By Raj Gonsalkorale

A shortage of medicine caused by an economic crisis in Sri Lanka could soon cause deaths, doctors said, as hospitals are forced to postpone life-saving procedures for their patients because they do not have the necessary drugs – Reuters

In a news item titled as above, Reuters have bared what many in Sri Lanka know about and fear. (http://www.adaderana.lk/news/82630/sri-lankan-medicine-shortage-a-death-sentence-for-some-doctors-say)

It is very bad for cancer patients,” said Dr Roshan Amaratunga. Sometimes, in the morning we plan for some surgeries (but) we may not be able to do on that particular day … as (supplies) are not there.” If the situation does not improve quickly, several patients would be facing a virtual death sentence, he said.

A government official working on procuring medical supplies, said about 180 items were running out, including injections for dialysis patients, medicine for patients who have undergone transplants and certain cancer drugs. The official, Saman Rathnayake, told Reuters that India, Japan and multilateral donors were helping to provide supplies, but it could take up to four months for items to arrive.

Sri Lanka imports more than 80% of its medical supplies but with foreign currency reserves running out because of the crisis, essential medications are disappearing from shelves and the healthcare system is close to collapse.

Referring to the ubiquitous queues for petrol and cooking gas, Dr Vasan Ratnasingam, a spokesman for the Government Medical Officers’ Association, said the consequences for people awaiting treatment were so much more dire. If patients are in a queue for drugs, they will lose their lives,”

In this dire situation, the country appoints more cabinet ministers. Political parties like the SJB, JVP, the TNA, SLMC and some other political parties keep jockeying to be ahead in the political race to continue the system that produces them and talk of conditional support for a national unity government. When people are faced with the situation described in the Reuters news item, when they look for firewood to cook their next meal, when they live in the dark for hours every day, these political parties and their priorities are a disgrace to the country. Capable people like Dr Harsha De Silva, Eran Wickramaratne among others, should be in the cabinet to help take Sri Lanka out of the mess it is in, not some failed politicians who have been given posts.

The challenge for every single Sri Lankan is how they are going to live tomorrow, as nothing about it is certain today. The challenge for the politicians is to work together to give some hope for the people about tomorrow.

Sri Lanka probably needs an immediate infusion of say USD 10 Billion to have that better tomorrow, to import drugs, gas, diesel, food and begin living in the light. Export industries have to commence production, the tea industry has to be rejuvenated, small scale traders and industrialists have to recommence their businesses, the hotel industry has to be revived and tourists need to come back, and foreign remittances have to resume.

As the Prime Minister is attempting to do, friendly nations have to be canvassed to participate in a national emergency strategy to infuse the critically needed foreign exchange to do all of above. All political parties must support such a strategy as a priority and not bicker in and outside the Parliament and organize protests.

Negotiations with the IMF for a more longer-term strategy of debt restricting and emergency support must continue but Sri Lankans must know this is not going to happen tomorrow. Restructuring the country’s present debt and potential additional debt that will have to be incurred, (current overseas debt reportedly 56 billion USD, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/DT.DOD.DECT.CD?locations=LK) and this, shown as a per capita figure will be USD 2666 or in rupees at todays exchange rate, Rs 1,013,333. This is saying every Sri Lankan (taken as 21 million people) living in the country today owes Rs 1,013,333 each in foreign debt from the time of their birth. Once debt levels increase, these figures too will increase. The question that should be asked is why a newborn carries a debt of this magnitude and what wrong he or she has done to acquire this sad legacy.

This is the legacy left behind for the country by its political leaders. People should not be fooled by the political parties who are giving false hopes to people and leading them to protest marches and even instigating violence. This is treachery. Neither should the people endorse moves by the government to show that life is normal and they can have as many cabinet ministers as they wish. Life is not normal and what is needed is a small (say 10 member) emergency cabinet to manage the emergency faced by the country.

In regard to the medicine shortages, while several countries, India in particular, and individuals and organizations local and overseas, have helped in raising funds and dispatching supplies, the health department needs to identify a list of items desperately needed, and what might be needed in the next few months. This is easily compiled for the State sector by the health department as they know what is available or not in public hospitals, what is the warehouses, and what is needed. This is yet to happen. Besides this, countries who manufacture drugs in the region like India, Bangladesh, Turkey, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia should be contacted to assisting in supplying the country’s needs for the next 12 months. What is needed is a planned approach and not ad hoc begging arrangements. There needs to be a degree of certainty and not the uncertainty that prevails day in and day out today. If there is such a plan, it will help donors, individuals, and organizations to fit into such a plan.

As regards the private sector, perhaps some funds could be released to procure items from a list of critical items that could be prepared by a committee of experts and /or the arrangements relating to the public sector could be extended to cover such essential items for the private sector.

Neither the President, government ministers or the opposition leader, his parliamentarians nor other opposition political parties seem to have any empathy with the millions of people who are undergoing untold suffering and simply pursuing their own self interests. No wonder people have given up on them and any hope for the future of the country. To the Prime Ministers credit, he seems to be the only politicians showing some genuine interest in finding a solution to the critical situation faced by the country.

Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 24 (newsin.asia): Three military officers who were Secretaries to ministries in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government have been replaced in the reshuffle carried out by the Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday.

In the partial de-militarization, Adm.Prof. Jayanath Colombage, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been replaced by Mrs.Aruni Wijewardena;  Maj.Gen.Sanjeewa Munasinghe, Secretary Health has been replaced by S.J.S.Chandraguptha and Maj.Jagath Alwis has been replaced by S.Hettiarachchi.

Both Adm.Colombage and Maj.Gen.Jagath Alwis had resigned earlier.ADVERTISEMENT

Two army men, Maj.Gen. Kamal Gunaratne and Gen.Daya Ratnayake retain their ministers which are Defense and Industries respectively.

In the reshuffle, some Secretaries have retained their posts, some have been shifted to other ministries and some have been dropped.

The list of new Secretaries appointed to the Cabinet Ministries is as follows.

01: Mr. R.W.R. Pemasiri                 – Transport and Highways Ministry

02: Mr. M.M.P.K. Mayadunne                – Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Ministry

03: Mr. K.D.S. Ruwanchandra                 – Ports, Shipping and Aviation Ministry

04: Mr. S.T. Kodikara                      – Trade, Commerce and Food Security Ministry

05: Ms. Wasantha Perera              – Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Ministry

06: Mr. S. Hettiarachchi                          – Public Security Ministry

07: Mr. M.N. Ranasinghe               – Education Ministry

08: Mr. M.P.D.U.K. Mapa Pathirana      – Power and Energy Ministry

09: Ms. R.M.I. Ratnayake              –  Ministry of Fisheries

10: Mr. Monti Ranatunga              –  Ministry of Water Supply

11: Mr. U.D.C. Jayalal                     –  Ministry of Irrigation

12: Mr. Anuradha Wijekoon                   – Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry

13: Dr. Anil Jasinghe                       –  Ministry of Environment

14: Mr. Anusha Palpita                            – Ministry of Mass Media

15: Mr. M.B.R. Pushpakumara               – Ministry of Agriculture

16: Mr. Somaratne Vidanapathirana     – Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Ministry

17: General (Retired) Daya Ratnayake – Ministry of Industries

18: Ms. Aruni Wijewardena                    – Ministry of Foreign Affairs

19: Mr. B.L.A.J. Dharmakeerthi              – Ministry of Plantation Industries

20: Ms. R.M.C.M. Herath               – Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Ministry

21: Mr. S.J.S. Chandragupta                    – Ministry of Health

22: Mr. P.H.C. Ratnayake               – Ministry of Urban Development and Housing

23: Mr. R.P.A. Wimalaweera                  – Ministry of Labor and Foreign Employment

Two Military Officers dropped

Colombo, May 24 (newsin.asia): Three military officers who were Secretaries in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government have been replaced in the reshuffle of ministerial Secretaries made by the Sri Lankan President on Tuesday.

In the partial de-militarization, Adm.Prof. Jayanath Colombage, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been replaced by Mrs.Arunit Wijewardena;  Maj.Gen.Sanjeewa Munasinghe, Secretary Health has been replaced by S.J.S.Chandraguptha and Maj.Jagath Alwis has been replaced by S.Hettiarachchi.

Both Adm.Colombage and Maj.Gen.Jagath Alwis had resigned earlier.

Two army men, Maj.Gen. Kamal Gunaratne and Gen.Daya Ratnayake retain their ministers which are Defense and Industries respectively.

In the reshuffle, some Secretaries have retained their posts, some have been shifted to other ministries and some have been dropped.

By TOM LEONARD FOR THE DAILY MAIL Courtesy MailOnLine

From the ethically sourced produce shops of Islington to the chemical-free acres of the Prince of Wales’s Highgrove farm, you could almost hear the cheering three years ago when Sri Lanka’s future president pledged a revolution.

It wouldn’t be on the streets but in the fields — as Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed in his successful 2019 election campaign to transform the country into the world’s first fully organic farming nation.

Parroting the claims made for years by Prince Charles and fellow advocates of ‘sustainable farming’, the politician cited health and environmental reasons for this drastic move — in particular brandishing unproven claims of a link between chemical fertilisers and Sri Lanka’s high rate of chronic kidney disease.+3View gallery

Police use tear gas to disperse Higher National Diploma (HND) students demonstration demanding the resignation of Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Poverty

Rajapaksa’s commitment to producing 100 per cent of Sri Lanka’s food organically within a decade was accompanied by a ban on the use of all chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides.

The consequences have been nothing short of catastrophic. Going organic — the bold, modern vision of the UK’s green lobby — has triggered the devastation of Sri Lanka’s economy, plunging much of its 22 million-strong population into desperate straits.

The chaos that has engulfed the country — including growing poverty, long queues for essentials, lethal street battles and attacks on the homes of government leaders — is a direct result of this one decision.

Rajapaksa’s announcement last April that the country’s two million farmers had to go organic overnight — and the disaster that has followed — is a timely lesson for all those who have been swept up by the hype surrounding organic food and its promise not only to improve our health but also to help save the planet.

Ironically, Sri Lanka had one of the strongest performing economies in Asia. In 2019, the World Bank upgraded its status to that of an upper middle-income country — only to reverse its decision just months after Rajapaksa was elected.

Soon after he ordered the organic transition, agronomists from the Sri Lanka Agricultural Economics Association warned he was making a terrible mistake. For all his concerns about water contamination, soil degradation, kidney disease and biodiversity damage, the cons of going organic far outweighed the pros, they said.

