees by a well planned anti-Mahinda movement In May 2022. It is a pity that it  ended this way. Mahinda Rajapaksa had the opportunity to go down n history as  a very successful head of state, leaving with dignity, in 2016,after  two terms in office.

Shenali D Waduge

Sri Lanka is an island nation. A government is elected only for a term. A government is only temporary custodian and guardian of the State. A State comprises its People and its Resources. These resources are to be enjoyed not only by this generation but future generations as well. Therefore, it is everyone’s moral duty to ensure that future generations enjoy the resources in the same manner as the present one. This means no government can dish out land to a segment of people which not only violates the doctrine of Public Trust but violates the fundamental right of Equality.

In ancient times, the King held the powers of Public Trust to land & resources. Apart from illegal invasions and forceful takeover of lands, the kings did not forfeit the land except for Don Juan Dharmapala, Prince Vijayapala and of course the Kandyan Chieftans who signed 1815 Kandyan Convention.

Two colonial British Ordinances have paved the way for post-independent governments to break the Public Trust doctrine and violate the fundamental rights of the People (present & future generations).

1. Crown Land Encroachment Ordinance of 1840 – vested 90% of our land (natural forests, wasteland, unoccupied, cultivated, uncultivated lands) under the British. The British then began systematically destroying natural forests where rainfall served the crops with intent to destroy our agriculture & grow commercial crops/cash crops.

1. Land Development Ordinance 19 of 1935 – permits given with conditions for the purpose of cultivation. To be given land & continue living on the land, people had to cultivate. LDO permits prohibited sale & mortgage of land.

In 1982, the JR Jayawardena government gave 5million people 1.2million acres of LDO land permits under Swarna Bhoomi, Jaya Bhoomi, Ratna Bhoomi, Ranbima programs.

Post-independent Sri Lanka did not research the statutes & ordinances on land & create a national land policy. In 1985 the Land Commission presented a policy to use land & water resources however ministers chose to do as they liked as a result of the statutes/ordinances distributed among different ministries. The failure to establish a legal mechanism has led to foreigners waltzing in with their research of our land & recommending how we use it to the advantage of their funding agencies.

1. The British began Torrens Law title registration in 1866 and 1897 – implemented in Australia. Torrens Law was introduced to Sri Lanka in 1998 (Act 21 of 1998) as Bim Saviya.

What the 1840 Crown Lands Ordinance did was to continue using Bim Saviya – to confiscate lands if owners did not have ‘deeds’ or title registration. The Act was passed because it came with the carrot of funding inspite of the Committee claiming forceful registration & removal of deed system was disadvantageous to land owners.

US influenced World Bank funded $3.4m to introduce Bim Saviya in Sri Lanka. Implementation of this would repeal existing deed system, Roman Dutch Law & make all land statutes subordinate to Torrens Law (Bim Saviya)

1. Next is the most dangerous MCC $480m project – which is part of the US national strategy combining 3Ds – Defense-Diplomacy-Development & rolled out through ACSA-SOFA-MCC. MCC.

1. Already Sri Lanka took a loan of $154m to be paid to a US company to carry out cadastral mapping of Sri Lanka.

1. US companies are handling our land registries

1. US companies are handling our land information system

1. US companies are surveying our land

1. US companies are developing an electronic land hub for National Land Title Program for which US embassy even advertised for expressions of interest

1. On 28 June 2019, the Yahapalana Government tabled the State Lands (Special Provisions) Bill. The Bill, if enacted would have privatized 84% of land that belonged to the People (State). Sri Lanka would have become perhaps the only State without land. This would have raised the question of sovereignty, national security, key fundamental rights of the masses and plenty more issues that no politician would have been in a legal position to answer or solve. With no land under the State to control or tax, there would have been no reason to hold elections, to have a Government & it would have nullified the need for a Parliament of 225 Politicians.

• Envisaging the chaos further, privatization of Sri Lanka would have even led to the declaration of Tamil Eelam after LTTE diaspora begin to buy over lands in North & East. Already LTTE Diaspora is proposing to settle Sri Lanka’s $52b debt if Eelam is given.

• Entire Sri Lanka would have eventually ended up in the auction house. It was fortunate that President Sirisena stood his ground against it while a court case to everyone’s fortune resulted in the Supreme Court declaring the proposed Bill incompatible with Sri Lanka’s constitution. Pathfinding to MCC via privatizing Sri Lanka’s state land is a key component mentioned in the MCC agreement & promoted by Pathfinder organization as well as other foreign-funded entities going out of their way to promote MCC implementation.

The caretaker Prime Minister who was instrumental in bringing MCC is attempting to use the economic crisis as a ruse to once again forfeit State land, claiming farmers need to have a title possession to get loans. This is not true as farmers have been getting loans without title deed for decades.

Giving a title to already poor farmers will end up in the farmer having to pledge the deed to the bank, the land being forfeited for non-payment & bank auctioning land & foreigners purchasing land or using local front to do so.

This will result in the farmer not only losing the land his family has been living on for generations, but he & family will end up homeless, landless and livelihood-less as well.

With State land reducing in such a manner, a govt loses ability to tax, in such a scenario, the govt has no control over land & no means to even help these homeless & livelihood-less people. Sri Lanka is likely to end up like Hawaiians who have lost their land ownership.

The next important factor associated with Public Trust is that the govt cannot distribute land freehold as the government is only a temporary custodian. Giving land only to a segment of people (farmers) also violates the principle of equality. This implies all the 22million citizens have to be given equal share of state land while also preserving land for future generations. This is an impossible action which simply denotes that the govt cannot alienate land for whatever reason.

Attempts to alienate land outright to a segment must be objected as there is little point in holding the President, Govt, Public Officials/Judges & lawyers accountable by even seizing their assets or imprisoning them or even removing their civic status, as they cannot return the value of the land lost.

Therefore, the most important solution is to PREVENT such actions by a temporary custodian.

A govt must facilitate farmers to farm, giving a title deed is not the solution & will hardly help farmers. Let the government not try to fool the masses any more than they have already.

Shenali D Waduge

Sangadasa Akurugoda

Answering the last question raised by the interviewer at a live televised conversation with Prof. Ajith Dissanayake  under the ‘’Big Question’’ program of Sri Lanka Rupavahini dated 24^th May 2002 (https://youtu.be/s73PKlWj4cg) , Prof. Dissanayake quite correctly hinted who should be behind the current turmoil  in Sri Lanka. He sighted Rukada Natya (Puppet dramas) as an example.

The themes of Rukada Natya are chosen from folktales, Buddhist stories, ancient literature, historical narratives and trivia with humorous anecdotes from contemporary life or Nadagam, an extinct form of ‘folk opera’. Puppeteers make their own wooden puppets and prepare with dialogues, music and songs, which they recite while manipulating the puppets. Perhaps due to the arrival of the television and other electronic entertainment media since late-1970s, traditional puppet drama which allowed the community members to laugh and have fun together has begun to lose its popularity. We remember how some were going to see puppet dramas based on the specific themes while others were going to see anything as long as it is a drama. Although some of the observers are aware or could see (if interested) who are responsible for manipulating the string puppets and providing the voice, music and songs etc, no one can see who is choosing/making the puppets and providing the script since they are not visible at the drama site but are residing outside. 

Prof. Dissanayake answering another question said Ranil Wickramasinghe , the current PM, has made a world record of becoming the PM for the 6^th time of a country and asked the interviewer to decide the outcome of his appointment thinking about his past records and how he has handled the country’s issues.  Further he said Ranil represented the interest of the West and is a very obedient person to them where as Rajapaksa group followed the international politics of middle path.

As far as we are aware, Ranil who became PM 2001-2004 was neither the Head of the Executive nor the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers signed an agreement with the terrorist leader Prabhakaran in 2002. The agreement arranged by the Norwegians blindly gave some areas of the North and Eastern Provinces to the LTTE under so-called “LTTE territories”, without the knowledge or the approval of the country. Unless this foolish agreement was abrogated and LTTE defeated militarily to remove the so-called “LTTE territories”, the situation of the country would be entirely different today.  Ranil’s leadership always wanted the government of Sri Lanka to satisfy the requirements of the so-called international community and the Norwegians, who were openly interfering with the internal affairs of a sovereign nation (Sri Lanka) with sinister motives and made wild declarations openly accepting a federal solution without even having the decency to consult or to get the consensus of the other political parties before making such a declaration.

Ranil, who became PM once again in 2015, curtailed the President’s powers (since the country had since 1978) via 19A. Apart from the total failures of the so-called ‘’yahapalanaya’’  we still remember  the two bond scams perpetuated by the UNP under his leadership and how he justified  the signing of a controversial  MCC agreement before the last presidential election without presenting it to the Parliament.

We also remember how John Kerry who was the US Secretary of state 2013-17 admitted how they meddled with Sri Lanka’s politics to change the regimes in 2015. A person who couldn’t enter the Parliament as an elected MP and rejected by even his own party supporters is now the PM of Sri Lanka. We remember how the then US Ambassador talked about democracy and behaved in the Parliament when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa  as PM in 2019 and  how the current US Ambassador is making statements and behaving   when President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Ranil as PM. What a democracy we have today! 

It is understandable that the Sri Lanka public can’t focus on Constitutional Changes, National Security or Unitary Status of the country because their priority is day to day existence. On the other hand, it looks like the politicians of all sides are largely thinking about their own survival and re-election. Unfortunately this situation is freely allowing the hidden agenda set by foreign powers and manipulated by NGOs and religious and extremist elements, similar to those of a Rukada Natya as indicated above by Prof. Dissanayake.

Sangadasa Akurugoda

Ramanie de Zoysa

Tamils for Biden: “Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is due to many factors. One major factor is the war and the money that Sri Lanka borrowed to buy destructive weapons.”

Response: Yes, the brutal war you terrorists heaped on us was the number one cause! Sri Lanka didn’t have any smart weaponry when the LTTE declared war on the State in July 1983; nor did Sri Lanka acquire hardcore weapons for another two and a half decades and the LTTE killing machine went on and on butchering people. Remind yourself of the Aranthalawa massacre, Anuradhapura attack, Kent and Dollar farms massacres, Dalada Maligawa attack, Kebithigollawa massacre, Central Bank bombing… and the list is endless! The last straw was the aerial bombardment of the Colombo city! In this environment, what do you expect the SLG to do? Play marbles till you cannibals flattened the whole country to the ground?

Tamils for Biden: “…Another is the massive corruption among government and defense department officials.”

Response: No arguments here; corruption among the politicians and officials is the biggest problem. Among the top corrupt names we notice Tamil names! Tamil Nadu is one of the most corrupt places on earth! So, we are not holding our breath until you lot come here and do any better!

Tamils for Biden:”… major reason for the crisis is the ethnic cleansing that forced most of the Tamils to quit small businesses, high tech-related jobs, manufacturing, exportation, and training, impeding Sri Lanka’s economic development, managerial efficiency, and productivity.”

Response: Now where’s the ‘ha ha’ emoji when you need it?!!! Who did ethnic cleansing? You Tamils or the SLG? You swine attacked Kent and Dollar farms and made mince meat out of people, infants, pregnant women and the old! You drove out Sinhala and Muslim inhabitants from the area you were occupying through sheer terror and violence? On the other hand you Tamils were very comfortable living, making money and enjoying government subsidised education and healthcare (even food in the 1940s, 50s) in ANY part of the country!

As for your inference that Sri Lanka collapsed economically because you violent, sadistic, racists left the country – Ha Ha Ha!!!!!