Studies show crop yields drop by an alarming 30 per cent under organic farming. Since the 1960s, Sri Lanka has subsidised farmers to use synthetic fertiliser, the main catalyst for the doubling of yields for many crops.

Outside the echo chamber of sustainable farming advocates, chemical fertilisers, along with pesticides and herbicides, are universally accepted as essential tools for modern agriculture.

Sri Lanka is heavily dependent on rice to feed itself and on tea to export. Forcing the producers of both crops to go entirely organic, warned experts, would drastically lower their yields — by 35 per cent and 50 per cent respectively. Rice is a nitrogen-intensive crop and is therefore tricky and expensive to grow without chemical fertilisers.

But Rajapaksa and his government wouldn’t listen to the warnings. When his brother, Mahinda, was president a decade ago, he also encouraged organic farming.

They will no doubt have been motivated by Sri Lanka’s growing reputation as a top destination for eco-tourists, who are drawn to luxury hotels that serve organic food, produced on their own farms.

Shunning conventional food production experts, the Rajapaksas have taken guidance from a cranky ‘civil society movement’ called Viyathmaga, which sums up its values as ‘Spiritual inside, Technocrat outside’.+3View gallery

Sri Lankan university students holding placards march towards Presidential Secretariat

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Its plans include developing two million organic home gardens and turning over millions of acres of Sri Lankan forests and wetlands to producing bio fertiliser.

The whole project was accelerated by the pandemic, which destroyed the country’s tourism industry.

Sri Lanka’s ruling family saw a perfect chance to reduce its crippling balance of payments deficit and embrace organic farming by phasing out the $500 million a year it usually spends on buying foreign-made chemical fertiliser and subsidising farmers to use it.

Instead, the opposite happened and Sri Lanka’s balance-of-payments deficit soared as crop production tumbled, and the price of vegetables, rice and sugar rocketed. Sri Lanka failed to get hold of much organic fertiliser, leaving many farmers with no fertiliser of any sort.

The government also failed to offer them any guidance on how to farm organically. Many farmers, despairing of ever making a profit, gave up, accelerating the food shortages.

Humiliation

The loss of revenue from tea and other export crops vastly outstripped any savings from no longer importing fertiliser. In a final humiliation, Sri Lanka — a country until recently self-sufficient in rice — had to spend $450 million importing vast amounts of it, which the government then had to subsidise.

By October last year, it was desperately back-pedalling, relaxing the fertiliser ban for crucial export crops including tea, rubber and coconut. That humiliating U-turn didn’t stop President Rajapaksa boasting of his organic credentials a month later at Glasgow’s UN Climate Change Summit.

The climbdown came too late to avert economic meltdown. Annual food price inflation is currently running at 50 per cent, with vegetables such as carrots and tomatoes up to five times more expensive than they were last year.

Sri Lanka, which owes $51 billion to international creditors, last week defaulted on its debts for the first time since it gained independence from Britain in 1948.

The country has been paralysed by strikes and violent clashes between Rajapaksa supporters and opponents in which people have died.

A museum dedicated to the ruling family has been torched: the organic dream has literally gone up in smoke.

Prince Charles was widely mocked by farmers when he transformed his 1,000-acre farm at Highgrove in Gloucestershire to become completely organic in 1985.

He has said: ‘In farming, as in gardening, I happen to believe that if you treat the land with love and respect . . . then it will repay you in kind.’+3View gallery

A Higher National Diploma (HND) student gestures in front of riot police during a demonstration demanding the resignation of Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the country’s crippling economic crisis, in Colombo this month

Deluded

Such thinking may be fine in a domestic garden or hobby farm, but not in international agriculture, according to experts.

Nearly all organic farming, they note, serves only the very richest and the very poorest people in the world. While the latter are forced to do it by necessity, as they cannot afford chemical fertilisers and pesticides, for the former it’s an expensive lifestyle choice.

As the success of Prince Charles’s range of organic produce (Waitrose Duchy Organic) illustrates, there’s no shortage of British customers willing to pay a premium for that all-important organic label.

Sceptics wonder why, citing tests that show organic food neither tastes better nor is more nutritional (though the organic lobby insists it contains higher levels of vitamin C and Omega 3 in milk). Nor, critics add, is there any conclusive evidence of the health effects of pesticides.

And organic farming is not always greener either, principally because the lower crop yields it offers means much more land has to be cultivated — land which could be used to grow trees and reduce carbon emissions. It also relies heavily on tilling fields that can accelerate soil exhaustion.

As Sri Lanka descends into chaos and its leaders run for cover, the smug advocates of sustainable farming must share the blame — for convincing them their deluded dream was even possible.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Former Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed who is presently in Sri Lanka, said former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa had not sought a safe haven in the Maldives and he had not met Rajapaksa during his current visit in the country.

Speaking to Daily Mirror, Nasheed said reports stating that Mahinda had asked him for a safe haven for himself and his family members in the Maldoves, considering the present political climate in Sri Lanka, was false and he had not even met the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister.

Nasheed said there were elements within the Maldives who were trying to strain the relations between Sri Lanka and Maldives and such claims of Mahinda Rajapaksa wanting to exit Sri Lanka for the Maldives was fake.

“This is completely untrue. I had no such meeting with the former prime minister. Very sad that there are elements in the Maldives who want to fabricate these stories,” Nasheed said.

Nasheed who was recently appointed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to coordinate the relief efforts for Sri Lanka, globally, said his role in Colombo was to attract assistance for the country during this time of crisis and Sri Lanka’s internal problems was for the Sri Lankan people to settle. 

“We need to focus the issues at heart here. And I will continue to be of assistance to the Sri Lankan people,” he said.

When questioned if an exit from Sri Lanka to the Maldives was discussed in the meeting he had with SLPP MP Namal Rajapaksa, Nasheed said this matter was not discussed and discussions only focused on how the Maldives could help the Sri Lankan people at this time. (JAMILA HUSAIN)

Meera Srinivasan  Courtesy The Hindu

Motorists waiting to buy fuel from Lanka IOC fuel station in Colombo on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: AFP

Govt. tells non-essential staff to work from home to save fuel; social media saw many accounts of families being unable to access emergency medical care due to the lack of fuel

Sri Lanka has decided to seek fresh assistance of $500 million from India to augment its fuel imports, as the island reels under a crippling economic crisis manifesting in persisting shortages of essentials.

For weeks now, citizens are spending long hours lining up outside fuel stations — at times all day or night — to pump petrol or diesel, currently in short supply, as crisis-hit Sri Lanka runs out of dollars to pay for imports.

Public transport has been stalled due to the unavailability of fuel, businesses have been hit, and schools were forced to remain closed as students are unable to commute. Over the last few days, Sri Lankan social media saw many accounts of families being unable to access emergency medical care due to the lack of fuel. The government has asked non-essential” staff to work from home, to save on fuel consumption.

The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval for the proposal submitted by the Minister of Electricity and Energy to obtain a series of short-term loan facilities worth another $500 million with the assistance of the export–import bank of the Indian government in order to purchase petroleum products required by the country settling the foreign exchange shortage existing at the moment,” the government said in a statement following the Cabinet meeting on Monday.

Fuel prices saw a record hike on Tuesday as diesel, earlier sold for LKR 289 ($0.80) a litre, now costs LKR 400, reflecting a 38 % jump. Petrol prices rose from 338 to 420 Sri Lankan rupees, threatening to further increase costs of all essential commodities whose prices are already skyrocketing.

For several months now, Sri Lanka has been amidst an unprecedented economic downturn, sparking street protests by citizens across the country. A group of demonstrators are camping outside the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo for 46 days in a row, demanding that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who they hold chiefly responsible, quit office. 

Amid a heightening crisis, the government announced last month that it would pre-emptively default on the country’s foreign debt totalling $51 billion as the last resort”, and is currently negotiating a package with the International Monetary Fund. However, Central Bank Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe on Monday noted that it was difficult to give a timeline of Sri Lanka’s economic recovery that, he said, was contingent on the success of the measures taken by the government.

Much of Colombo’s initiatives so far have been about tapping external help from bilateral partners and multilateral lenders. India has already extended credit lines worth $700 million so far for fuel imports —as part of the total $3.5 billion assistance extended so far since January — and delivered over 5 lakh MT of fuel, including the latest shipment of 40,000 tonnes of petrol that reached Colombo on Monday. Meanwhile, the government is also considering various options to expand Sri Lanka’s domestic energy sector, including with foreign investment. Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera on Tuesday announced plans to advertise plots for studies on oil exploration in the Mannar Basin, where Cairn India was earlier involved in exploration.

Courtesy Pakistan Today

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told the people of Sri Lanka that he will fulfil the promises he had made to them when he assumed office last week after the fall of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government.

In his first TV address after assuming office, Wickremesinghe listed the grave challenges ahead of him, but assured the people of his determination to meet them successfully. He also suggested the formation of a National Assembly comprising all parties, to arrive at solutions. There may be an example for him. He can overcome the crisis by following Bangladesh’s ‘PM Sheikh Hasina Model’- Advertisement –

Sri Lanka is currently going through an extreme economic crisis. Foreign exchange reserves have fallen so low that some school examinations have been postponed indefinitely due to a lack of imported paper. In addition to cooking gas, there has been a shortage of kerosene and petrol.

The situation is so dire that due to inflation, high unemployment, and shortages of almost all necessities, many Sri Lankans are fleeing their country in the hope of a better life abroad. Countless Sri Lankans are now being forced to do something other than their main occupation as not everyone can afford to leave the country.The country has never been in such a bad situation since Independence in 1947.

To cope with the situation, the Sri Lankan Government has asked for a new loan of $1.5 billion from neighbouring India. When Sri Lanka faced problems, Bangladesh provided $250 million for the first time. This was the first loan from Bangladesh for any country. Sri Lanka again asked for a loan from Bangladesh. Besides, it has been repaying loans of different countries through the exchange of goods.

Sri Lanka had good human resources and was quite capable of internal prosperity. Then why this situation? Sri Lanka has undertaken several mega projects in their country for more than a century. These include seaports, airports, roads, and other projects that are currently considered unnecessary and redundant. Different governments of Sri Lanka have taken loans from different sources at home and abroad. As a result, their foreign exchange reserves gradually ran out. Instead of foreign investment, various governments have focused on borrowing.

The country’s government has issued sovereign bonds since 2007 to raise money. This type of sovereign bond is sold when the expenditure is more than the income of a country. Such bonds are sold in the international capital market to raise money. That is what Sri Lanka has done.

The once-self-sufficient country is also in dire straits due to tax cuts, reduced income from tourism remittances, and unplanned decisions in agriculture. Different countries have to learn from this situation. The world economic situation has begun to change rapidly since the Russia-Ukraine war, at which time any country could fall into a new crisis. Hopefully,  Sri Lanka will soon be able to return to normalcy with the help of various countries and organizations around the world.- Advertisement –

On the other hand, Bangladesh is currently a wonder of development. It is Hasina Wazed’s contribution that has made a least developed country such as Bangladesh a developing country now, going by economic indicators. Sheikh Hasina changed Bangladesh from a basket case to a middle-income country. Strong leadership is one of the main reasons behind the ‘Bangladesh model.

Bangladesh has improved its quality of life, economic strength, prosperity, education, and research in every field. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh’s growth has slowed down. But where the growth of all the developed countries of the world was negative in these years, the achievement of Bangladesh was also noticeable.

The implementation of big projects is now just a matter of time. City facilities have also been ensured in the villages. A Metrorail will be launched in a few days. The long Padma bridge is not a dream now, it is real. The implementation of such a project with the government’s own funding was at one time unimaginable. The country is moving forward with a sound plan.

On various indicators of human development, Bangladesh had shown significant improvement,” she has said, adding, Life expectancy in 2019 was 72.6 years, a gain of over 7 years since 2000, years of schooling were up from 4.1 to 6.2, and the country’s human development index value climbed from 0.478 in 2000 to 0.632 in 2019. As a result, Bangladesh’s index ranking is now 133rd out of a total of 189 countries.”

The High Commissioner pointed out that Bangladesh’s growth stems largely from its success as an exporter of readymade garments, which account for 83 percent of its total exports, and remittances from overseas, which amount to over seven percent of GDP. However, the principal driver of growth is investment, which have risen from 24 percent of GDP in 2000 to 32 percent in 2019. When asked about Bangladesh’s amazing rise and economic growth, she put it down to the Sheikh Hasina factor”.

The High Commissioner emphasised that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the government offered a two-percent incentives bonus for Bangladeshis sending remittances back to the country, creating $2 billion to keep the growth going. In addition, the Bangladesh Government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina provided an exponential stimulus to the economy to protect the marginal fringes of the workforce. She also highlighted that completion of the Padma Bridge will make a huge contribution to the economy.

Nobody disputes the economic credentials of Sheikh Hasina’s government- the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is the latest member of a growing list of international institutions attesting to Bangladesh’s economic success. The ADB ranked Bangladesh as the fastest-growing economy in the Asia-Pacific region, eclipsing China, Vietnam and India. At the same time, our improvements in many socio-economic indicators are another object of envy to our neighbours.

When she returned to power in 2009, Sheikh Hasina knew that the energy shortage first needed to be mitigated to a tolerable extent, before embarking on long-term plans. As a temporary measure, she decided to allow private companies to build small-range power plants, known as quick-rental power plants. The decision received a barrage of criticism from many quarters— from opposition parties and economists to the press and think tanks— intimidating many in the bureaucracy.

But Sheikh Hasina refused to back down from what she thought was the right step forward. She defended her decision forcefully, making necessary amendments to clear any legal ambiguity, and focused on its implementation. Nearly 10 years on, no one doubts that the decision was instrumental in solving the persistent energy crisis.

While in power, Sheikh Hasina has opened up many sectors traditionally reserved for the public sector to the private sector, including health, banking, higher education, TV and even export processing and economic zones. At the same time, her government has substantially widened and expanded welfare programmes to lift the poorest and most neglected section of the population and increased subsidies for other crucial elements of the economy such as agriculture. Her development philosophy is a blend of capitalistic and socialistic virtues.

Propelled by a robust manufacturing sector and an enormous boom in infrastructure, Bangladesh has set a target of becoming a developed nation by 2041 to coincide with the platinum jubilee of its independence. Many commentators have called the goal ambitious, but even the government’s staunchest critics would think twice before questioning its plausibility.

The present government in Bangladesh has shown great prudence and foresight in the progress of Bangladesh. The current Bangladesh regime has ensured political stability in the country, zero-tolerance policy against terrorism and illegal narcotics dealing, empowerment of women, liberalization of the economy, social welfare policy towards the people, capacity building through training, inclusive economic growth policy, timely bold decisions etc. For this reason, there is nothing to be afraid of seeing the situation of any country as a nightmare.

Around 100 economic zones are being formed. Investment is coming from different countries. Foreign exchange reserves are adequate (US$ 45 billion, January 2022), and remittances are satisfactory. It can be said that every economic foundation of Bangladesh is still in a strong position. The economy of Bangladesh was also active during COVID and emphasis has been laid on revenue collection and the agricultural sector of Bangladesh is very strong. Bangladesh is in a positive position in terms of foreign exchange reserves, remittances, and export earnings.

Bangladesh’s foreign exchange reserves now stand at more than $45 billion, despite rising import costs, making it able to meet the import cost of six months. Bangladesh’s growth rate was way above Pakistan, even before the pandemic; in 2018-19 it was 7.8 percent compared to Pakistan’s 5.8 percent. Various international organisations, including the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and the Economic Intelligence Unit, have identified Bangladesh’s economic development as a wonderful puzzle”. While the current economy of Bangladesh is $410 billion, the size of Pakistan’s economy is about $260 billion.

Bangladesh has improved its quality of life, economic strength, prosperity, education, and research in every field. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, Bangladesh’s growth has slowed down. But where the growth of all the developed countries of the world was negative in these years, the achievement of Bangladesh was also noticeable.

Premier Sheikh Hasina has achieved full potential to move from a least developed country to a developing country. It has been possible because of people’s hard-working, strong leadership. Political stability, the flow of FDI, empowerment of women, unique poverty alleviation model, inclusivity of economy, etc. That is the story of a South Asian country: ‘Bangladesh’ is a ‘miracle story’.

Courtesy USNews

COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Tuesday he will present an interim budget within six weeks, slashing infrastructure projects to re-route funds into a two-year relief programme for the crisis-hit island nation.

Wickremesinghe, who took office two weeks ago, warned that inflation would rise as the government gets down to tackling the crisis, and that there could be more protests on the streets.

He said he hoped any unrest would not get out of hand, adding that funds would be made available to help the most vulnerable of the country’s 22 million people.

“Looking at the hard days ahead, there has to be protest. It’s natural when people suffer, they must protest,” Wickremesinghe said in an interview at the colonial-era prime minister’s office in the commercial capital Colombo.

“But we want to ensure that it does not destabilise the political system.

“With the interim budget, it is just about cutting down expenditure, cutting to the bone where possible and transferring it to welfare.”

The country located off India’s southern tip is reeling from its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948, as a shortage of foreign currency severely curtailed imports of essentials including fuel and medicine, triggering months of unprecedented protests.

Much of the public ire has been targeted at President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family, whom protesters blame for mishandling the economy.

The roots of the current crisis also lie in the COVID-19 pandemic, which devastated the country’s lucrative tourism industry and sapped foreign workers’ remittances, and populist tax cuts enacted by the Rajapaksa administration that drained government income.

“We have no rupee revenue, and now we have to print another (one) trillion rupees,” Wickremesinghe said, warning that annual inflation could rocket past 40% in coming months, putting further pressure on Sri Lankan households already grappling with high prices.

For full report

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-05-24/exclusive-sri-lankas-prime-minister-says-will-slash-expenditure-in-new-budget

Courtesy CNA

WASHINGTON : The World Bank on Tuesday said it is not planning to provide any new financing to cash-strapped Sri Lanka until an adequate economic policy framework has been put in place.

In a statement, the multilateral development bank said it was repurposing resources from previously approved projects to help the Sri Lankan government pay for some essential medicines, temporary cash transfers for poor and vulnerable households, and other support.

It said recent media reports had inaccurately stated that the World Bank planned to provide Sri Lanka with a new bridge loan or other loan commitments.

Courtesy News18

A natural gas field was reportedly discovered for the first time here in 2011, but the country has not yet capitalised on this treasure trove, which could potentially solve Sri Lanka’s energy requirements, news portal Ada Derana has reported.

he crisis-hit Sri Lankan government is planning to undertake a feasibility study on oil exploration in the Mannar Basin, a shallow bay part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean, which has about 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to meet the energy needs of the island nation for the next six decades, a media report has said. A natural gas field was reportedly discovered for the first time here in 2011, but the country has not yet capitalised on this treasure trove, which could potentially solve Sri Lanka’s energy requirements, news portal Ada Derana has reported.

During a media briefing on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting, Sri Lanka’s Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said that the government is planning to advertise plots for studies on oil exploration in the Mannar Basin following research conducted in the area last year. According to the findings of the Committee on Public Accounts held in 2016, the Chief Accounting Officer said there were about 5 billion barrels of fuel and about 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Mannar Basin, which is enough to meet the needs of about 60 years, the report said.Advertisement

The Ada Derana report said that deposits could be used to increase the country’s power supply to 1,130 kilowatts and the natural gas supply could bring approximately USD 200 billion to the country over the next 25 years. Officials stated that difficulty in finding reliable investors and the lack of staff at the Sri Lanka Petroleum Development Authority were the reasons for the delay in chalking out a formal programme to explore this resource-rich area, it said.

So dire has been Sri Lanka’s current situation that the country has been witnessing power cuts for up to 12 hours a day due to lack of adequate supply of fuel. The Sri Lankan Cabinet on Tuesday has approved seeking a USD 500 million loan from the Exim Bank of India for the purchase of petroleum products amid a severe foreign exchange crisis that has crippled the island nation.

The country is grappling with an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948. It is struggling with a shortage of almost all essentials, due to the lack of dollars to pay for the imports.

The economic crisis has also triggered a political crisis in Sri Lanka and a demand for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The crisis has already forced prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of the president, to resign on May 9.

An inflation rate spiralling towards 40 per cent, shortages of food, fuel, medicines and rolling power blackouts have led to nationwide protests and a plunging currency, with the government short of the foreign currency reserves it needed to pay for imports.

Courtesy Adaderana

Courtesy Adaderana

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will closely work with other donors such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, G7 countries, and other stakeholders to support Sri Lanka during this extraordinarily difficult period, the agency’s administrator Samantha Power has assured Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

During a telephone conversation with PM Wickremesinghe, Samantha Power has discussed how the USAID is responding to the island nation’s political and economic crises. 

Administrator Power expressed her sympathy for the Sri Lankans who were killed or injured in the political unrest earlier this month.

Pledging her support to the people of Sri Lanka, she has stated that USAID would help the country weather the crisis.