Tamils for Biden: “Racial discrimination in education and jobs, government oppression, land grabbing, the many pogroms (ethnic riots), plus countless other anti-Tamil actions have forced Tamils to leave Sri Lanka.”

Response: You say you had racial discrimination in education and jobs? The free education up to the level of first degree has been available in this country for every citizen and resident from the time Brits left! No one is denied any subsidies, be it in education, health or food! We can’t say the same about the Tamils though! Once a Tamil gets into a position they generally discriminated against everyone else – that is why WE left the country! You were not forced to leave Sri Lanka! You instigated the 1983 riots when you slaughtered 13 soldiers who were going about their daily duty! You engineered the 1983 riots, set fire to own houses, took photos and got asylum in wealthy countries like the US. That is why now you are there, kissing Biden’s axse!

Tamils for Biden: “It did not happen overnight. It started with the ethnic riots of 1977.”

Response: Damn right! It started with the Vadukkodai Resolution of 1972 when your leaders announced their desire to walk in shoes made of Sinhala skins. You racist scum!

Tamils for Biden: “Sri Lanka has maintained 90% of its military in Tamil areas, replacing Hindu temples with Buddhist symbols that Tamils hate to see in their neighborhoods and seizing the Tamils’ land.”

Response: Sri Lanka stations its military where there is anti-National mischief and daily security breaches! Yes, that’s right! Those are where you thieves live.

Replacing Hindu temples with Buddhist symbols? From end to end Sri Lanka has been inhabited by the Sinhala over the last 30,000 or so years. The country converted to Buddhism 2566 years ago. Since then every architectural excavation on this land finds Buddhist temples and Buddhist cultural structures- absolutely no Hindu monuments! We don’t need to replace anything as we have always been accommodating!

Tamils hate to see Buddhist symbols- yes, we know! Your racism is well known- well documented throughout history!

Tamils for Biden: “There are two million Tamils from Sri Lanka who proudly call them Eelam Tamils and live in foreign countries. Most of them are financially well-off, highly educated, and well trained and experienced in various fields.”

Response: Yes, those 2 million are well educated thanks to Sri Lanka’s free education! We are proud of it too!

Tamils for Biden: “A sovereign Tamil nation would survive without any economic trouble. Tamils will bring in highly skilled members of the diaspora to run the economy and other institutions in the sovereign Tamil Nation.”

Response: As for sovereign Tamil nation being without any economic trouble- just take a peek at neighbouring Tamil Nadu where 70 million Tamils live- 99.9% of the population are beggars!!! Ha Ha Ha!!!!

Bring in your highly skilled diaspora to run the country- No way! the Dutch brought those “highly skilled” hoards in 1700s to grow tobacco and to build roads; the Brits brought another herd in the 1800s to grow tea! No more! Thanks!

Tamils for Biden: “If Sri Lanka agrees to amicable separation, the Tamil diaspora is ready to sign a treaty to pay Sri Lanka’s foreign debt.”

Response: You know very well where you can stick your drug running, prostitute pimping, credit – card – frauding dirty money! Stick it now!

By Parvej Siddique Bhuiyan 

The World Bank recently released and cataloged an item named “Unpacking the Silent Economic Revolution in Bangladesh” under ‘the ICP (International Comparison Programme) publications 2022-21’program on their website. On March 2, 2022, the item was first published in Pakistan’s internationally accepted weekly ‘The Friday Times. Basically ‘The World Bank has admired the economic development of Bangladesh through this ‘ICP Articles’. Bangladesh has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world. In particular, Bangladesh’s achievements in poverty alleviation are worth mentioning. Poverty alleviation is the main task of the World Bank. So, it is also happy with this achievement of Bangladesh.

Hartwig Schaefer, the outgoing Vice-President of the World Bank’s South Asian region, praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for Bangladesh’s economic development. At the same time, he promised that the World Bank would stand by the overall development of Bangladesh. At the meeting, World Bank Vice-President Hartwig Schaefer praised Bangladesh. He lauded the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and said, “Bangladesh is now far ahead of its neighboring countries in various economic and social directions.”

The World Bank (WB)-International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meeting in 2022 lauded Bangladesh for successfully implementing its policies to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and economic recovery from its effects.

However, it’s worth noting that the ICP is one of the largest statistical initiatives in the world. It is built on a partnership of international, regional, sub-regional, and national organizations that work under a strong governance framework and adhere to a set of statistical methodology, and it is supervised by the World Bank under the auspices of the United Nations Statistical Commission.

World Bank catalogued 31 pieces under its ICP Articles 2022-2021’ program at their website to understand the countrywide PPP.

The outcomes of the most recent (2022) round of the International Comparison Program are summarized in these articles (ICP). The ICP is a global statistical partnership that collects comparative price data, compiles precise expenditure values for countries’ gross domestic product (GDP), and estimates purchasing power parities (PPPs) for economies around the world. By converting currencies using PPPs rather than market exchange rates, it is possible to compare the output of economies and the material well-being of their citizens in real terms (that is, controlling for differences in price levels). Many countries in the world takes part in the ICP’s 2022 round in full. The World Bank’s International Comparison Program website has the complete results.

The ICP’s main aims are to:

I) calculate purchasing power parities (PPPs) and price level indexes (PLIs) for participating economies;

2) Using PPPs, convert gross domestic product (GDP) volume and per capita metrics, as well as their expenditure components, into a common currency.

3) PPPs are a measure of what an economy’s local currency can buy in another based on the price of a common basket of goods and services in each participating economy. Conversions based on market exchange rates reflect both price and volume disparities in spending, making them unsuitable for volume comparisons. PPP-based spending translations remove the effect of price level variations between economies, leaving only differences in volume to reflect.

The ICP provides reliable global economic data that allows countries to compare their prices, economic size, and material well-being to those of other countries. An economy that participates in the ICP gains access to a variety of capacity-building initiatives that aid in the development of national statistical capacity in the areas of price statistics and national accounts, as well as data collecting and quality assurance.

World Bank included on of the item tilted ‘‘Bangladesh’s silent economic revolution’ out of 31 items for the 2022-21 ICP articles. The article is excellent to understand the socio-economic condition of Bangladesh’

World Bank said trough the article that after declaring independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh celebrated its golden anniversary of freedom last year. Bangladesh’s image and identity in the international community have evolved over the years. It has progressed from being a recipient of aid to becoming a donor. In the country, there has been a quiet revolution.

The global economy has been destroyed by the Coronavirus epidemic. All of South Asia’s economy, including Bangladesh’s, have been adversely affected. Despite the pandemic, Bangladesh has outperformed the rest of South Asia in terms of economic development. The manufacture and export of ready-made clothing, as well as remittances from expatriates, have helped the country attain this accomplishment in its 50th year of independence.

The World Bank, an international lending organization, has given the South Asian economy a favorable outlook for overcoming the pandemic’s consequences. South Asia’s gross domestic product (GDP) could expand at 7.2 percent on average in fiscal year 2021, according to a report titled South Asian Economic Bounce Back but Face Fragile Recovery. After that, average growth in the fiscal year 2022 may be less than 4.4 percent.

Bangladesh has outpaced its two neighbors, India and Pakistan, in terms of economic development. For the current fiscal year, the government has set a growth target of 6.1 percent, with a target of 7.2 percent for the following fiscal year.

However, Bangladesh exceeded India in terms of GDP for two years in a row, and Bangladesh surpassed India in some social metrics seven years ago. Bangladeshi girls, for example, have a greater percentage of schooling and female birth than Indian girls. Bangladesh has lower baby and under-five mortality rates than India.

India is a massive nation. States like Bihar and Chhattisgarh, as well as Delhi and Punjab, are among them. As a result, the true picture of everyone does not emerge on average. Bangladesh, on the other hand, is unquestionably doing well. As a result of the rise in per capita GDP and wealth, we must consider a variety of social indices.

According to the International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS), an international think tank based in Toronto, Canada, Bangladesh, which former US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger acerbically referred to as a “bottomless basket case” in 1972, has performed better than Pakistan, the nation it separated from, in the last 50 years.

IFFRAS wrote in an article titled Bangladesh and Pakistan – Formerly One Nation, today a World Apart, published on July 30, 2021, that Bangladesh’s growth rate was far higher than Pakistan’s even before the epidemic, at 7.8% in 2018-19 compared to 5.8% in Pakistan. “Bangladesh became a ‘miracle story,’ whereas Pakistan became a ‘disaster narrative,” the paper says.

This was a hot topic in October of last year, when the IMF predicted Bangladesh’s progress for the first time. There has been a lot of coverage on this in the Indian press. Bangladesh hosts discussions as well.

Kaushik Basu, the former World Bank chief economist, tweeted about Bangladesh. “According to IMF forecasts, Bangladesh would exceed India in per capita GDP,” he added. The good news is that any newly developed economy will prosper. Surprisingly, India has fallen behind, having been 25% ahead five years ago. Now is the time for India to adopt a bold fiscal and monetary strategy.”

Bangladesh’s growth is not a result of chance. Bangladesh’s, India’s, and Pakistan’s economies have risen at a considerably quicker rate since 2004. Until 2016, this progress was maintained. However, in 2017, things began to shift. During the Coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh’s growth rate has accelerated dramatically. India’s population has increased by 21% in the last 15 years, whereas Bangladesh’s has increased by 18%. All of this has had an impact on per capita income. Bangladesh’s per capita GDP was half that of India even in 2007. India’s per capita GDP was 70% larger than Bangladesh’s in 2004. Now, World Bank showers praise on Bangladesh’s economic achievement. This is the World Bank’s recognition of the ‘‘Bangladesh’s silent economic revolution’ through ‘ICP Articles 2022-2021’ program’

The author is an economy, Security and Strategic Affairs Analyst.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, June 7 (AdaDerana) – The Cabinet of Ministers has unanimously agreed to serve without salaries for a period of one year, Minister Bandula Gunawardena says.

His remarks came during the media briefing convened this morning (June 07) to announce Cabinet decisions.

The relevant proposal has been presented by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, after taking into account the present situation of the country.

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, June 7: The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament on Tuesday, that Sri Lanka has been badly mishandling relations with its tried and trusted friends in the international sphere.

India, China and Japan are leading the list of countries that provide us with loans and assistance. Relations with these countries, which have always been strong, are now broken. Those relationships need to be rebuilt,” he said.

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Referring to Japan, the Prime Minister said: Japan is our long-time friend.  A nation that has helped our country greatly. But they are now unhappy with us due to the unfortunate events of the past. Our country had failed to formally notify Japan of the suspension of certain projects. Sometimes the reasons for these suspensions were not even stated. According to reports submitted by an individual, some projects undertaken by Japan in our country have been halted midway through.”

Japan and India had agreed to supply us with two LNG power plants. The CEB (Ceylon Electricity Board) stopped those two projects without any justifiable reason. Japan had agreed to provide about US$ 3 billion worth of projects to our country by 2019. All of these projects were put on hold for no reason. I urge the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance to conduct an inquiry into the suspension of such valuable projects granted to us by our longtime allies for unstated reasons.”

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe wants Sri Lankans to view foreign investors and aid givers in a different way. He said: Despite the alienation, India offered to help us in the face of the growing crisis. We express our respect and gratitude to them during this difficult time.  We are also working to re-establish old friendships with Japan.”

Spat With Russia  

With the Colombo Commercial High Court lifting its injunction against an aircraft belonging to Russia’s Aeroflot Airlines on Monday, the a five-day spat between Moscow and Colombo ended, but not without leaving a bad taste in the mouth of the Russians who have consistently helped Sri Lanka, especially when it is pilloried by Western nations at the UN for alleged war crimes”.

Quite justifiably, the Russians felt that the Sri Lankan government was callous in its approach to the case. It had failed to present documents it had in support of Aeroflot and was indifferent to the need to maintain cordial relations with a friendly country.    

The government did not take the lead in telling the court that there was a written agreement between Sri Lanka and Russia on the operation of aircraft by Aeroflot and that its registration and insurance were in order. The government had callously treated the case as a dispute between two private parties – the Ireland-based Lessor of the aircraft and Aeroflot, the Lessee, and washed its hands of the case.

This was Colombo’s stand even after the Russian Foreign Office summoned the Sri Lankan Ambassador and warned that unless the aircraft was released soon, bilateral ties would be in jeopardy. Finally, it was on the instructions of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister that the government’s counsel intervened in the court to have the injunction removed. The lack of coordination between the judiciary and the government necessary for dealing with sensitive international cases, was glaring.

China

A similar case in November 2021, involving China, caused a rift between Colombo and Beijing, the largest foreign investor in Sri Lanka and a consistent supporter at the UN Human Rights Council.

The Sri Lankan plant quarantine authorities had refused to allow the landing of a consignment of 20,000 mt of organic fertilizer sent by the Chinese company Qindao Seawin Biotech on the grounds that it contained  harmful bacteria. The court also ordered the bank not to release money (US$ 9 million) for the cargo. The Chinese company contended that the testing at Colombo was scientifically flawed, and that, at any rate, there was no local quarantine requirement in the contract. Moreover, the consignment had already been cleared by a well-known Western testing agency. The Chinese company went in for arbitration in Singapore and the Chinese embassy backed it as the image of a well- known Chinese company was involved.  

What could have been sorted diplomatically and quietly was complicated by quarantine officials who kept speaking to the media and publicly degrading the internationally known Chinese company. The matter was finally sorted out by high level political intervention.     

Apparently, China is still nursing the wound, and is now punishing Sri Lanka by not coming to its aid in the current economic crisis or even agreeing to reschedule the repayment of the loans (US$ 5 billion) given by it. Sri Lanka, which has defaulted, is desperately trying to get the payment schedules extended.

India   

The Lankan media have also criticized the grant of solar projects in Mannar and Pooneryn in North Sri Lanka to the Indian tycoon, Gautam Adani, though India has been pumping in a lot of money (US$ 3.5 billion) to help Sri Lanka pull itself out of the current economic quagmire.

The media quoted Ajith P. Perera of the opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), as saying: It is with deep regret that we note that the Adani Group has chosen the back door to enter Sri Lanka. Avoiding competition is not something we take kindly. It hurts our battered economy, aggravates the balance of payment issues, and causes further misery to our citizens. PM Modi may have given us crucial financial assistance during our current economic crisis, but that doesn’t mean our renewable energy sector’s most valuable lands and resources can be stolen for his friend Adani…The [Rajapaksa] government has many decent ways to thank PM Modi rather than pampering his notorious friends.”

There is already a Sri Lankan nationalist opposition to the India-Sri Lanka deal on the Trincomalee oil tanks. The nationalists’ goal has been to take over the 99 tanks which had been handed over to India for joint development with Sri Lanka, through a bilateral agreement. Some past Sri Lankan governments had tried to take them over but had failed as India insisted that a bilateral agreement could not be terminated unilaterally, arbitrarily and forcibly.

Courtesy News18

Sri Lanka has sought a USD 55 million loan from India for the procurement of urea amidst its worst economic crisis threatening a severe food shortage, an official said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had recently warned of a food crisis in the island nation due to the ongoing economic crisis.

The Cabinet has approved a proposal by the Prime Minister to sign an agreement with India to purchase urea for agriculture, an official said. The government said that the Indian government has agreed to provide the USD 55 million loan through the Export-Import Bank of India.

The loan is being obtained for the procurement of urea for the 2022/23 Maha’ harvest season. Wickremesinghe has said that within five to six months, the current agriculture shortages could be salvaged if swift action was taken to address the shortages faced by the farmers.

The country is facing a near 50 per cent crop loss due to a decision of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last year to ban chemical fertiliser imports. The decision led to widespread farmer protests which the government ignored, saying it was the policy to turn to green agriculture with organic fertiliser.

Sri Lanka is going through the worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1945. The economic crisis has prompted an acute shortage of essential items like food, medicine, cooking gas and other fuel, toilet paper and even matches, with Sri Lankans for months being forced to wait in lines lasting hours outside stores to buy fuel and cooking gas.

BY FARAZ SHAUKETALY Courtesy The Island

Sri Lanka became the world’s first and only all-organic farming nation albeit for a short while. This came about when President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa banned the importation of all pesticides and chemical fertilisers overnight. That Presidential proclamation would mark the definitive end of South Asia’s most powerful political dynasty, the Rajapaksas from Medamulana, Sri Lanka. The family has produced a Deputy Speaker, several Members of Parliament all elected – save one who was initially an appointed Member later elected directly – a Speaker of Parliament, a Prime Minister who served two terms, and two Presidents. Since 2005 the family has ruled Sri Lanka for approximately 13 years and counting. At one point it was estimated that Members of the Rajapaksa dynasty controlled around 70% of Sri Lanka’s budget spend.

Sri Lanka is headed towards a major food security challenge according to no less a person than Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The problem is that the new Premier does not seem to be doing enough to address the present ‘dollar crisis’. He is apparently relying on the goodwill of nations sympathetic to Sri Lanka’s economic plight.

Manufacturers warn that the toughest of times are yet to come. They point to the several letters of credit are yet to be opened by various banks including state banking institutions for the import of raw materials.

Sri Lanka needs approximately USD 500 million every month to fund consumption requirements and appears unable to present a coherent plan to sustain previous debt. Government debt is estimated at USD 32,200 million whilst private sector debt is approximated at USD 18,000 million.

Lack of visionary thinking has resulted in Sri Lanka underutilising its assets. Thousands of hotel rooms of various classes are idling. A beach resort area in Negombo Beach area is almost deserted, says a hotel owner, whose loans are on hold thanks to a moratorium but banks are making noises, mindful of the impact of non-performing advances on their own balance sheets.

Efforts are being made to prevent the banking system from collapsing. Trillions of rupees have been lost due to poorly managed state-owned enterprises including the national airline. Fancy projects from the past have become part of the under-utilised state-owned asset list producing only costs with little or no earnings.

These problems do not seem to have affected majority population in rural areas—not just yet—but they are troubling the farming community: the effects of the use of organic fertiliser has seen severely depleted harvests threatening to also affect the country’s prized export, Ceylon Tea.

The latest moves by the government to increase remittances to the national exchequer with the redrawing of income limits for personal and corporate taxation have affected the urban middle classes.

In spite of these significant problems the government of the day appears to be focusing on the so-called political crisis and have launched plans to make the 21st Amendment to the Constitution the matter of immediate concern. An industrialist told this writer, ‘The real crisis is the dollar crisis, the political crisis is a crisis of political power plays’ and the people’s frustration will only lead to much more frustration leading to more and more of the population taking to the streets to draw attention to their plight.

Large sections of the media have overtly pandered to the government of the day in what appears a misguided reading of the peoples’ distress. Those institutions too were roundly criticised by the thousands of peaceful protesters who have been at it for over 60 straight days braving torrential rains and scorching heat.

The bottom line is clear: Sri Lanka, which voted for a security centric President, has been let down badly by the very family that appeared to enjoy majoritarian support. The fact is that even the majority Sinhala people are going through a period of utter hopelessness engineered by a President they voted for in what is now the mistaken belief that security will prevail. Sadly, and ironically, it is not the type of security alluded to by the Rajapaksa dynasty but their inability to ensure food security that will see Sri Lanka nosedive into an abyss of despair and helplessness with no seemingly easy way out.

(Faraz Shauketaly is the host of Newsline Live TV1 – farazcolombo@gmail.com)

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

Insurgent attacks on lawmakers’ houses

SLPP lawmaker Dr. Nalaka Godahewa has questioned the failure on the part of the new administration to investigate the organised violence, unleashed on members of Parliament, on May 09.

Dr. Godahewa, who was the Media Minister at the time violence erupted, countrywide, in the wake of attacks on those who had been protesting opposite Temple Trees and Galle Face, raised the issue at a government group meeting, jointly chaired by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, at the President’s House, on Monday (30).

Dr. Godahewa lost the ministerial portfolio in the latest Cabinet reshuffle, and the new appointments that followed UNP leader Wickremesinghe receiving the premiership, on 12 May.

The Gampaha District MP said the mindless violence that had been directed at ruling party members of Parliament was reminiscent of the 1971 and 1987-1990 insurgencies, mounted by the JVP.

Close on the heels of Dr. Godahewa’s criticism, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a three-member committee, comprising Supreme Court judge Buwaneka Aluwihare, PC (Chairman), retired Senior DIG S.M. Wickremesinghe and Additional Chief Valuer N.A.S. Wasantha Kumara, to probe the well-organized massive violence across the country, with mobs carrying name lists of those they wanted to attack, whether on the streets, individually as they travelled in vehicles, or the addresses of homes of targeted individuals.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

• CB pushed back on claims that it was another pegged exchange rate 
• Says inflows seen picking up, Fx conversions improve since restrictions on Open Accounts 
• Further easing in Fx rate is expected amid easing imports and with multilateral and bilateral funding kicking in 
• Staff-level agreement with IMF expected this month on a funding arrangement

The Central Bank yesterday said the daily guidance rate released on the exchange rate between the United States dollar and Sri Lankan rupee is delivering the intended results by way of bringing in greater stability to the domestic foreign exchange market, which otherwise would have delivered disastrous implications, due to the rupee’s free fall.

Sri Lanka’s already hotter inflation met with a botched rupee float on March 7, resulting in a 80 percent loss in the value of the rupee, which then translated into runaway prices of everything from essentials to discretionary to durables. 

While the official inflation was 40 percent in May, a fresh high, the true inflation was at least over 100 percent, as the prices rose manifold during the last two months, as the rupee fell from 203 to a dollar to 365 to a dollar, becoming the world’s worst currency. 

As a result, people’s normal lifestyles and consumption habits took a wild turn, with them having to resort to a single meal a day while one in every 20 children fell into malnutrition, with every four in 20 are in extreme conditions, the data showed, last week.

Considering these undesirable outcomes, which could exacerbate further, the Central Bank, after consultation with the heads of the treasury departments of the banks, decided to issue a daily guidance on the degree of volatility in the exchange rate between the US dollar and rupee, from May 13. 

Against this backdrop, limiting the extent of depreciation and excessive volatility became necessary,” the Central Bank said explaining the rationale behind
the move. 

If remained unresolved, such boundless rate of depreciation of the exchange rate could have led to extremely detrimental impact on overall macroeconomic stability, given the severity of the balance of payment crisis that the country is going through at the moment,” the statement added. 

While reiterating that the March 7 floating should have been done in a more measured manner, the Central Bank said the floating should have been part of a sequencing measure that must be followed by nations facing balance of payment crises.  

 In an earlier occasion, Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe said any flexibility in the exchange rate should have been preceded by hikes in interest rate to contain the undue pressure on the currency, which can come from rising imports. 

Higher rates would have contained imports and thereby the demand for foreign exchange, limiting the extent of the fall in the value of the rupee against the dollar. 

There is a drumbeat of calls from the people to bring into books, those who were at the front seats of driving the Sri Lankan economy into the abyss and also for constantly lying and misleading the press and public at large in the run up to its crash landing in March. 