Administrator Power meanwhile stressed the need to urgently undertake political and economic reforms to gain the trust of the Sri Lankan people. 

She has underscored that USAID is pivoting its ongoing programs in Sri Lanka to help address the urgent needs of Sri Lanka’s most vulnerable and marginalized communities as they experience the economic shocks, compounded by rising food, fuel and fertilizer prices due to Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine.

Courtesy Adaderana

The World Health Organization (WhO) has assured its fullest support for Sri Lanka to come out of the ongoing medical crisis.

The organization has also agreed to provide USD 2 million to the island nation as a part of the initial phase of this assistance program.

This was conveyed by WHO Representative to Sri Lanka, Dr. Alaka Singh who called on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The meeting took place at the Prime Minister’s Office in Colombo earlier today (May 24).

Dr. Singh has said she is confident that Sri Lanka would be able to resolve the medicine shortage by July or August based on the new health program implemented by the current government.

She further stated that the WHO is committed to improving the nutritional needs of infants and expecting mothers.

The prime minister has appreciated the support extended by the World Health Organization for improving the health standards of Sri Lanka.

Chairperson of the special committee appointed by the Prime Minister to propose measures to alleviate the shortage of medicines Ruwan Wijewardena, Secretary to the Prime Minister Saman Ekanayake and Medical Technical Services Director of the Ministry of Health Dr. Anwar Hamdani have attended the said meeting.

Shenali D Waduge

Anything done in haste is wasted and both 19^th and 20^th amendment as well as 18^th amendment were clearly not done with country interest but with personal interest. This is undemocratic and unhealthy for a country & it is reason for so many confusions and contradictions and heated debates. These are all uncalled for and unnecessary. 21^stamendment should not fall into this same category. The country is in an economic crisis, it soon led to a political crisis, we do not wish to enter a constitutional crisis as well. Therefore, Parliament & the President must stop being selfish in their tug of war for power and for once put the country first. While 19a is not the perfect amendment as is being made out to be, 20^thamendment is not so great either. To understand this, it is important to briefly look at what 19a attempted to do (transfer powers of the President to the PM) while 20a attempted to reverse these changes.

The Parliamentary Elections was won by SLPP in August 2020.

The Presidential election was won by Gotabaya Rajapakse in November 2019.

The President appointed a 5 member committee to draft 20a.

1. GL Pieris
2. Dinesh Gunawardena
3. Nimal Siripala de Silva
4. Ali Sabry
5. Udaya Gammanpila.

First reading of the Bill was on 22 September 2020 & 39 petitions were filed in SC

5 Judge SC bench – CJ Jayantha Jayasuriya, Justice Buvaneka Aluvihare, Justice Sisira de Abrew, Justice Priyantha Jayawardena & Justice Vijith Malalgoda.

Judges ruled that Clauses 3, 5, 14, 22 of the 20a Bill was inconsistent with Article 3 & 4 of the Constitution & required approval of the People at a referendum (as stipulated by Article 83 unless amended)

The rest could be passed with a 2/3 Majority in Parliament without a referendum.

Clauses requiring referendum unless amended were

Clause 3 – duty of President to conduct free & fair election

Clause 14 – Dissolve Parliament within a year

Clause 5 – Presidential Immunity which excluded FR challenges against acts of the President

Clause 22 – Repeal of constitutional duty on public officers to adhere to directive of Election Commission & failure to do so constituting an offense.

20^th October 2020 – Supreme Court made its Special Determination after 2 day debate in Parliament.

20a was passed on 22 October 2020 by Parliament – 156 votes in favor and 65 against.

8 from Opposition voted in favor.

20a was to retain 19a changes

2 term limit of a President,

5 year term for both President & Parliament

Right to Information

20a changes to 19a

• Constitutional Council replaced by Parliamentary Council comprising only MPs (3 eminent persons selected to CC in 19a was removed)
• Parliamentary Council could give their observations to the President who was not bound by them.
• National Procurement Commission & National Audit Commission abolished
• President given powers over PM, Cabinet & Parliament.
• Urgent Bill provision reintroduced (why?)
• Time duration a Bill opened to Public reduced from 2 weeks to 7 days

Cabinet made 3 changes to 20a Bill 

• Limiting Acts brought as Urgent Bills to those pertaining to national security & disaster management
• Limiting number of cabinet ministers/retaining maximum number under 19a
• Auditing of state institutions under 19a to continue

Qualifications to Elect President

19a – 35 years

20a – 30 years (what was the rationale for this?)

Dual citizenship

19a – Dual citizens cannot become President or MP

20a – repealed /Dual citizens can contest as President & MP

This was totally uncalled for

Duties of President

19a – Constitution respected & upheld (Article 33(1)

20a – repealed

19a – Promote national reconciliation & integration

20a – repealed

Constitutional Council/Parliamentary Council

19a – Ensure & facilitate Constitutional Council

20a – repealed & replaced with Parliamentary Council (3 eminent persons removed) Parliamentary Council only makes observations to nominations made by President but President is not bound to comply.

President/PM

19a – President cannot remove PM

20a – President can remove PM at any time at President’s discretion (Article 47(2)

19a – President required to act on advice of PM in appointing, removing any Cabinet, Non Cabinet Minister or Deputy Minister

201 – repealed / President may consider consultation if necessary

19a/20a – Actions of President remains subject to FR jurisdiction of the SC

20a – while holding office as President no proceedings shall be instituted or continued against him in any court or tribunal in official or private capacity (Article 35(1)

19a – President cannot hold portfolio

20a – President can hold Ministerial portfolios

Dissolution of Parliament

19a – President can dissolve Parliament only after 4 ½ years or with 2/3 majority in Parliament

20a – Repealed /

• President can dissolve after 2 ½ years –
• he can dissolve Parliament earlier if Parliament by resolution requests President to dissolve Parliament
• If President does not dissolve Parliament after Appropriation Bill is rejected, President has to dissolve Parliament if next Appropriation Bill is rejected.
• President shall not dissolve Parliament if Statement of Government Policy is rejected after General Election
• President shall not dissolve Parliament after Speaker entertains resolution calling for impeachment of President (Article 38 of Constitution)

Urgent Bills

19a – Urgent Bills revoked

20a – Urgent Bills” provision to pass legislation reintroduced. Amended to only to apply to ‘interest of national security or for purpose of disaster management’ & President can refer Bill to SC for determination on Constitutionality giving SC 24hours to determine. Urgent Bill cannot be used for any Bill as amendment, repeal, replacement, alteration or addition to any provision of the Constitution or repeal and replacement of Constitution.

Duration for a Bill made accessible to Public

19a – 14 days (before placing on Order Paper of Parliament)

20a – reduced again to 7 days (why?)

Any amendment proposed to a Bill during Committee Stage, cannot deviate from merits & principles of such a Bill. But an Act of Parliament enacted in violation of process is protected by Article 80(3)

Appointments to Judiciary

19a – Nominations to Courts including SC is by Constitutional Council

20a – President can appoint CJ, other judges of SC, President of Court of Appeal & other judges of Court of Appeal at his discretion.

Judges of SC increased from 11 to 17 judges.

Judges of Court of Appeal increased from 12 to 20

President may appoint any 2 judges to SC as members of the Judicial Service Commission at his discretion subject to their seniority & judicial experience.

The 20a should not have re-introduced dual citizenship, reduced the 14day provision to 7 days for People to make observations on a Bill, reintroduced urgent bills” which SC required amendment, increased the judges of the Courts and reduced the age to contest as President from 35 to 30years.

Shenali D Waduge

Shenali D Waduge

21a is re-attempting to transfer the powers of the President to the Prime Minister. Ranil is only a caretaker PM. The newly appointed cocktail cabinet are only care taker Ministers. They are not part of the Government elected in 2020 which still has the numbers though the PM of the Govt was forced to resign. A caretaker cabinet & PM should not be allowed to change the constitution with amendments. The President has to make this clear & stop wasting public funds and time on constitutional amendments. PM Ranil was brought to solve the economic crisis. If he cannot solve that he must be removed. He cannot be allowed to change the constitution. 21a is an attempt to do what could not be done by 19a – transfer Presidential Powers to create an Executive Prime Minister. The people must oppose this.

19a is not as gaga as is being presented & anyone who has read it would see the confusions and contradictions in a hurriedly passed amendment.

20a may have insertions that are unnecessary, but these are not dangerous to the State. In short, we do not need to waste time and public money on constitutional amendments. PM Ranil was not made PM to be changing the constitution.

The President has to come out & clearly make this known to them

However, 21a is re-attempting to transfer powers from a President elected by 69lakh people to a Prime Minister who lost his seat, could not secure 10,000 votes and sheepishly and undemocratically entered through the backdoor from the National List.

How can a person who has been elected by 69lakh people have the powers delegated to him by the People, transferred to a person who has entered to Parliament undemocratically to become the Executive Prime Minister?

This is what Parliament, the Judiciary & the Citizens of Sri Lanka should be asking.

The current cabinet is the 2^nd cabinet appointed by the President.

Initial cabinet had 4 ministers & Mahinda was PM

2^nd cabinet is currently have 13 Ministers with Ranil Wickremasinghe as PM.

This 2^nd cabinet is made up of a coterie of people from SLPP, SLFP, SJB – therefore, they are not from the Government that came to power in 2020 August. More importantly, the majority of the Cabinet Ministers were those that left the Government in April 2022 and chose to sit independently. One particular Minister was even sacked from his portfolio months earlier.

Another poignant and noteworthy issue is that the majority of these Cabinet appointees have never handled or have no knowledge about the portfolio given to them

Nimal Siripala – Ports, Aviation, Naval all critical areas

Tiran Alles – no knowledge of Law & Order/Public Security

Nalin Fernando – a critical ministry of food given without any experience

Harin Fernando – Land

All of the above have never handled such portfolios and raises questions on whose advice these portfolios were given. Their allocations, do reveal a different script, but this is another issue.

The point that needs to be made is that the PM and the Cabinet are not representative of the People in terms of vote or in terms of people’s mandate. Therefore, they have no moral right to be presenting anything as a Bill with the ultimate objective of usurping the powers of the President & transfer it to create an Executive PM.

This was an effort attempted in 2015 with the 19a and that unfulfilled task is again being attempted.

In 2015 the attempt was made by the same PM who was controversially appointed PM without removing the sitting PM after a Presidential Election. Creating a bogus national government” the 19a was passed as an Urgent Bill with people given no time to raise objections and legal counsels not having time to review the plethora of amendments that were being made. What was sent to SC for determination was not what was passed. If the same parties that passed 19a dubiously are in action again to pass the 21a, the people must object and Parliament MPs must also rise against it.