Meanwhile, some economic analysts are of the opinion that the guidance provided by the Central Bank is another peg to the US dollar and therefore is counterproductive, as the banks don’t have dollars at the guidance rate but the dollars are available in the black market at higher levels. 

However, the Central Bank yesterday pushed back on that characterisation of the daily guidance rate as a ‘pegged exchange rate’ regime.  … there are clear distinctions between the current transitory arrangement and the pegged exchange rate system,” the statement said. 

Under the pegged exchange rate regime, a fixed middle rate is usually dictated by a central bank, while market-driven variable spot rate being considered as the middle rate under the current arrangement,” it added. 
Meanwhile, the Central Bank also said the measures taken to restrict open accounts and consignment payment terms are also bringing in the desired results by way of curtailing grey market activity and thereby excessive premiums and enhanced inflows from remittances into the banking system. 

The conversions have also increased since the introduction of the new exchange rate arrangement, the Central Bank said. 

The provisional data from the Customs have also shown that the imports had further declined notably in May from the initial easing seen in April, after the clampdown on non-essential and non-urgent imports amid the acute dollar shortage.  The Central Bank also pinned hopes on export proceeds and bridge financing facilities from multilateral and bilateral sources to further alleviate the pressure on the domestic foreign exchange market, as it expects such inflows and other measures would bring further flexibility to the exchange rate. 

Further, the Central Bank expects reaching a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as early as possible on a funding arrangement, as the authorities are looking at US $ 3.0 billion under an Extended Fund Facility programme from the IMF. 

Despite the Central Bank’s claims of a semblance of sanity returning to the forex markets, people are still queuing on the roads for petroleum products and cooking gas and are going through innumerable daily hardships with daily power cuts and sky-high prices, which have pushed many of them into poverty and hunger. 

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

The Cabinet had approved to import 150,000 metric tons of Urea, 45,000 metric tons of Muriate of Potash (MOP) and 36,000 metric tons of Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) fertilizers for paddy cultivation for the 2022/23 Maha season.

The Ceylon Fertilizer Company Limited and Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Company Limited to import the relevant quantities of fertilizer and distribute them to the farmers.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved the proposal submitted by the Prime Minister to sign the agreements to obtain a $ 55 million loan through the Export Import Bank of India for the procurement of Urea for the 2022/23 Maha season.(DSB)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Claiming that fuel can be purchased from Russia 35% lesser than the normal global market price, Parliamentarian Vasudeva Nanayakkara today urged the government to take steps to get down fuel from Russia.

He told Parliament that India, Singapore and Thailand are buying fuel from Russia.

MP Nanayakkara said the Russian Envoy to Sri Lanka has also spoke to the Energy Ministry that they were ready to discuss about a program on purchasing fuel and added that the Ministry has not responded to the request as yet.

He said Sri Lanka had ignored the Russian request due to US-centric ideology.

The government has decided to purchase fuel from countries in the Dollar region whereas we can purchase from Russia at a lower price. We have ignored the long-term credit facility offered by Russia just to maintain friendly ties with the USA,” he lamented. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe should give credit to me as he was able to become the premier of this country because of him, SJB MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka said today.

He told Parliament that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa called him hours before Mr. Wickremesinghe was sworn in and wanted him to accept the premiership. 

He said however, he laid down certain conditions. 

I told him that I would only accept the Prime Minister’s post only if the majority of SJB MPs backed me. Therefore, Mr. Wickremesinghe should give the credit to me for paving the way for him to become the Prime Minister,” he added.

The SJB Parliamentarian said around 50% of MPs in the present Parliament today are racketeers and   therefore it is not possible to change Sri Lanka’s political culture.

MP Fonseka said that 15% of the MPs who have a vision should be appointed as cabinet Ministers.

Some members of the present cabinet consume heroin and spend their time at night clubs with prostitutes. Therefore the present cabinet is not capable of saving the nation,” he said. (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)

Courtesy Adaderana

The next three weeks will be tough for Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said today (June 07), urging the general public to use fuel and liquefied petroleum (LP) gas sparingly.

Delivering a special statement in the parliament this morning, the Premier stressed the need to limit unessential travel for the time being and to refrain from hoarding the products.

The government is in the process of rectifying the shortages in the country, he said, adding that negotiations are underway with various parties to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fuel, LP gas and fuel. Let’s face these difficult three weeks united and patiently.”

PM Wickremesinghe said the government’s primary focus is on restoring the economic stability in Sri Lanka. However, the economic stabilization alone cannot help the country ride out the crisis situation, he added. We need to revive the economy of our country.”

The country spends USD 500 million per month on fuel. It should be kept in mind that the current global crisis faces a risk of an increase in oil price. Some estimate that global oil prices will rise by as much as 40% by the end of this year. In this context, the idea of introducing a coupon system for fuel cannot be ruled out.  Somehow, we have to find USD 3,300 million worth of fuel for the next six months.”

It costs Rs. 40 million per month to import LP gas consignments, the prime minister said further, adding that the country is in need of USD 250 million to procure LP gas for the next six months. At present, the government utilizes multilateral assistance, local funds and Indian loans to purchase LP gas, he explained.

Speaking on the food shortage in the country, PM Wickremesinghe revealed that there are only 1.6 metric tonnes of paddy in stock at present, although the annual demand is 2.5 metric tonnes. He warned of a looming severe food shortage in the country in the coming months. We need to import food items to meet our daily requirements. It costs about USD 150 million a month.”

We are losing the international market for our export crops.  Action must be taken to prevent this,” the Premier said while stressing the need to supply fertilizer to the farmers without a shortage to uplift the cultivation of paddy, vegetables, fruits and export crops including tea, rubber and coconut. Fertilizer importation requires USD 600 million annually, added. Since manure has to be applied from time to time from the beginning to the end of a harvest. It is essential that fertilizer is exported without any shortages. We must ensure that no money or effort will be wasted.”

Speaking further, the prime minister noted that Sri Lanka needs USD 5 billion to ensure that the daily lives of the people are not disrupted for the next six months. In addition, another USD 1 billion is required to strengthen the rupee. This means we need to find USD 6 billion to keep the country afloat for the next six months.”

Pointing to the need to re-implement the tax structure that was in place prior to the tax cuts introduced in late 2019, the prime minister said the government incurred a loss to the tune of USD 650 billion as a result of this tax relief. We must begin our resurrection from where we fell.”

With regard to the assistance sought from the International Monetary Fund, PM Wickremesinghe said the discussions between the Sri Lankan government and the IMF officials are based on the country’s future economic plan.

We need to achieve economic stability by the end of this year. By 2024, we will have the opportunity to create economic stimulus through fiscal stimulus.  By 2025, our goal is to balance our budgets or create a primary surplus.  This economic program must continue to move towards this long-term goal.  Even if the individuals, groups and parties in power change, it is imperative that we achieve our national goals and maintain the highest level of efficiency in the country.”

Further, the prime minister highlighted the importance of paying close attention to the island nation’s foreign relations. To increase our international support, we are becoming a marginalized country in the world due to poor foreign policies.” 

PM Wickremesinghe said he is currently in constant consultation with foreign ambassadors. He has had telephone conversations with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, the President of the United Arab Emirates, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the representatives of international organizations such as the United Nations, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Program, the United Nations Development Program and the World Health Organization.

Many representatives of these countries and international organizations have agreed to support Sri Lanka during this difficult time, the Premier added.

The United Nations has arranged a worldwide public appeal on the 9th of June. They are seeking support to provide humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. Through this project, they plan to provide USD 48 million over a four-month period to the food, agriculture and health sectors.”

Meanwhile, India, China and Japan are leading the list of countries that provide Sri Lanka with loans and assistance. Relations with these countries, which have always been strong, are now broken. Those relationships need to be rebuilt.”

The prime minister also pointed out that Japan and India had agreed to supply Sri Lanka with two LNG power plants. However, the CEB stopped these two projects without any justifiable reason, he added. Japan had also agreed to provide about USD 3 billion worth of projects to Sri Lanka by 2019. All of these projects were put on hold for no reason.”

Accordingly, the prime minister urged the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance to conduct an inquiry into the suspension of such valuable projects granted to Sri Lanka by its long-time allies for unstated reasons.

Further, PM Wickremesinghe noted that the interim budget is the first step in rebuilding the country’s system. Once we have taken that step, we will implement a modern system and install safeguards that will protect us from future calamities. But to do all this, we need to restart the system. That is why we are presenting an interim budget to Parliament on the basis of our future economic plan and road map. As I mentioned earlier, our hope is that this budget will lay the foundation for our economy, allowing it to stabilize and recover.”

The interim budget will reduce unnecessary government expenditure while controlling other costs, the Premier continued, adding that the government also focuses on revitalizing many areas affected by the crisis. There is an urgent need to focus on many sectors such as the export economy, tourism and construction, he said further.

Courtesy Adaderana

The Fiscal Officer of the Colombo Commercial High Court, who implemented the court order for the detention of the Russian Aeroflot flight at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), has been interdicted for over-riding his official duties. 

The Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms said it has taken steps to suspend the fiscal officer of the Colombo Commercial High Court who has been accused of abusing the judicial process in enforcing the interim order issued by the Colombo Commercial High Court in connection with the detention of the Aeroflot flight Airbus A330-300.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice has also taken steps to inform the Chief Justice that action should be taken against the lawyer who has been charged in connection with this incident.

Aeroflot Airlines Airbus A330-300 flight SU-289, which had been detained at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake for several days, had departed for Moscow last evening following the suspension of the court order.

The Colombo Commercial High Court yesterday suspended the order preventing the detained flight from leaving Sri Lanka, paving the way for the Russian flag carrier’s aircraft to depart for Moscow.

The court had considered a motion filed by the Attorney General and suspended the previous order which had led to the detention of the Aeroflot aircraft.

The Airbus A330-343 aircraft, scheduled to depart from Colombo to Moscow on June 2 with 191 passengers and 13 crew members, was not allowed as the owner of the aircraft — Celestial Aviation of Ireland — had filed a case against Aeroflot, pending arbitration on the lease of the aircraft in London.

Courtesy Adaderana

Countries around the world are facing recession as the Ukraine war hits economies already rocked by the Covid pandemic, the World Bank has warned.

Less developed countries in Europe and east Asia face a major recession”, it said.

The risk of high inflation and low growth – so-called stagflation” – is also higher, World Bank President David Malpass said.

Energy and food bills have been rising around the world.

The war in Ukraine, lockdowns in China, supply-chain disruptions, and the risk of stagflation are hammering growth. For many countries, recession will be hard to avoid,” Mr Malpass said.

He warned in the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects report for June that the danger of stagflation was considerable”.

Subdued growth will likely persist throughout the decade because of weak investment in most of the world. With inflation now running at multi-decade highs in many countries and supply expected to grow slowly, there is a risk that inflation will remain higher for longer.”

The countries in Europe that are most likely to suffer a sharp drop in economic output in 2022 are Ukraine and Russia, the World Bank forecast.

But it warned that the fallout from the war and the Covid pandemic would be wider.

Even if a global recession is averted, the pain of stagflation could persist for several years – unless major supply increases are set in motion,” Mr Malpass said.

Between 2021 and 2024, global growth is projected to slow by 2.7 percentage points, Mr Malpass said, more than twice the slow down seen between 1976 and 1979, when the world last saw stagflation.

The report warned that interest rate increases needed to control inflation at the end of the 1970s were so steep that they touched off a global recession in 1982, and a string of financial crises in emerging market and developing economies.

However, in the 1970s the dollar was weaker and oil was relatively more expensive.

Source: BBC
-Agencies

By Raj Gonsalkorale

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”  Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States

The Prime Minister has been as frank as he could be about the crisis in Sri Lanka. Neither he, as a previous Prime Minister, nor any other Prime Minister or a President, including the current President provided the unvarnished truth about the crisis to the people of the country till now. Prior to his assuming the Prime Ministership, other government leaders have given a false impression of normalcy and talking and behaving as if things were normal.  The general thrust has been to direct blame for the political instability towards protestors, although it is no secret that some opportunists have ridden on the backs of genuine protestors to advance their own agendas with no regard for the plight faced by the country.

As its evident from news reports, there is still no definitive path and a plan towards some degree of economic stability. There are ad hoc news reports about discussions with friendly governments, ongoing Indian assistance, medicines being sent by some governments, Tamil Nadu providing some support, and now, Bangladesh planning to send potatoes.

It is true that an IMF bailout package could be a reality, although timelines for this, conditions attached to such a bail out and what exactly the package would include is not yet known. Besides this, even if such a package becomes a reality, it would not be a sufficient bail out that will lead the country towards that yet to be seen silver lining. 

The need of the hour is an emergency economic bailout plan identifying countries that have been contacted, and will be contacted for support, the form of support discussed and expected, (money or supplies), countries that have been and should be contacted for oil and gas say for the next 6 months, whether such support could be provided as long term credit lines, a plan for supply of medicines from pharmaceutical producing countries like India and Bangladesh, fertilizer supplies, and essential food items.

No doubt some of these activities have commenced and are ongoing, but the public still has no indication of the progress of such approaches except piecemeal information reported in the press. As the Prime Minister is the person in charge of trying to lift the economic down fall and find ways and means of securing loans/credit lines from different sources, he and his office could produce a plan with ongoing and intended activities, and progress being made and information on specific successes. Such an approach will give confidence to the public and lift their hopes for the immediate future.

The Prime Minister has given a dismal warning about the immediate future and that worse is yet to come. How many have taken notice of this dire warning is unclear. Neither the President nor politicians in Parliament have referred to the Prime Ministers warning. This could even be a plan to undermine the efforts of the Prime Minister.

Be that as it may, the warning given should be followed with a specific rescue plan, identifying the action items mentioned above and any other additional items related to a rescue plan, and daily progress reports relating to the plan.

What of the Prime Ministers assessment that days, weeks and months ahead will be worse than what it is now? Energy and transport costs are on the rise, thanks to the aftermath of COVID and the war in Ukraine. Shipping circles have said that freight costs, which have gone up by some 50%, will increase further. Oil and gas prices will rise further. It would not be rocket science to predict the fall out arising from this and the impact to Sri Lanka. Shortages of fuel, gas, medicines, food items will worsen, and countries that have assisted Sri Lanka, like India and China, will feel the pinch themselves, and they may find it difficult to extend the same level of assistance to Sri Lanka.

What will be the aftermath of such a situation? More power cuts, further folding of industries, large and small? More firewood cooking although firewood is fast becoming as scarce as gas. Reduction in export earnings, foreign remittances, tourism earnings, all leading to mass unemployment, possible unrest, even violence. Queues for passports stretch for kilometers. Would there be mass exodus from Sri Lanka legally or otherwise?

Sri Lanka’s food security has been adversely affected on account of the fertilizer saga, and it has been reported that the country may need to import more than 200,000 tons of rice. The question will be how such an import is going to be paid, if it is not covered by a credit line extended to Sri Lanka. The President’s regular issue of instructions” to officials, as reported in the press will not address the issue of food security. He should appoint a committee that should be chaired by him, to develop a plan that will address the issue of food security and take specific actions to implement the plan and report on the progress being made to the public. He must take responsibility to address an issue that he created.

As part of the rescue plan, the Prime Minister could request high level envoys like former President Chandrika Kumaratunga and former Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, who still have credibility, to meet Heads of State in China, India, Japan, Russia, the USA, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries, to canvass for assistance to Sri Lanka. Doing this through the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of these countries based in Sri Lanka is not high-level diplomacy. It needs to be noted that neither the President nor the former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa visited any of these countries except India to seek assistance even when the dark economic clouds were very clearly visible in the sky at least 18 months ago. It was either arrogance or stupidity, or both as stupidity leads to arrogance.

In the dire situation the country is placed in, politicians are debating the 21^st Amendment. There is no denial that the Executive Presidency has failed the country and that governance should return to the Parliament. However, the question is about priorities. Politicians must surely know that Sri Lanka as the people have known it, may not exist if the situation foreseen by the Prime Minister comes to pass. While every Sri Lankas would hope and pray it will not come to that, it will not be divine help that will take Sri Lanka out of the mess it is in. It is the down to earth focus and a collective effort on the part of every Sri Lankan as to how some oxygen can be pumped into a dying and gasping country.

Garvin Karunaratne, former GA Matara

Dollars are sold to the highest bidder to keep on importing Luxury goods while refusing $ for food and medicines” reveals what is really happening today.

In reality today dollars do come in to the banks and to the private currency dealers and the bank are charged with handing over twenty percent to the Central Bank. The other eighty percent is left to the banks for sale to customers. As far as I know there is no restriction placed on private currency dealers and they have a heyday of buying and selling foreign currency.

Selling is to the highest bidder. Who gets the profit?

In this connection what did really happen on 25 th January 2001 reveals : I quote

from my book: How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka & Alternative Programmes of Success(Godages:2006)

On 25 th January2001…the two State banks(Bank of Ceylon and Peoples Bank) had to pay a big import bill and because they did not have sufficient dollars they had to purchase dollars from other banks”

The two banks then went hat in hand searching for dollars from other banks and a foreign bank that had the dollars agreed to sell dollars at Rs 106 to the dollar when that morning the rate was only Rs 85 to the dollar. The Rupee had been free floated and the bank that had purchased the dollars had the right to sell to the highest bidder and that was at Rs 106.00. It caused an immediate devaluation. The Central Bank when questioned, said:

in a free floating regime the market forces determine the exchange rate. The Central Bank does not intervene in the process. The Central Bank has control over the domestic money supply and it could be used to curb inflation.”(The Island: 17/2/2001)

This reveals what does happen to the dollars that are being collected today. The Banks have to hand over 20% to the Central Bank and the rest they can sell, as reported by E Con E News to the highest bidder. The private currency dealers and the bank have a heyday of making fantastic profits. I do not know whether they have to hand over 20% to the Central Bank. In the meantime the dollars get sold to importers to import luxury goods while there are no dollars for importing milk foods, medicines and essential food like flour.

Where goes the dollar profits- of course it is foreign banks who yet have the right to repatriate their profits in dollars and all this while the people starve. Starvation has already commenced with some poor families having to live on a single meal a day. The people are in queues to obtain food, milkfood and even flour is in short supply and it was reported that 2000 bakeries have closed down.

It is upto our Central Bank to control the total intake of foreign funds and to direct the funds for essential supplies- food and medicines etc. If this is not done now the present day sporadic protests will move to become Supermarket break ins and food riots. Let that not happen.

It is time for our leaders and our Central Bank to do some deep thinking.

Garvin Karunaratne, former GA Matara

Author of:

How the IMF Ruined Sri Lanka &Alternative Programmes of Success(Godages:2006)

05062022

Editorial

 June 6th 2022

The wise seers whose wisdom always prevails comprising mostly of past leaders political analysts of repute and intellectuals are of one mind that things go from bad to worse in Sri Lanka today on an almost continuous basis and perhaps it is, with all due respect to the true media ( not fly by night journalism which seems to be the order of the

day) that there is a conundrum of  presented news which is often confusing, at times garbled and partially worthless towards reality that emerges as a portal of obstruction towards the  desperately needed progress at a time of crisis that Sri Lanka is in presently.

 Sadly the diverse and  at times contradictory news reports from various sources that never attest to uniformity always confounds and confuses the reader to the point of exasperation where only the well being of the Nation is sought but the end result is utter despair projecting the Nation as a failed state which may have a  very temporary leaning towards reality but to persist in its continued broadcasting should be a no no! to  those who propagate it as Broadcast News, where in the name of sanity  the preservation  and rehabilitation of Sri Lanka is of paramount importance and needs  to be veritably toned down towards  the progress it invariably needs.

 The horror stories some of these depict are totally detrimental to Sri  Lanka’s recovery from the near disastrous situation she was faced with  where the truth is often lacking and the presentation of a news item  often takes priority  albeit often cooked up towards credibility and needs to  stop post haste. It even agitates further a turbulent and angered population and constitutes fanning fires that in reality need to be quelled towards posterity and the normal order of things.

 Whether it be the speculated impending famine, the breakdown of the  banking system, the non availability of consumer goods, failed agro-  and hydro projects et al are all contributory towards the detriment  and exasperation of the people when there is so much good news for the  future that needs to be propagated at the dawn of a new era for the  beleaguered Nation that deserves better.

 The evils of past administrations have to be buried in the  expectations towards a new beginning where faith has to be placed in  great intensity with the present administration and its leader with a degree of  optimism of course as nothing can be taken for granted where the  optimism must prevail towards what lies ahead.

 Sri Lanka now has to be confident from every perspective towards the  future in those who make new decisions and the morale of the Nation  has to be lifted to a super high which can only be done through the  presentation of good news based on fact rather than fiction and  speculative innuendo which will surely appease the population of Sri  Lanka and all her well wishers Globally.

 Surely” This is  Our Land, Our Own Native Land” which we need to  preserve to the very core of our existences with positive thoughts and  actions and most importantly good and viable news reporting which encourages progress !!

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, June 6: With the Colombo Commercial High Court issuing an order for the immediate suspension of it’s injunction against an aircraft belonging to Russia’s Aeroflot Airlines, the aircraft took off for Moscow with 191 passengers on Monday after a five-day detention which soured Russo-Lankan ties.  

With the release of the plane, the spat ended, but not without leaving a bad taste in the mouth of the Russians, who had sided with Sri Lanka in the UN Human Rights Council on war crimes” issue. The Russian Foreign Office and the Russian Ambassador in Colombo had taken the aircraft’s detention very seriously as it had taken place despite the existence of a prior agreement with the Sri Lanka government on the operation of the aircraft. The Sri Lankan Ambassador in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Office and a protest was lodged. Sri Lanka was warned that bilateral relations would be jeopardized if the plane was not released.

The Russians were not convinced by the Lankan government’s contention that it had nothing to do with the court’s order as it had been given by the court in a commercial dispute between the Ireland-based lessor of the plane and Aeroflot. The Russians perhaps believed that the Lankan State did not do its bit to safeguard its long standing good relations with Russia. Of course, eventually, the Lankan State did what the Russians wanted and intervened in the court to get the injunction withdrawn.

This is not the first time that the Sri Lankan State had not kept its relations with friendly countries in mind to prevent unpleasant situations. In November 2021, Sri Lankan plant quarantine authorities refused to allow the landing of a consignment of 20,000 tonnes of organic fertilizer sent by the Chinese company Qindao Seawin Biotech on the grounds that it contained a harmful bacteria. The court also ordered a bank not to release money (US$ 9 million) for the cargo. But the Chinese company contended that the testing at Colombo was scientifically flawed that, at any rate, there was no quarantine requirement in the contract. The company also went in for arbitration in Singapore. With the Chinese and the Lankan governments intervening, a fresh consignment was brought for which US$ 6.9 million was paid.  

This issue could also have been handled carefully outside the public domain by timely diplomatic engagement, but quarantine officials were allowed to the talk to the media which messed up the issue. Lankans forgot that China had stood by Sri Lanka in the UN on the war crimes issue and had also invested US$5 billion in infrastructure projects.