It is not difficult to identify the parties that supported the 19a are the same as those supporting the current 21a.

We must take changes on the merit as well as the principle behind the objective. The aim however, is to transfer Presidential powers (given that it is a tedious process to abolish the Presidency) to the PM. If this exercise was happening in a legal way, we can accept it, however, when a controversial PM is seated and is attempting to do what he could not do via 19a, we have to object. The spirit of the objective is wrong & undemocratic.

People must oppose 21a because a caretaker PM and a caretaker cabinet CANNOT and SHOULD NOT be allowed to make Constitutional Amendments.

Shenali D Waduge

ජයන්ත හේරත්

ආරගලිස්ට්ලාට

මාර්ගයේ එක පැත්තකට වී

හෝ

ගෝල්පීසයේ මුහුදු වෙරල මාඉමට  වී

සාමකාමිව විරෝධතා පවත්වන්නට

අවසර දුන්නත්,

මහජන පොදු දේපලවලට,

ව්යාපාර ආයතනවලට

අලාභ හානි කරමින්, 

බලහත්කාරකමෙන්

ඒවායේ දීර්ඝ කාලීනව රැඳී සිටීම

අවුරුදු දෙකකට නොඅඩු

බරපතල වැඩ සහිත සිර දඬුවමකට

සහ දඩයකට යටත් කල යුතුය.

සෑම ප්රධාන මාර්ගයකම

එක තීරුවක් පමණක්

ආරගලිස්ට්ලා වෙනුවෙන්

වෙන් කලාට වැරැද්දක් නැතත්

ගමනාගමනයේ යෙදි සිටින

වාහන හිටිගමන් නවතා

co2 ඇතුළු තවත් විස වායු 

අධික ලෙස පරිසරයට මුදා හරින්නට

හා

සීමිතව ඇති පැට්රල් /ඩිසල්

නිකරුනේ දහනය කරවන්නට 

ඉඩ නොදිය යුතුය.

තමන්ගේ පාඩුවේ

ඇවිදින මංතීරු වල

ඇවිදින අයවලුන්ට

බාධා නොකළ යුතුය.

තම දරුවන්

නිරාගමික ලිබ්බන්

වනු දැකීමට අකැමැති

කිසිම දෙමළ හෝ මුස්ලිම් මාපියෙක් 

තම දරුවෙක්

මේ කාලයේ

ගෝල්පීසේට නං යවන්නේ නැත.

එනිසා,

ඒ ළමයින්ට

ගෝල්පීස් සුලඟ

නොලැබීම

මානව හිමිකම් කඩවීමකි.

අද හෙටම

එංගලන්තේ

හෝම් සෙකට්රි ප්රීති, 

මෙවන්

අලුත් පැට’න්-අරගල තීරු

ප්රධාන නාගරික මාර්ගවල

ඉදි කරන්නට පෙළඹෙනු ඇත

නැත්නං

සලකුණු කර වෙන් කරනු ඇත.

එන්ගලාංතේ අලුත් පැටර්න්

කොපි කරන්නට බලා සිටින

ලංකා-ලොක්කෝ

එතකොට

ඒවා කොපි කරනු ඇත.

එවිට

මේ නොමනා හැසිරීම් ද

නැවතෙනු ඇත.

ප්රීති අපිට

අපි ප්රීතිට…//

ප්රධාන ප්රවාහන ජාලයන්ට

බාධා කරමින්

කරන උද්ඝෝශනද

නීති විරෝධී කර

වහා නතර කල යුතුය.

වාහන ගමනාගමනයට,

ඇවිදින මංතීරු වලට

බාධා පමුණුවන ආරගලිස්ට්,

විශ්ව විද්යාල සිසුවෙකු නම්

ඔහුගේ හෝ ඇයගේ සරසවි ශිෂ්ය භාවය

වහාම ක්රියාත්මක වන පරිදි

අහෝසි කල යුතුය.

ගෙවන ලද ශිෂ්යත්ව මුදල් ද ආපසු

අය කර ගත යුතුය.

ආරගලිස්ට් ආචාර්ය මහාචාර්යවරුන්ද

පට්ටම් ගලවා

ගෙදර යැවිය යුතුය.

නීතියේ ආධිපත්යය

වහා සුරැකිය යුතුය

ක්රියාත්මක කල යුතුය

නීතිය නොපිලිපදින්නන්

තරාතිරම නොබලා

බිරියානි බත් නොව

සිරබත් කන්නට සැලැස්විය යුතුය.

ප්රීති අපිට

අපි ප්රීතිට…//

By. P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 23 (Ceylon Today): When Sri Lanka was teetering at the edge of a politico-economic abyss, some wondered if it was on the way to becoming a failed state. But mercifully, a political consensus emerged this week, and the new Ranil Wickremesinghe government is attending to the economic problem which lies at the root of the crisis. 

 Nation-states fail because they are convulsed by internal violence and can no longer deliver positive political goods to their inhabitants. Their governments lose legitimacy, and the very nature of the particular nation-state itself becomes illegitimate in the eyes and in the hearts of a growing plurality of its citizens,” says Harvard Professor Robert I. Rotberg in his 2016 publication Failed States, Collapsed States, Weak States: Causes and Indicators.ADVERTISEMENT

States vary on the strong-weak scale according to the availability and distribution of public goods which are: political goods, economic goods and social goods, Rotberg says. In a strong state, citizens are able to resolve their disputes with the state and with their fellow inhabitants without recourse to arms or other forms of physical coercion. Modern, stable states provide predictable, recognizable, systematized methods of adjudicating disputes. And a key political good is the assurance that citizens can participate freely, openly, and fully in the political process. This calls for tolerance of dissent and difference; and assurance of human rights. Rotberg lists among political goods”, socio-economic goods like health care, education, good infrastructure, ease of doing commerce and a reliable financial system. 

Strong states perform well across these categories. On the other hand, weak states show a mixed profile, fulfilling expectations in some areas and performing poorly in others. The weakest states perform poorly across the range of criteria. Some of these could be categorized as failing and others failed or even collapsed states.  

Sri Lanka has been a mixed bag. It was having three decades of violence in the North and East and a few years of insurgency in the South. The state seemed to be weak. But even in the midst of these disturbances, the basic structure was working in most parts of the island. Social welfare and development was apparent in most places even as military operations and terror attacks were on. Therefore, a state could be failing in parts but not comprehensively. Rotberg also distinguishes between states with sporadic violence and those with enduring violence. In Angola, Burundi, and the Sudan, violence was enduring, making them very weak states. In Sri Lanka violence had not been enduring and therefore it was a stronger state comparatively.

Markers of Strong States

Strong states unquestionably control their territories and deliver a full range and a high quality of political goods to their citizens. They perform well according to indicators like GDP per capita, the UNDP Human Development Index, Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, and Freedom House’s Freedom of the World Report. Strong states offer high levels of security from political and criminal violence, ensure political freedom and civil liberties, and create environments conducive to the growth of economic opportunity. The rule of law prevails. Judges are independent. Road networks are well maintained. Telephones work. Snail mail and e-mail both arrive quickly. Schools, universities, and students flourish. Hospitals and clinics serve patients effectively. And so on. Overall, strong states are places of enviable peace and order.” 

Markers of Weak States

On other hand, weak states typically harbor ethnic, religious, linguistic, or other intercommunal tensions that have not yet, or not yet thoroughly, become overtly violent. Urban crime rates tend to be higher and increasing. In weak states, the ability to provide adequate measures of other political goods is diminished or diminishing. Physical infrastructural networks have deteriorated. Schools and hospitals show signs of neglect, particularly outside the main cities. GDP per capita and other critical economic indicators have fallen or are falling, sometimes dramatically; levels of venal corruption are embarrassingly high and escalating. Weak states usually honor rule of law precepts in the breach. They harass civil society. Weak states are often ruled by despots, elected or not.”

Criminal gangs take over the streets of the cities. Arms and drug trafficking become more common. Ordinary police forces become paralyzed. Anomic behaviors become the norm. For protection, citizens naturally turn to warlords and other strong figures who express or activate ethnic or clan solidarity, thus offering the possibility of security at a time when all else, and the state itself, is crumbling.”

Failed states exhibit flawed institutions. If legislatures exist at all, they are rubber-stamping machines, he says. Democratic debate is noticeably absent. And the judiciary is a derivative of the executive rather than being independent, and citizens know that they cannot rely on the court system for significant redress or remedy, especially against the state.”

There is a special category of weak state, in which there is peace and order, but these are based on rigid control. These are dictatorships. North Korea and Cambodia under Pol Pot are examples. These strong” states, hide their weaknesses. They are fundamentally weak but appear strong.”

Avarice is also a major contributor to a state’s failure. Cornering of privileges by an elite whether economic, social and tribal, creates antagonisms, disaffection, revolt and inequalities. All these make a state basically weak.  

In contrast to strong states, failed states cannot even effectively control their territories. Often, the expression of official power is limited to a capital city and one or more ethnically specific zones,” Afghanistan prior to the Taliban takeover was of this kind.

Failure is Preventable

But failure is preventable and recovery is possible says Rotberg. He cites Lebanon’s recovery from civil war as an example. Once a cease-fire was forged in 1990, Lebanon returned to normal after decades of strife. Cambodia also recovered after Pol Pot’s exit. Sri Lanka, which was teetering at the edge a collapse, is expected to recover, now that a consensus is emerging on the political set up, and violence has ended. 

By P.K.Balachandran Courtesy NewsIn.Asia

Colombo, May 23: The Sri Lankan cabinet, which met here on Monday, discussed a draft 21 st. Amendment of the constitution meant to reduce the powers of the Executive President and increase the powers of the parliament on the pattern of the repealed 19 th.Amendment.

The Prime Minister’s office said in a statement that the draft 21 st Amendment will be given to the leaders of the parties represented in parliament on May 27. Thereafter the cabinet will discuss the amendment and the observations of the party leaders on it.ADVERTISEMENT

There has been a persistent demand since the mid-1990s for the reduction of the gargantuan powers vested in the directly elected Executive President and increase the powers of parliament. The Executive Presidential system was created by the 1978 constitution authored by J.R.Jayewardene, who was keen on setting up a steady and strong central authority to carry out radical economic reforms. He replaced socialism by neo-liberal policies to bring about rapid economic development.

But successive Presidents tended to misuse the authority vested in them instead of using it for development or the welfare of the people.