Later, an ADB-sanctioned US$ 12 million Chinese project to set up solar power plants in three islands off the Western coast of Jaffna was abruptly cancelled because India had raised security issues. This is said to be one of the reasons why China is dragging its feet on financially aiding Sri Lanka in the current forex crisis. It is also refusing to reschedule the repayments of the loans given to Sri Lanka.   

Bad official handling marked two Japanese projects, a Colombo urban rail project and the Bandaranaike International Airport modernization project. The US$ 2 billion urban rail project to be done with a soft loan from Japan, was suddenly cancelled by a two-line order issued by P.B.Jassundara,  the then Secretary to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Following this, the Japanese refused to participate in funding the Colombo East Container Terminal.

Just when the Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickemesinghe was trying to woo Japan back for financial assistance as well as investments, and India was persuading Japan to join it to help Sri Lanka get out of the current economic quagmire, the Lankan Minister of Aviation, Nimal Sripala de Silva, shot off a letter to the Japanese government lambasting it for delaying the execution of the Bandaranaike International Airport modernization project. He also faulted the Japanese for not installing the required security systems. The Japanese have not reacted to this. But their traditional keenness to help Sri Lanka has faded thanks to the ham-handedness of Sri Lankan officialdom.  

Japanese investments in Sri Lanka are equal to China’s (a little over US$ 5 billion) but Japanese interest rates are lower, according to Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.

Meanwhile, the Lankan media criticized the grant of solar projects in Mannar and Pooneryn in North Sri Lanka to the Indian tycoon, Gautam Adani, who had already been given the contract to build the Western Container Terminal in Colombo port.

It is with deep regret that we note that the Adani Group has chosen the back door to enter Sri Lanka. Avoiding competition is not something we take kindly. It hurts our battered economy, aggravates the balance of payment issues, and causes further misery to our citizens,” The Hindu quoted Ajith P. Perera, chief executive of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), Lanka’s largest opposition party.

The agreement was for two large-scale renewable energy projects, with an estimated investment of U$ 500 million. But it had been kept a secret until the Lankan media exposed it.

PM Modi may have given us crucial financial assistance during our current economic crisis, but that doesn’t mean our renewable energy sector’s most valuable lands and resources can be stolen for his friend Adani…The [Rajapaksa] government has many decent ways to thank PM Modi rather than pampering his notorious friends,” Ajith Perera said, but added that a global player like Adani would be most welcome through proper channels.”

SJB MP and economist Dr. Harsha de Silva said the agreement violated the Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Act of 2013 that mandates competitive bidding for all electricity generation projects.

There is already a Sri Lankan nationalist opposition to the India-Sri Lanka deal on the Trincomalee oil tanks. The nationalists’ goal has been to take over the 99 tanks which had been handed over to India for joint development with Sri Lanka, through a bilateral agreement. Some past Sri Lankan governments had tried to take them over but had failed as India insisted that a bilateral agreement could not be terminated unilaterally and arbitrarily.

Such demands persist in Sri Lanka, despite the fact Sri Lanka critically depends on Indian aid now, at the height of the forex and supply crisis. India has this year alone pumped in US$ 3.5 billion worth of aid, while other countries have given only token assistance or have been idle spectators of the tragedy unfolding in front of them.

Manusha Media

විදේශ රැකියා අපේක්ෂිත රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ගේ තොරතුරු විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයට ලබාදෙන්න – කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාරගෙන් රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට පණිවුඩයක්

විදේශ රැකියා සදහා පිටත්වයාමේ අපේක්ෂාවෙන් පසුවන රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශයේ ලියාපදිංචිවීමට අවස්ථාව ලබාදී ඇති බවත්, කාර්යාංශයේ වෙබ් අඩවියට පිවිස තමන්ගේ තොරතුරු ඇතුළත් කිරීමට හැකි බවත් කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍ය මනුෂ නානායක්කාර මහතා පැවසුවේය.

රටට අවශ්‍ය විදේශ විනිමය ගෙන්වා ගැනීම සදහා වන කඩිනම් වැඩසහනක්, කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යාංශයේ මැදිහත්වීමෙන් ආරම්භ කර ඇති අතර ඒ අනුව රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට විදේශ රැකියා සදහා පිටත්ව යාමට අවස්ථාව ලබාදීමට අවශ්‍ය පියවර ගන්නා බව ඇමැතිවරයා පැවසුවේය.

රාජ්‍ය සේවකයාගේ විශ්‍රාම වැටුපට සහ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨත්වයට බාධාවක් ඇති නොවන ආකාරයට විදේශ ගතවීමේ අවස්ථාව ලබාදීමට අවශ්‍ය චක්‍රලේඛ නිකුත් කිරීම මැදිහත්වෙමින්, රාජ්‍ය පරිපාලන අමාත්‍යාංශය සමග සාකච්ඡා කිරීමට තමන් අපේක්ෂා කරන බවද ඇමැතිවරයා සදහන් කළේය.

රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින් විදේශ ගත කිරීමේදී, ඔවුන්ට අවශ්‍ය රැකියා අවස්ථාවන් සොයා ගැනීමේදී විදේශ රැකියා නියෝජිතආයතන සදහා විශාල කාර්යභාරයක් පැවරෙන බවද, විදේශ රැකියා නියෝජිත ආයතන හිමිකරුවන් සමග අද උදෑසන පැවති සාකච්ඡාවකදී ඇමැතිවරයා කීවේය.

එහිදී වැඩිදුරටත් අදහස් දැක්වූ මනුෂ නානායක්කාර ඇමැතිවරයා මෙසේද පැවසුවේය.

රාජ්‍ය සේවයේ නියුතු අය සදහා විදේශ රැකියා සදහා අවස්ථා ලබාදෙනවා. රාජ්‍ය සේවකයාගේ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨත්වයට, විශ්‍රාම වැටුපට බල නොපාන අයුරින් ඔවුන්ට විදේශ ගතවීමට අපි අවස්ථාව ලබාදෙනවා. ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් රේඛීය අමාත්‍යාංශ සමග අපි සාකච්ඡා කරලා අවශ්‍ය චක්‍රලේඛ නිකුත් කිරීමට කටයුතු කරනවා.

එහිදී රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ගෙන් විදේශ රැකියා සදහා පිටත් කරන්නේත් ඔවුන් විදේශ රැකියා ගත කිරීම භාරවන්නේත් විදේශ රැකියා නියෝජිත ආයතනවලටයි. ඒකට අවශ්‍ය රැකියා වෙළදපොල සොයාගෙන ඔවුන් විදේශ ගත කිරීමේ වැඩපිළිවෙලට සහාය ලබාදෙන්න

විදේශ ගත වීමට කැමැති රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශ වෙබ් අඩවියට පිවිස තමන්ගේ තොරතුරු ඇතුළත් කිරීමට හැකියාව තිබෙනවා . ඒ ඒ රැකියා අවස්ථාවන් ගැන මෙන්ම ඒ සදහා තිබිය යුතු සුදුසුකම් ඉදිරියේදී එම වෙබ් අඩවියේම ප්‍රසිද්ධ කරනවා.

විදේශ ගතවීමට කැමැති රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ගේ තොරතුරු අපි විදේශ රැකියා නියෝජිත ආයතන සමග හුවමාරු කරගැනීමටත් කටයුතු කරනවා. ඒ අනුව රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින්ට විදේශ රැකියා සෙවීමේ වගකීම නියෝජිත ආයතනවලට පැවරෙනවා.

මුළු රටේම විදේශ ගතවීමට රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින් කැමැත්තෙන් සිටියදී, එයට අවශ්‍ය සහාය ලබාදෙන්නේ කම්කරු සහ විදේශ රැකියා අමාත්‍යාංශය, විදේශ සේවා නියුක්ති කාර්යාංශය සහ විදේශ රැකියා නියෝජිත ආයතනයි. ඒ සදහා ඔබට ලබාදිය හැකි උපරිම දායකත්වය ලබාදෙන්න කියලා මම ඉල්ලීමක් කරනවා.

මුලු රටේම විදේශ ගත විමට රාජ්‍ය සේවකයින් කැමැත්තෙන් සිටියදී, එයට සහාය ලබාදෙන්නේ ඔබලා. ඒ ජාතික වගකීමටත් ඔබගේ දායකත්වය ලබාදෙන්න.

නීතිඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B Sc(Col), PGDC(Col)

(අධිකරණයේ ස්වාධීනත්වය, නීතියේ පාලනය, අපක්ෂපාතීත්වය, විවෘතභාවය, වගවීම, යහපාලනය ගැන වර්තමානයේ විද්වත් සාකච්ඡාවක් ආරම්භ වී ඇත. මෙම කෙටි ලිපිය ලියවී ඇත්තේ ඒ සම්බන්ධයෙන් නීතීඥ සංගමයේ සභාපතිවරයා සම්බන්ධයෙන්  සිඳුවිය යුතු නීති සංශෝධන වෙනුවෙනි.මෙය සභාපතිධූරයට පත්වීමට පෙර තමන් පෙනීසිටීමට බාරගෙන ඇති නඩු කටයුතුවලට අදාල නොවේ.)

1. සබඳතා අතර ගැටුම් අවම කිරීමට.

2. නීතීඥ වෘත්තියේ ගරුත්වය සහ අභිමානය ආරක්ෂා කිරීමට

3. නීතීඥවරුන්ගේ සහ විනිසුරුවරුන්ගේ විනය කටයුතු වලදී ස්වාධීනව සිටීමට.

4.සභාපතිධූරය දරන කාලසීමාවේ පූර්ණ කාලීනව නීතීඥවරුන්ගේ අයිතිවාසිකම්, යුතුකම් සහ වගකීම් වෙනුවෙන් පෙනීසිටීමට අවස්ථාව ලැබීම.

5. සිය පෞද්ගලික අරමුණු සභාපතිධූරය යොදාගනිමින් අධිකරණය මගින් ක්‍රියාත්මක කර ගැනීමේ අවස්ථාව අවම වීම.
6. සභාපතිවරයා විධායක, ව්‍යවස්ථාදායක සහ අධිකරණය යන ආයතන ත්‍රිත්වය සමඟම සම්බන්ධතාවය පවත්වාගෙන යා යුතු වීම.

7. සභාපතිධූරය දරද්දී තමන් එක් පාර්ශවයක් වෙනුවෙන් අධිකරණයේ පෙනී සිටීමට තීරණය කිරීමේදී නීතීඥ සංගමයේ ස්වාධීනත්වයට අයුතු බලැපෑමක් සිඳුවීම.

නීතිඥ අරුණ ලක්සිරි උණවටුන B Sc(Col), PGDC(Col) (සමායෝජක) වෛද්‍ය තිලක පද්මා සුබසිංහ අනුස්මරණ නීති අධ්‍යයන වැඩසටහන. දුරකථන 0712063394) (2022.06.06)

John Rozario Karnataka, India

Sri Lanka’s prime minister has warned of a food shortage as the island nation battles a devastating economic crisis and promises to buy enough fertiliser for the next planting season to boost harvests.

Sri Lanka is appealing for food assistance from its neighbours as the country’s debt crisis spirals into a humanitarian emergency. The government is applying for aid from a food bank operated by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, which has supplied rice and other staples to member states during food crises.

The SAARC food bank was set up in 2007 to provide rice and wheat to countries during emergencies but was used for the first time only in 2020 when Bhutan sourced a rice shipment. Analysts said that Sri Lanka’s crisis could be a chance to invigorate SAARC.