However, from the time of President Chandrika Kumaratunga in the 1990s, attempts have been made by Presidents to tone down their powers either through a new constitution or an amendment of the existing one. But these attempts were half-hearted and therefore unproductive. In fact, President Mahinda Rajapaksa increased his powers by enacting the 18^th.Amendment.

When the ‘Good Governance’ government came into being under President Maithripala Siridena and Pime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2015, the 19 th.Amendment was enacted, reducing the powers of the President and increasing the powers of parliament and also introducing non-political Independent Commissions to oversee executive power.

But in 2020, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa replaced the 19 th.Amendment by the 20^th. Amendment which once again concentrated power in the hands of the Executive President. However, Gotabaya Rajapaksa messed it up his job so much that within two years into his term, he faced a massive and popular movement to get rid of quit. He would not quit but agreed to get his powers pruned.   

The 21 st.Amendment which is meant to do this job has been drafted by the lawyer MP and the present Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe.

New Economic Policies

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday met representatives from the Chambers of Commerce, the Treasury (Finance Ministry) and Economic Advisers to discuss a new budget and future economic plans.

Wickremesinghe said that a new budget would be presented which would significantly reduce capital expenditure. The money thus saved would be used for welfare programs. The Prime Minister further said that due to the war in Ukraine and also mismanagement by the previous governments, Sri Lanka is facing a food shortage. Government is trying to minimize the impact of the shortages.

The business representatives told the PM that the process of distributing relief to the people should be digitized. The Prime Minister said that government will work out the criteria for those eligible for welfare.

He further said that an economic policy framework that enshrines economic rights would be included in the proposed Constitution. He has asked the Finance Ministry to undertake structural reforms based on a competitive social market economy that can achieve development goals.

By Nadira Gunatilleke Courtesy Daily News

Colombo, May 23 (Daily News): The entire country watched live what had happened on May 9th and thereafter here in Sri Lanka. Since the entire country watched and listened to the main incident and its aftermath, it will be worthwhile analyzing the incidents.

In the past one and half years some private television channels have been provoking people using various hardships the people have been  facing from time to time. Such provocation became intense in the past three months. Every morning, the majority of television presenters were making the people feel that their channel has always stood by the ordinary people and voiced their hardships. Only one or two television presenters were not involved in this dirty and extremely dangerous act. Those one or two television presenters are educated and have a sound knowledge of their duty as communicators and journalists. The other lot did not have any formal education on media and journalism. They just came to the media field (maybe by accident) and are doing their job using common popular unethical tactics. They just blurt out whatever that comes to their minds.ADVERTISEMENT

They did not stop there. They distributed video clips of their ‘dirty morning job’  through the social media. Thus their dirty work would circulate all over the country within seconds. The YouTube channels run by some of these television presenters were engaged in another very harmful act. That is adding fuel to the already burning fire of Sri Lanka. They featured various kinds of crooks through their YouTube program and did their best to make the situation more complicated and dangerous. Earning money was their only objective. Such ‘journalists’ will do anything for money.

Why couldn’t they tell the people how to face hardships successfully?y? There are thousands of examples for how this could have been done. One fine example is the Derana Aruna telecast on May 21st Saturday at 6.30 am. The television presenter, who is a lawyer, made a request from the public to help students who sit for Ordinary Level Examination from today (Monday) by providing them lifts from bus halts to their examination centres whenever they see them standing on roadsides waiting for buses. He asked us to do this while we travel from our homes to our offices, school etc. What a brilliant idea? Schoolchildren are not thugs and you can give them lifts without any fear and without thinking twice.

No journalistic ethics

Every morning other television presenters would report about fuel queues and add their comments. But no one would tell people how to ease their burden. They never tell people to check whether there are staff in the fuel station who can tell them when to expect the arrival of a fuel bowser. This information will prevent customers from waiting unnecessarily and going back with empty fuel tanks.

Those television presenters never told people before joining a fuel queue to check the quantity of the load. Fuel loads are available as multiple numbers of 3300 litres (6600, 13200, 19800 etc) according to the size of the bowsers. Usually it takes at least 45 minutes to unload a large fuel stock from the bowser. Some more time is taken to obtain samples. Anyone can guess the number of vehicles ahead of him/her and the amount of fuel given to those vehicles. Then anyone can learn whether he/she can get fuel by waiting in that specific queue.

Those television presenters never told people that if a policeman is around, it is a sign that either the distribution has commenced or the fuel stock is going to finish soon. They never told people to keep some biscuits, water, glucose, two paracetamol tablets etc. with them, get ready for rain and hot sun.

If the television presenters who added fuel to the burning fire had told those things during their morning newspaper reading session, they could have saved the precious lives of the people who died while waiting in various queues. But what those television presenters did was adding more pressure and hatred to the minds of the already suffering people, making them physically and mentally sick and angry.

When considering the current style of handling mainstream media and social media in Sri Lanka, we cannot expect anything better. In 1988 and 1989 the entire country was set on fire by using simple things such as ‘Chits’ and rumors. But with the passage of time those tools have been modernized. Now social media is being used to set fire to the country. Sri Lanka cannot control this without creative tactics.

In simple words, what we experience here in Sri Lanka is an ‘artificial environment’ that existed in all State universities in the last few decades. Only one political party (this is the political party with a mere three percent representation in the country) and its breakaway party (which does not have a representation at all) dominate all Sri Lankan State universities. No other political party or independent group or individual has a voice in the State universities. According to this political party, all who do not support it are enemies who should be eradicated from the universities. If anyone or any group goes against them and starts to act against them, that would spell their end. First they threaten them and then they unleash violence on them. Several deaths were reported from State universities in the past few decades and hardly any murder got punished. In one instance 24-years-old D.K. Nishantha died in 2014 after being sexually abused by senior undergraduates. He had obtained three ‘A’ passes and entered the Arts Faculty of the Peradeniya University despite many financial difficulties.

It is very significant not because of the way he died. It is because of how the murderers faced the punishment given by the judiciary. They collected the Mahapola scholarship and all the other allowances received by undergraduates by force to pay legal costs to save the  murderers. This injustice and the pure violation of the law, rules, regulations, human rights, was not noticed by any authority or media.

Violent culture

It is the very same ‘control’ we saw here in Sri Lanka during the past one and half months since the undergraduates (they are the only group permanently residing in agitation sites and all the others just visit those sites) established three permanent protest sites, one in Galle Face another opposite the Temple Trees and the last one near Parliament. But the problem is not those protest sites.

The problem is the culture they gradually spread all over Sri Lanka especially in the Western Province with ongoing shortages of some essential items such as fuel, gas, electricity, milk powder, cement etc. That culture is hatred and taking revenge on strangers just like they do during ragging.

According to the Roman Dutch law here in Sri Lanka a person is only a suspect until he/she gets convicted by the judiciary. But this law does not apply in the case of this tiny political party which spreads violence across Sri Lanka. According to them, all who voted or supported the former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa are traitors and they need to be punished. After sensing this evil ‘trend’ several artistes etc. apologized for getting connected with the former Prime Minister and Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). They did not commit any crime. Voting and supporting anyone we want is our right. Why don’t the bunch of ‘men in black’ tell this while speaking to the media?

The Constitution of the country cannot be the ‘Bible’ or the ‘Dhamma Pada’ for a political party at one time when it is helping them and become a piece of useless paper at another time when it does not support them?  Ordinary people understand these double standards very well and they remember things. Anyone should can to power through the vote of the people and not in any other way. But it seems some minor political parties have started to think that they can capture power of the country using ‘other tactics’. But the vote is much more powerful than these tactics. Silent people are more powerful than those who shout.

END

Courtesy Mint

An IMF bailout would depend on the country fixing its economy.

High school teacher S. Jeeva spent two days in the hot sun lining up for cooking gas in Sri Lanka’s capital. He’s been standing with thousands of others waiting for a delivery that so far hasn’t come. Many of his students have joined protests against the government at the waterfront along Colombo’s iconic Galle Face Green. Both are symbols of the economic and political crisis gripping the nation, the result of decades of corruption and financial mismanagement that pushed the country to default on 19 May. Those teenagers should be thinking about their future and preparing for university. Instead, they are worrying about how the island nation will ever emerge from its pile of debt.

What happens in Sri Lanka matters way beyond its borders. Global markets see it as a bellwether for a raft of potential defaults across the developing world as countries face a growing, post-pandemic debt burden.

So what does a country in default look like in 2022? Armed soldiers are on the streets and there’s days-long queues for gasoline and cooking gas. Harvests are down by 50% because farmers either cannot afford to cultivate crops or they’re only growing enough for themselves because there’s no fuel to transport what they’ve produced. Pharmacies are running out of medicine; and hospitals are short of lifesaving drugs and devices. Incomes are shrinking and inflation is accelerating above 30%. Parents are eating just one meal a day so their children can have three, while doctors report that patients are rationing essential drugs. There are also demonstrations throughout the country calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa; his brother Mahinda stepped down as prime minister on 10 May 10 after a spurt of violence. Police and security forces are pushing back with water cannons and tear gas.

How did Sri Lanka go from being named by Lonely Planet the world’s best travel destination for 2019 to a debt default? The warning signs were there from the moment the powerful Rajapaksa clan retook control of the country in late 2019. Their divisive dynastic politics, combined with questionable financial decisions—including heavy capital-market borrowing that accounts for some 38% of its debt—explain its path to ruin. Yes, the pandemic was a disaster for the tourism-reliant economy, and so too were the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019 that ushered in the Rajapaksa dynasty, but the rot had set in well before that. Sri Lanka’s interest payments on decades of borrowing are now almost equal to the principal.Importantly, Sri Lanka has lost its agency—with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and its bilateral lenders, China, India and Japan—if it ever had any to begin with. It has had 16 IMF agreements since 1965, though the situation this time seems more desperate than past episodes.

Other countries are struggling too. In South Asia, Pakistan is teetering on the edge economic peril. If the government doesn’t increase fuel prices, it is in danger of defaulting in just three months. It needs an IMF programme to avoid this eventuality. The World Bank noted in March as many as a dozen developing economies may be unable to service their debt in the next year. The biggest challenge for these nations, it says, is sovereign debt restructuring, just like the case of Sri Lanka.

On 19 May, the G-7 economic powers announced their support for debt relief efforts for Sri Lanka. Assistance may also come up at the Quad meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday, where the leaders of the US, Japan, India and Australia will hold talks on issues of regional concern. In the meantime, Sri Lanka is negotiating with the IMF for a bailout that will help it negotiate debt restructuring with its creditors. The country has previously said it needs between $3 billion and $4 billion this year to pull itself out of crisis, but the true extent of its debt has yet to be exposed. Last week, new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe (in his sixth stint in this role) revealed a previously undisclosed debt of $105 million to a Chinese bank that had also fallen due. That means, as Lakshini Fernando, senior vice president and economist of Asia Securities, told me, Sri Lanka actually defaulted on $183 million, not $78 million as previously thought.