The country, which defaulted on international debts of more than $50bn last month, has been wracked by severe shortages of essential goods since it effectively ran out of foreign reserves. Fuel shortages have led to long blackouts as power stations close while hospitals are postponing treatment because of a lack of medicine. Aid groups also warn of a worsening hunger crisis owing to double-digit inflation.

 Bangladesh is considering sending potatoes to Sri Lanka during the ongoing crisis. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has promised that her country may provide potatoes to Sri Lanka amidst the ongoing crisis. The assurance was given by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a meeting with the Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Esala Ruwan Weerakoon. Weerakoon paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister of Bangladesh at Ganabhaban.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday urged the South Asian countries to work together in the fight against poverty, describing it as the main enemy in the region.

We, the countries in this region, should cooperate with each other. Many problems can be solved bilaterally,” she said.

The prime minister made this remark when Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Esala Ruwan Weerakoon paid a courtesy call on her at Ganabhaban.

As Sri Lanka has been severely impacted by a weakening economy which has resulted in shortages of essential items, including food, and a spike in food prices, hindering families’ access to affordable, healthy meals. Even before the pandemic, malnutrition rates were high among children and women. Some 40 percent of primary-age children were too thin for their height. Sri Lanka is going to receive humanitarian potato aid package from neighboring Bangladesh to help mitigate severe shortages caused by the country’s worst economic crisis in recent memory. They will be distributed among vulnerable families in different parts of the country.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said recently that despite being a country with a huge population, Bangladesh may provide potatoes to Sri Lanka during this crisis.

The prime minister made this remark when Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Esala Ruwan Weerakoon paid a courtesy call on her at Ganabhaban.

She said Bangladesh has taken steps to grow more foods amid the global food problem following the Covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine-Russia war.

Bangladeshi researchers are making efforts to develop different saline and drought-tolerant varieties of rice, said Sheikh Hasina.

Weerakoon highly praised Bangladesh for its contribution to Saarc Agriculture Centre.

He said the pandemic is also responsible for the ongoing economic crisis in his country and appreciated the support Bangladesh has extended towards the island nation.

Sri Lanka now needs fertilizer as the rice production dropped by 50% there, he added.

Prime Minister Hasina urged the South Asian countries to work together in the fight against poverty, describing it as the main enemy in the region.

We, the countries in this region, should cooperate with each other. Many problems can be solved bilaterally,” she said.

In the wake of global food crisis, Bangladesh has proposed to strengthen the SAARC food bank.

The proposal was made when visiting SAARC Secretary General Esala Ruwan Weerakoon met the high ups of the foreign ministry on Monday.

Commenting on the proposal, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam said Bangladesh highlights the need for a concerted effort among regional countries to absorb the shock of the current crisis.

We have earlier contributed to the food bank and are ready to continue the move, he said adding that presently Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are in dire need of agriculture inputs.

As Ukraine war and the pandemic have ignited a global food shortage, Bangladesh urged the SAARC to initiate innovative steps to get respite from it.

We have extended our cooperation to Sri Lanka and are ready to help further under the SAARC umbrella, he added.

Referring to his meeting with the SAARC Secretary General he said that both of them agreed to expedite collective action to combat food and economic crisis in the region.

Sri Lanka in March this year showed interest in importing potatoes from Bangladesh preferring the barter system in this regard.
The island nation’s  then Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage expressed his interest during a meeting with his Bangladeshi counterpart Muhammad Abdur Razzaque at InterContinental Dhaka, the Ministry of Agriculture said in a press release.
The meeting was held prior to the 36th Session of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific that will end on Friday.
Razzaque said Bangladesh will consider the possibility of the barter system in exporting potatoes.
He also put emphasis on increasing bilateral cooperation with the Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka.

For the first time, Bangladesh hosted the FAO regional conference that began on March 8 in Dhaka.

Potato is a starchy tuberous crop and becomes an integral part of much of worldwide food / potato food supply and suppliers. It is the world’s fourth largest food crop, following maize, wheat and rice. Bangladesh is now one of the big potato producing and exporting countries in the world. In the year 2021, potato exporters in Bangladesh produced 15 million M. Ts of potatoes among which around 50% is exported and it is increasing year by year. For the year 2025 production target is 50 million M.Ts. Potato is now one of the good export qualities agro products of Bangladesh.

The main importing countries of Bangladesh origin potato are Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Vietnam, Philippine and Russia.

Bangladesh climate and soil is very suitable to grow tropical country potato with best competitive price as labor cost of farmer here quite low compare to any other potato and Agro product growing countries.

Asian countries are seeing potatoes as their possible salvation as they scramble to feed their people at reasonable prices in the future in a region where the population is estimated to soar by some 35 percent to 4.9 billion by 2025.

Food security is vital in the region as many governments fear unrest if food staple prices keep going up. India said in 2008 that it wanted to double potato production in the next five to 10 years. China, a huge rice consumer, has become the world’s top potato grower. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the potato is expanding more than any other crop right now.

Potatoes are a great source of complex carbohydrates, which release their energy slowly and they have only five percent of the fat content of wheat.

Bangladesh has sent emergency medical supplies worth $2.3 million to crisis-hit Sri Lanka as the island country faces the worst economic crisis since 1948, resulting in a shortage of food, fuel, and other essentials. Earlier, Dhaka had also provided $200 million in the form currency swap to Colombo. At a token handover ceremony held in Dhaka, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque handed over a few boxes of medicines to Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Sudharshan D.S. Seneviratne, The Morning reported.

Debt-ridden Sri Lanka last month announced pre-mature default on its external loan, totaling over $51 billion, as its usable foreign exchange reserves came down to just $50 million this, making it extremely hard for the government to pay for essential imports. India, which has extended assistance worth almost $3 billion this year, has also been sending medical supplies.

At the handover ceremony, Momen described the supply of 65 types of medicines and equipment as an expression of solidarity and friendship between the two countries as Dhaka and Colombo celebrate 50 years of their diplomatic relations. Bangladesh helps Sri Lanka steer economic crisis.

KAMALIKA PIERIS

As predicted, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has succeeded in re-establishing the pro-US Yahapalana government. The ‘Yahapalana 2’ puppet government  is now in progress, with Ranil Wickremesinghe back again  as Prime Minister, Gotabaya Rajapaksa  replacing Maitripala Sirisena  as President and Basil Rajapaksa as the key   strategist. Mahinda Rajapaksa is out once again.

It is important at this point to take a look at the political contributions of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Ranil Wickremesinghe   and Mahinda Rajapaksa. Gotabaya Rajapaksa came into the Presidency with much good will and high expectations. The seven lakhs, who voted for him, expected him to function as a super-efficient President capable of taking Sri Lanka to greater heights. He was welcomed by the Maha Sangha.

He started well. He made a fine Sinhala-Buddhist speech at his inauguration. He faced the Covid threat. Pohottu government became known as a government that had successfully managed the COVID-19 pandemic. Half the country would have been dead of Covid, under the old Yahapalana government, people said.

Once Covid was settled, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government began its move to weaken the country. Under Gotabaya Rajapaksa Sri Lanka declared bankruptcy for the first time in its history. It was not an inherited problem. It was due to Central Bank bungling which took place in the two years of Gotabaya rule.

Under Gotabaya Rajapaksa the economic life of the country came to a standstill. Gas, petrol, diesel and later kerosene shortages completely disrupted life in the country. Businesses closed. Families that had started to rise, becoming upwardly mobile, became impoverished. Life chances   if many were affected.

 All agriculture sectors were crippled by President Gotabaya‘s decision to completely stop the import of chemical fertilizer. Paddy cultivation was ruined. This chemical   fertilizer maneuver showed a hidden hand. President Gotabaya was merely implementing it. The speed with which he introduced it, as soon as he took office, shows that he had been coached beforehand. The suggestion that this was his own idea has been firmly rejected.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was welcomed as President and got 7 lakhs of votes only because Mahinda Rajapaksa was not permitted to come forward for a third term. Had Mahinda contested he would have worn. This fact is forgotten today, it will be remembered later. Those who voted for  Gotabaya , a novice in politics and  first time President, would have expected Mahinda to guide Gotabaya behind the scenes. Mahinda did not do this. We are not told why.

Instead President Gotabaya Rajapaksa engineered the exit of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Mahinda Rajapaksa was humiliated, jeered at  and chased away from Temple Trees during  the Presidency of brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa .This too will be remembered later.

Mahinda Rajapaksa is the only politician in Sri Lanka today, who has a well earned personal following. No other politician can  match this. People still remember, with gratitude,  that he  ended the war.  He    has many  significant  development projects to his credit as well.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa had asked Mahinda Rajapaksa to resign  from the post of  Prime Minister . Mahinda seems to have refused to do. Mahinda  would probably have pointed out that there was no need for  him, Mahinda  to resign, there was no call for him to do so. It was Gotabaya who was asked to go, not Mahinda.   A brilliant strategy, compelling to watch,  cinematic in its appeal, having plenty of  conflict, violence and chase,  was successfully carried out by a yet unknown agency, on  May 9th and Mahinda was forced to announce his resignation as Prime Minister .

Long before Mahinda Rajapaksa’s departure Sri Lanka  had got fed up with Gotabaya Rajapaksa and wanted him to  resign. Gotabaya Rajapaksa became very unpopular, very soon. The President has been unable to appear in public since the protests started, observed the media. He doesn’t even stay at his private residence anymore. He cannot work from his Presidential office either.  Galle Face protestors have blocked access.

But President Gotabaya Rajapaksa  made it clear that he is not going. He is staying. This indicates that he is supported by an external power. He will go when his handlers ask him to.  He was in a buoyant mood, reported the media on May 29^th, working from his makeshift office on the first floor of Janadipathi Mandiraya. Only his personal staff worked there. His Secretary continued to use his Presidential Secretariat office and went there through a rear entrance, said the media.

Ranil Wickremesinghe  (b. 1949) was first elected to Parliament from the Biyagama electorate in the 1977 Parliamentary elections. His uncle JR Jayewardene became Prime Minister in that election. Ranil was new to Parliament but  JR made him Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs then  Minister of Youth Affairs & Employment  in  October 1977.

In the 1982 referendum when ,JR  obtained undated letters of resignation from his MPs .  It was Ranil Wickremasinghe who had distributed   the letters, which the MPs signed and    returned. (Rajiva Wijesinha. JR Jayewardene’s  racism”. p 40)

As Minister of Youth Affairs & Employment Ranil  started the Sri Lanka National Guard and the National Youth Services Council (NYSCO), which provides vocational and career training to school leavers. In 1989,  as Minister of Industry  Ranil established the Biyagama Special Economic Zone.

Ranil Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister from 1993 – 1994, 2001 – 2004, 2015 – 2018 and 2018 – 2019. In 2000 and 2005 he contested for President  and was defeated. He has been the leader of the United National Party since 1994.

Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed Prime Minister  in the present  Pohottu government  on 12^th May, 2022. This was his sixth term as Prime Minister , incredibly with just one seat, his own,  a bonus seat,  in the 225-member Parliament,  observed Shamindra Ferdinando.   The electorate  had rejected not only him but also his entire party, said Rienzie Wjetilleke.

The appointment was  received angrily in certain political quarters.  ‘Meka deal ekak ‘said  Ven. Omalpe Sobitha with  Cardinal Malcolm Joseph agreeing. This can only be interpreted as a corrupt political deal, added  FUTA. Ranil Wickremesinghe  has come in through the back door without anything resembling a popular mandate, said Rienzie.  Wickremesinghe has given a  breathing space for the President to continue in office, commented analysts

Whether Ranil Wickremesinghe is the person the country needs today, is  highly debatable, observed Shivanthi Ranasinghe. It was to save the country from Wickremesinghe’s US tilted   Yahapalana agenda that Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected to power in the first place.