In the short term, the situation is only going to get worse, especially for daily wage earners who are most vulnerable to inflationary pressures. The only way the entire population is going to simmer down is when there is gasoline available and no more food shortages, and that is not going to happen any time soon,” she said. But because Sri Lanka is such a small economy, a large immediate infusion of US dollar aid could quickly stabilize the situation. Then it will be up to the government to ensure the structural reforms are in place to ensure Sri Lanka does not find itself back at the IMF for the 18th time.

Courtesy CNA

COLOMBO/LONDON: Sri Lanka has hired heavyweight financial and legal advisers Lazard and Clifford Chance as it prepares for the difficult task of renegotiating its debts, a trio of sources told Reuters on Monday (May 23).

The move is the latest development in Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 and comes after the country was officially declared in default for the first time ever last week after it halted debt payments.

All three sources asked not to be named because the talks remain private. Spokespeople from Sri Lanka’s Cabinet and Lazard, which has handled debt talks for dozens of crisis-strained countries in recent years, did not immediately reply to requests for comment while law firm Clifford Chance declined to comment.

Experts and economists have been waiting for the appointment as the country looks to restructure over US$12 billion of overseas debt that had been building up for years but become unsustainable when COVID-19 hammered the economy.

The economy of around 22 million people began to show cracks in 2019 after large tax cuts by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government drained the country’s coffers. The pandemic then shattered the lucrative tourism industry, and rising global prices have left Colombo struggling for essentials such as fuel, medicine and food.

Violence between pro- and anti-government factions and police left nine dead and more than 300 injured earlier this month. That was followed by the resignation of former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

“By far the most important thing is to what extent the government will have the political will, and the ability, to deliver on the pre-conditions for the IMF programme,” said Gramercy’s co-head of sovereign research & strategy, Petar Atanasov.

“Governments are often willing to do the things that are required when their backs are completely against the wall.”

While there are hopes a deal can be struck to ease the economic crisis, it is unlikely to be straightforward.

A mix of loans from China, India and Japan, as well as all the bonds held by private investment funds mean long-resisted but now embraced talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could be complex, especially if social unrest worsens.

Other factors have included heavily subsidised domestic prices of fuel and a decision to ban the import of chemical fertilisers, which devastated the agriculture sector.

A group of Sri Lanka’s largest sovereign dollar bondholders has hired Rothschild as its financial adviser and another legal firm, White & Case, as its legal adviser.

“I think the new Cabinet would really have to show quick solutions to really pressing problems such as electricity and importation of goods to pacify the people,” said Carlos de Sousa, an emerging market strategist at Vontobel Asset Management which holds Sri Lanka’s bonds.

“They will try, but it is not clear to me whether they will be sufficiently successful. We will see.”

Courtesy Pakistan Observer

President SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik Sunday urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to work out timely bail out package to put defaulting Sri Lanka, a financially crumbled country, on track.

Talking to a delegation of women entrepreneurs led by Noreen Asim Siyal-an emerging youtuber, he said that main source of its revenue was tourism and deadly pandemic badly hit their tourism sector because of absence of foreign tourists which led to this ugly situation coupled with lack of good governance besides rising inflation.

He urged the world including SAARC member countries to come forward and save trembling Sri Lanka from total collapse.

He said being top leader of South Asia, he is confident that tourism will pick up again and worsening economic condition will be overcome in the days to come studed with good governance. He said Sri Lanka is seeking to restructure debts of more than $50bn its owes to foreign creditors to make it more manageable to repay. He said Sri Lankan government needs $4bn this year to little bit settle the score and bring the peaceful normal life.

Iftikhar Ali Malik, an octogenarian trade leader feared that Sri Lanka’s default is flashing a warning sign that surging inflation is set to take a painful toll in other developing nations.

Responding to a question of Noreen Asim Siyal, he said Pakistan will never become Sri Lanka, we have robust agriculture economy and colossal undocumented informal economy,which keeps the country sailing smoothly”. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is known for working over time and under his dynamic leadership Pakistan will flourish and an era of progress,prosperity and development will usher in with the active participation of private sector which will play key role in strengthening the national economy by broadening the tax base.—NNI

Courtesy MailOnLine

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A woman sits beside liquefied petroleum gas cylinders on a street in Colombo. Fuel is in short supply across Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s inflation hit a seventh consecutive record high in April as a petrol shortage worsened and food prices rose sharply, official data showed Monday.

The National Consumer Price Index rose 33.8 percent year-on-year in April, more than six times the 5.5 percent inflation of a year earlier.

Annual food inflation stood at 45.1 percent, according to the latest data released by the Department of Census and Statistics.

Hammered by a foreign exchange crisis, the country’s 22 million people have been enduring acute shortages of essentials — including food and medicines — for months.

Protests are continuing outside President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office demanding his resignation over the unprecedented economic turmoil.

Inflation is likely to rise further in May as fuel price hikes of 35 percent for petrol and 65 percent for diesel — commonly used in public transport — feed into the wider economy.

Petrol remains in short supply with long queues outside the few pumping stations still distributing the fuel.

Sri Lanka asked the International Monetary Fund last month for emergency assistance. The country has defaulted on its $51 billion external debt and is seeking international aid to revive the bankrupt economy.

The economy has collapsed since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, with a nosedive in tourism revenues and foreign worker remittances.

Courtesy India Today

Sri Lanka’s contentious 21st Amendment to the Constitution was denied Cabinet approval after the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) objected to it.

In a major blow to Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the proposal for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution to curb the unfettered powers of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, scheduled to be referred to the Cabinet on Monday, was not presented before it.

According to sources, the proposal was not presented in the Cabinet after parliamentarians of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) objected to it in its present form. They demanded that the proposed legislation be approved by the Attorney General before referring it to the Cabinet.

The 21st Amendment is expected to annul the 20A which gave unlimited powers to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after abolishing the 19th Amendment which had made Parliament powerful over the president.

Watch | Sri Lanka Crisis: Can Ranil Wickremesinghe save Sri Lankan economy?

The constitutional reform was a major plank of the agreement between Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe when he took over the job of prime minister on May 12.

Rajapaksa had also pledged reforms in the Constitution in an address to the nation earlier this month.

The 21st Amendment would make it impossible for those with dual citizenship to hold a seat in Parliament. President Rajapaksa, who is facing growing demand for his resignation for mismanaging the country’s economy, had relinquished his US citizenship in April 2019 before contesting the presidential elections.

Justice Minister Wijayadasa Rajapaksa had earlier said that the 21st Amendment seeks to further strengthen the powers of the existing commissions and to make them independent as well.

In addition to the existing Independent Commissions, the National Audit Commission and the Procurement Commission will be amended as Independent Commissions under the proposed legislation.

The justice minister said the new amendment also proposes the appointment of the Governor of the Central Bank to come under the Constitutional Council.

Read | Sri Lankan crisis puts spotlight on debt, freebie culture in India

The powerful Rajapaksa family tightened their grip on power after their massive victory in the general elections in August 2020, which allowed them to amend the Constitution to restore presidential powers and install close family members in key positions.

In his 2019 presidential bid, Gotabaya Rajapaksa won a convincing mandate for the presidency during which he sought full presidential powers over Parliament.

Sri Lanka has been grappling with unprecedented economic turmoil since its independence from Britain in 1948.

A crippling shortage of foreign reserves has led to long queues for fuel, cooking gas and other essentials, while power cuts and soaring food prices have heaped misery on people.

The economic crisis has also triggered a political crisis in Sri Lanka and a demand for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The crisis has already forced prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of the president, to resign on May 9.

An inflation rate spiralling towards 40 per cent, shortages of food, fuel and medicines and rolling power blackouts have led to nationwide protests and a plunging currency, with the government short of the foreign currency reserves it needed to pay for imports.

READ | Sri Lanka crisis: Ship carrying relief materials from India reaches Colombo

By N. Sathiya Moorthy Courtesy Ceylon Today

Ironic but true. At the end of Act II, Scene II (if that is what it is), the villain has turned hero, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, against whom the whole world seemed to have turned, has proved that he has Parliament on his side. The 119-68 headcount on the combined Opposition motion to suspend the Standing Orders, for the House to take up their ‘censure motion’ against the President showed the Government had more than the 113 required for an absolute majority in the 225-member House.

This outcome also bettered the earlier pro-Government vote to elect Ajith Rajapakse as Deputy Speaker, 109-78 with 23 invalid votes, or those who did not want to be caught ‘abstaining.’ Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and son Namal were absent for the entire day. Unlike the censure motion, the Deputy Speaker’s election did not show an absolute majority for the Government, indicating that more members wanted Gota to continue as President than the Opposition might have assumed.

Parliament’s Standing Orders help fix the House’s schedule. By seeking to have it suspended, the Opposition wanted the ‘censure motion’ against President Gotabaya taken up for debate and vote on an urgent basis. For all this, a censure motion is only to express the ‘displeasure’ of the House. It is different from an impeachment motion with two-thirds majority or 151 votes.

The Opposition strategy was bald. With earlier Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa out of office, the pending No-Confidence Motion (NCM) against the Government – entitled to priority debate and vote – had become infructuous when the House met on Tuesday (17 May). As Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe explained with his years of experience as Parliament, now the ruling SLPP can take the ‘suspension-motion’ route to scuttle future debates on the censure motion, whenever scheduled for vote in the normal course.

Lone outsider

If Ranil had thought of upstaging Gota in his own way by making a public suggestion for a woman Deputy Speaker and thus avoid a contest, it was not to be. Taking him on his word, or to test his equations with President Gota, or to expose his limitations in this ‘unholy alliance of unprecedented convenience,’ the Opposition fielded a woman, Rohini Kavirathna. As if to tell the new Prime Minister on who called the political shots in this hybrid system in which Ranil is still the ‘lone outsider,’ the ruling SLPP fielded Ajith Rajapakse, and he won.

Ranil should have learnt his early lessons. Again unilaterally, or so it seems, he had appointed four of his UNP colleagues to take charge of the ‘shortage-sectors,’ including food, fuel, and medicine. This he did when new Cabinet Ministers were expected to take charge of each of these portfolios, leading to avoidable tension and confusion.