Ranil Wickremesinghe is not the solution, said the Intellectual Forum for People”.  Ranil  is not a competent administrator.  That is well known. The  problem will not be solved by appointing   him.

Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA)  soundly  condemned the appointment. FUTA pointed out that  according to the Constitution, the President must appoint as Prime Minister the Member of Parliament who in his opinion is most likely to command the confidence of Parliament.”  The UNP has only one seat in Parliament.

 Wickremasinghe has an extraordinarily poor electoral track record with the highest number of consecutive electoral defeats for his party, continued FUTA. He was unable even to secure his own election at the last General Election.  Ranil Wickremesinghe has been implicated in the infamous Central Bank fraud, either directly or via its covering up, to name only a few of his disqualifications. He stands for precisely what the  public seeks to eliminate from this country’s political framework,  concluded FUTA.

Rienzie Wijetilleke had plenty to  say about  the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe . There was a time when the elites of Colombo thought of Ranil as a visionary leader, a man of integrity. Someone that will put the country before his party and the party before himself. Nothing could be further from the truth, said Rienzie. His rambling speech in Parliament served as a reminder that this is a politician with literally zero charisma. Nothing in RW’s past suggests he has anything new to offer in this situation, Rienzie concluded.

Ranil Wickremesinghe has  taken many decisions which have come under heavy criticism.  He wanted to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the   arrival of the Portuguese to Sri Lanka .

Defamation was  a criminal offence in Sri Lanka and provided for a two-year jail term under the Penal Code. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s   government repealed this in 2002.  Sri Lanka is the first and only country in the South Asian region to have done away with the law of criminal defamation,  said critics. Sri Lanka is the only country in South Asia with no protection for its citizens for criminal assault on  their reputation.

It is well known that Ranil Wickemesinghe’s name was  associated with the Central Bank bond scam by Arjuna Mahendran. Within the first week Wickremesinghe wanted to appoint Arjuna Mahendran as the Governor of the Central Bank. I wasn’t happy because Mahendran was a citizen of Singapore. However, Wickremesinghe insisted that Mahendran was the ideal person and since I  did not want to create a conflict, within a week of coming to power,  I agreed.,”  Maitripala Sirisena said.

Ranil Wickremesinghe  had wanted to extend Mahendran’s term in spite of accusations relating to the 2015 and 2016 Treasury bond scams. Ranil said that there was no loss to the government in the bond scam. If at all, it was only a question of a potential conflict of interest.

The Bond scam case is proceeding. In 2021  Attorney General requested the Colombo High Court to proceed with  the case in absentia. They said that Former Central Bank Governor Arjuna Mahendran was hiding in Singapore. Attorney General’s Department was working with the Attorney General of Singapore to  get him back.

 Perpetual Treasuries Former Director  A.G. Punchihewa was residing in Malaysia and it was practically impossible to bring him back to Sri Lanka under  extradition.  In 2022 Attorney General al was asked to reply to the submissions of the defence who denied   everything and wanted the case thrown out.

Ranil Wickremesinghe is remembered for signing the Ceasefire agreement of 2002, which gave the LTTE control over the north and east of the island. He had no constitutional authority to do so.  He had assumed  the legislative powers of Parliament.  The Agreement was implemented without Parliament being informed .  Many army and police died during the ceasefire, which allowed the LTTE to flourish, said critics. 

Wickremesinghe advocated a policy of appeasement, thereby jeopardizing the entire security apparatus, said analysts. The LTTE brazenly exploited the situation to its advantage. Prabhakaran stepped up training, recruitment of fresh cadres. The government did nothing. The LTTE intensified protests opposite security forces bases, restricted/interfered with police and military movements. Wickremesinghe dismissed intelligence assessment as regards the rapid LTTE built up.

Prime Minister was  sober and balanced in dealing with the service commanders after the CFA was signed, said Austin Fernando.. Others disagreed. Wickremesinghe told a hastily arranged Temple Trees meeting, attended by senior officers responsible for intelligence services  that their assessment of the LTTE training 6,000 cadres at the onset of the CFA was wrong. The Premier contradicted his own intelligence.

The then Defence Advisor Senior DIG Merril Gunaratne, who had been among those invited by the Prime Minister, had the strength to stand by his report, based on information provided by all services. Obviously, Wickremesinghe hadn’t been in a mood to listen to anyone who questioned Prabhakaran’s motives though the continuing LTTE build up was evident, noted an analyst.

Ranil Wickremesinghe’s  name is  connected with the  Millenium City raid. The Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) had a  top secret  unit at Millenium City. This   was raided and  exposed. In spite of strong protests by the Army, the UNP went ahead with this. The exposure led to the deaths of several operatives. The LTTE also hunted police officers engaged in anti-terrorist operations. When Defence Advisor Merril Gunaratne blamed the LTTE for the killing of Inspector Thabrew at the Dehiwela police station, Premier Wickremesinghe questioned  Merril’s assessment, noted an analyst.

Ranil Wickremesinghe   has admirers and supporters. In the popular imagination, Wickremesinghe remains our most intelligent politician today, commented Uditha Devapriya. Ranil Wickremesinghe  stands as the last representative of the old elite”.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has to be respected not only as a leader, but as a true democrat who has come forward to do his duty for the country at a critical hour  said Chandra Edirisuriya. Under his surveillance normalcy is likely to return to the economic life of the country before long. Ranil Wickremesinghe has achieved much with only just about a couple of weeks in office.

The appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister is bringing relief to the people who have been suffering for quite some time owing to the grave economic crisis. Placing him at the helm of financial affairs by appointing him as the Minister of Finance as well is another wise move enabling him to connect with countries eager to help Sri Lanka at this difficult hour, continued Chandra Edirisuriya.

The country is forging ahead economically. The major economic powers of the world are rallying round  Ranil. Even the G 7 countries are going out of the way to help Sri Lanka to tide over its present economic crisis proving that Ranil Wickremesinghe is a man to be reckoned with, said Chandra.

The economic crisis is easing rapidly with fuel queues getting shorter hour by hour and day-by-day. The supply of cooking gas is improving and with the opening of the Sapugaskanda oil refinery, having been shut down for nearly three months, will improve the situation further. Fertilizer imports that need only about US$ 160 million are to begin soon, concluded Chandra Edirisuriya.

By Veeragathy Thanabalasingham Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, June 6 (newsin.asia): There have been much commentary in the media about the recent statement in Parliament by former minister Chamal Rajapaksa who opined that his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa should have retired from politics at the end of his second term as executive president.

Mahinda’s second term was to end in 2016. But in order to obtain the people’s mandate for a third term he called an early presidential election in January 2015 and lost. Some political commentators have pointed out that Chamal should have given Mahinda this advice at that time.  Others have raised the question why Chamal did not advise his brothers in such a manner when, in 2010 and 2020, they obtained unlimited power via several arbitrary amendments to the Constitution.

The question whether Chamal, the eldest brother of the Rajapaksa family, would have made this comment about Mahinda in Parliament if the people had not begun protesting in the streets against the mal governance of his bothers, due to which they had to resign from their positions and run away, arises naturally.

Chamal said that in political life one must be always prepared to step down from positions of power. Let us see what he, who is 80 years old, does.  Chamal’s comments have raised questions about the retirement age of those engaged in politics. There is a fundamental difference between retiring from positions of power and retiring from politics.

One can engage in politics even after one steps down from a position of power. Human beings are political animals. It is not the case that one cannot engage in politics if one does not have positions or benefits accruing from those positions. In India, did Mahatma Gandhi and E.V.R Periyar engage in politics while holding positions of power? There are many other similar examples that can be cited. Yet, those in positions of power could not retain the values engendered amongst the public by such leaders.

At this juncture, a comment made by former President Chandrika Kumaratunge at the end of her second term, about the age to retire from politics, comes to mind. During the latter part of 2005 an event was organized in Bibile appreciating the services rendered by Mrs. Kumaratunge. When speaking at the event she said that, public servants and politics should retire at the age of 60. Although I do not insist that everyone should retire at that age I am retiring”. Not only at this event, but even prior to it, Mrs. Kumaratunge has said that politicians should retire at the age of 60. She probably did not imagine that she would be compelled to retire first when she made the comment.

Chandrika Kumaratunge became President at the age of 49 in 1994. After being President for 11 years she had to step down at the age of 60. Everyone knows she stepped down with sadness that she couldn’t hold the position for one more year due to a decision of the Supreme Court.

She stepped down from the position but did not retire from politics. Mrs. Kumaratunge was at the forefront of fielding candidates against Mahinda Rajapaksa during two presidential elections. At present she continues to state her opinions about the current political situation. This is the difference between retiring from a position and retiring from politics.  

The late J.R. Jayawardena came to power in his 69^th year in 1977. He approached all issues keeping in mind the boundaries of his political life. If like Mrs. Kumaratunge, Jayawardena too had come to power when he was 49 years it is debatable whether he would have included the two-term presidential term limit in the Constitution.

60 years is not an old age that requires one to retire from public life. To the contrary, it can be an age when persons who have learnt through past experiences, can right wrongs, think clearly and function maturely. If politicians retire at 60 years then many politicians who the world holds as icons would have been lost to us.

We would not have known of many who were examples through the way they lived their lives. We could not have learnt from their teachings. Nelson Mandela who dedicated his life to the liberation of the black South African people and dismantled apartheid in South Africa, contested election but was president for only one term. After that, he gave space to leaders of the next generation and refrained from holding public positions. Who would have prevented him if he wished to remain as President? He announced he would retire from public life due to his deteriorating health but he could not remain silent when it came to issues that affected humankind.

At the time, he functioned as a global conscience and moral voice drawing attention to diverse concerns, from people affected by AIDS to people suffering in poverty, and called on the world to find solutions to these problems.

Politicians who genuinely care about humanity will not be able to retire from public life until their death. Those who are not able to be an example to others through the way they live their lives are ordinary politicians. They are self-serving. They can retire at 60 years or even before. Who cares? It would be a blessing to society if such persons never enter politics.

Courtesy The Daily News

The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has presented a short, medium and long-term tourism revival plan leading up to March 2023 in a bid to attract 800,000 to 850,000 tourists this year, focusing on key source markets through joint promotional efforts SLTDA, Chairman Priyantha Fernando told the Annual General Meeting of Sri Lanka Association of Inbound Tour Operators (SLAITO) held in Colombo.

I have received many calls from airlines as well extending their support to promote joint promotions.” Fernando said he will have discussions with them with support of the Tourism Promotion Bureau to come up with a plan to

ferry people even from Russia which could be done by ferrying them via Istanbul to Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile the SLTPB has planned three road shows in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore this month as an immediate promotion and a Tourism App would also be developed to link all stakeholders with the assistance of the ICTA. Also an initiative would also be taken soon to use cricket to promote the destination and the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau has also come up with a short time strategy with Sri Lanka Cricket for this purpose, said Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Chalaka Gajabahu.

Newly appointed SLAITO President Nishad Wijetunga said the draft of the new Act has not been officially presented to them and none of their recommendations and proposals which were presented had been incorporated in it.

Wijetunga said their membership spends colossal sums a year on promoting the country and bringing in tourists and 90% of their membership were SMEs. The current Act was drafted over a long period of time after discussions with all stakeholders and it took over 10 years for it to be finalized and he said it was a fantastic piece of legislation which included features such as the Tourism Development Levy.

By Shivanthi ranasinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today