Maybe, the President did not react as sharply to dislodge Ranil’s nominees. Instead, he appointed four new minsters, though not all of them would be taking back the powers of the four Ranil men. Of course, with Parliament’s session set to commence on schedule and the Cabinet expansion expected to be delayed, it made sense for Gota to have more ministers to represent the Government in the House. Of them, Dinesh Gunawardena continues to be the Leader of the House.

Now it looks as if the Gota-Ranil camp did better to take the fizz out of the public protest of the people’s movement at capital Colombo’s Galle Face Green waterfront, rechristened as ‘GotaGoGama,’ or simply G-3. In the midst of the emergency and nation-wide curfew, the Gota Government allowed the protestors to return to the venue after the 9 May attacks on them.

The protestors were still demanding the President’s exit and his Administration was facilitating their return to protest, as if to establish the Government’s democratic credentials for the whole world to see. PM Ranil took the cake – and also the wind out of the protestors’ sail, even more – when he named yet another UNP leader to head a team of officials to ensure a regular supply of food and water and attend to other creature comforts of the protestors, as if they were protesting against some third-nation leader, if not were attending a carnival.

Yet, Gota’s greatest tactical victory was in the way he forced his elder brother and political mentor Mahinda to quit as Prime Minister, making it look voluntary. The popular leader that he was/is Mahinda lacked the strategic skills of Gota, which had gone a long way in helping his government annihilate the dreaded LTTE in its time.

Political historians

Once the dust settles, political historians, for years to come, would be analysing how Gota could do this to Mahinda, and still conclude that it’s what politics is all about. In doing so, they would acknowledge how Gota also managed to turn the Nation’s ire towards Mahinda when he alone was to be held accountable for misadministration on multiple fronts – tax concessions, Chinese organic fertiliser, etc, etc.

By getting all other Rajapaksas, including Mahinda, out of the people’s way, somewhere Gota seemed to have concluded that he would be spared or he could overwhelm popular sentiment through Parliament.  He may have a point, but it needs to be tested, too.

That way, after the 9 May ‘Monday Mayhem,’ especially the unprecedented arsonist attacks on the homes and other properties of 75 ruling party personalities, the Government has the Police and the Security Forces where they should be. As Minister Kanchana Wijesekera recalled for Parliament’s benefit, the attacks on MPs’ homes had commenced as far back as 4 April, and not as ‘retaliatory hits’ on 9 May, when alone ruling party goons targeted the peaceful protestors at Galle Face Green.

It means, the mass protests could continue as long as the protestors wanted to vent their anger in whatever peaceful forms possible. But it should have to and would have to end there – whether or not Gota quits as President, whether or not Ranil continues as Prime Minister, early elections or not!

About the writer:

The writer is a Policy Analyst and Commentator, based in Chennai, India. Email: sathiyam54@nsathiyamoorthy.com

By N. Sathiya Moorthy

By Shirani ranasinghe Courtesy Ceylon Today

There is a strong opinion in Sri Lanka that we need educated people in Parliament. The conclusion of many is that our politicians are not professional and that is the bane of the country.

Heeding that call, a number of top professionals entered the political arena at the last 2020 General Elections. Among them were Ali Sabry, Dr Nalaka Godahewa, Dr Seetha Arambepola, Professor Channa Jayasumana and Yadamini Gunawardena. They were joined by other professionals as Dr Ramesh Pathirana, Udaya Gammanpila, Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon and Kanaka Herath who were already engaged in politics. They entered Parliament with the genuine objective to serve the country.

Already in successful careers many did not accept a salary nor even a ministry vehicle. On 9 and 10 May their properties were identified, looted, vandalized and destroyed by anarchists. Some were burnt to ground. These properties were not accrued by these professionals after they entered politics and as such not from any deals or commissions. It was from their hard earned money. There is an effort to portray these mobs as the impulsive reaction of an outraged public. However, the speed at which the violence spread across the country and the uniformity of violence indicates a more organiSed force. How they had fuel in their possession at a time the country was suffering from a severe fuel shortage is questionable indeed.

This outrage should have been met with outright condemnation. Yet, it was greeted with silence and even applause by many, including fellow colleagues and peers in the professional field. Social, religious and political leaders who call press conferences at the drop of a hat yet to utter a word of reproach.

Is provocative,peaceful?

The concerted effort to describe the mobsters as peaceful protestors has not been adequately challenged by the independent Media. Perhaps the protestors who gathered at Galle Face Green as well as other protest sites may not have always been violent, but whether they could be described as peaceful as implied by the definition of the word is debatable.

Until violence erupted in Mirihana, in front of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s private residence on 31 March, no one paid much attention to the sporadic protests that precipitated over the shortages of essentials as gas, fuel, electricity and imported commodities as milk powder.

Drama queen

When former parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra came before President’s house with a group of women on 5 March, another group of women gathered in protest in front of Premachandra on 6 March protesting over Premachandra’s protest. While she was in power she did not visit her own seat Kolonnawa when the area went under in floods. She only appeared days after the crisis, well after the flood water were receding. The area residents did not give her a good welcome. Therefore, her appearance before the President’s house was more theatrical than anything else. The tit-for-tat protests were simply political jabs at each other.

Targeted violence

However, the protests that ended in violence on 31 March were of very serious nature and caught the authorities off guard. The violence erupted closer to midnight, which in itself was unusual for a protest. Usually, protests are very much a daytime affair. Though it was brought under control within hours, the area thereafter resembled a war zone with burnt carcasses of buses and demolished parapet walls littering the vicinity. It was very clear that something very serious was afoot threatening national security.

However, that glimpse of violence afterwards immediately disappeared. This was replaced with the Colombo yuppy crowd, clad in black with slogans that introduced them as the ‘messed with the wrong generation’. Usually, protests in Sri Lanka are by lower middle class youth whose slogans are in Sinhala. These protestors however were mostly from middle or upper middle class and the primary language of protest was English. Clearly, this was a sector of society who had their privileges at the tip of their fingers. The discomfort of been denied comforts as electricity, air conditioning, internet and fuel was something they were not prepared to tolerate.

Threatening national security

These protests that began as small groups in every nook and corner, suddenly in a well coordinated move shifted to the front of the Presidential Secretariat. The media glare attracted socialites, artists, religious leaders, sports personalities and other notable characters to the site to pledge their support. As the protests became a trend, the movement became boisterous and the demands outrageous.

The louder the protestors became the greater the effort was exercised to recognise them as the singular voice of the Nation. By this time the Government was seeking assistance from the IMF and the World Bank. As such, undue tolerance was bestowed on the protestors perhaps to impress on these two financial institutions that the Government was most democratic.

Misusing this freedom without boundaries the protestors began to agitate for the resignation of both President and PM Mahinda Rajapaksa. While the freedom to protest is without contest, the need for civility was never impressed upon the protestors by the social and religious leaders who supported and endorsed the protests.

Hence, the use of language deteriorated and the messages itself became appalling and obscene.

It came to a point where protestors publicly removed their underwear and hung on police barricades to underscore their disdain to the President. Neither the law nor community leaders reacted to this breach in civility as indecent expose. Throughout these increasing vulgarity the protests continued to be described as ‘peaceful’.

Calling violence peaceful

Even the Rambukkana incident on 19 March when the police opened fire at a group who were pelting the police with rocks, after forcibly halting traffic in both road and rail and attempted to set a bowser filled with fuel on fire was described by the media as ‘peaceful protests’. Marketing the mobsters as peaceful protests” continues unabated even after the brutal murder of SLPP MP Amarakithi Athukorala. If this was the result of a peaceful protest, then the lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager at a Pakistan factory in Sialkot cannot be anything else.

Mobster Leaders to Parliament

Former Minister Sabry’s bitter words in Parliament on 20 May were, I will never look at this Parliament again, I do not need it. We did not enter Parliament to see such circumstances. I will never come back again. I have not come here to wage a war. I am afraid for my children and my parents. We have not stolen even 5 cents or engaged in any form of fraud. I have paid nearly Rs. 42 million as income tax over the last five years prior to taking up a ministerial post.”  Speaking further he noted that when his house was attacked by mobs, several colleagues from the legal profession and even his own relatives had approved it via social media. Sabry questioned, how can the country move forward with such brutality?”

This question should echo in our conscience. This overall attitude of ours dripping with callousness and jealousy would in the future prevent educated and professionals from stepping forward to manage our country. Instead, we can expect characters who have their own private paramilitary forces that do not honor the law of the land to come forth. After all, the future parliamentarians must have the capacity to protect his own family and property first.

ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com

(The views and opinions expressed in this column are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CeylonToday)

By Shivanthi Ranasinghe

By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

SLPP MP Rear Admiral (retd.) Sarath Weerasekera says Prime Minster Mahinda Rajapaksa had not decided to resign on 09 May 09 although the SLPP MPs had been asked to bring supporters to Temple Trees for a meeting.Weerasekera said so when The Island asked him why he had skipped the Temple Trees meeting.One-time Public Security Minister said that the then PM Rajapaksa had, during a conversation with him on 08 May had denied reports that the latter was planning to resign the following day. MP Namal Rajapaksa, however, had asked a group of MPs and others to bring supporters to express support for the PM, MP Weerasekera said.

Weerasekera said he had been among those contacted by MP Namal Rajapaksa.The former Navy Chief of Staff said that the failure on the part of law enforcement authorities and the military to respond swiftly and decisively to a threat of breach of law and order had led to a disaster at time global attention was on Sri Lanka due to the deteriorating financial situation.MP Weerasekera questioned why police had refrained from firing at least once into the air when mobs arrived at some MPs’ houses, which were destroyed. For over 48 hours mobs had ruled the country, the MP alleged, demanding an explanation why shoot-on-sight orders had not been issued as soon as mobs started to attack MPs’ houses.MP Weerasekera said that serious accusations made by SLPP members, particularly Wimal Weerawansa, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana and Mahindananda Aluthgamage couldn’t be ignored. They accused some sections of the SLPP of conspiring to unleash violence and the police and the armed forces turning a blind eye to countrywide retaliatory attacks.

Newly-appointed Public Security Minister Tiran Alles said that he would order a thorough probe into the May 09 incidents. Minister Alles said so when The Island asked him what he would do against the backdrop of allegations of the police facilitating attacks on protesting public in the Kollupitiya and Fort police areas.MPs, Weerawansa and Dr. Ramesh Pathirana alleged in Parliament that Maj. Gen. Jagath Alwis, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Administration and C. D. Wickremaratne, Inspector General of Police prevented Deshabandu Tennakoon, Senior DIG, Colombo from mob attacks on the protesting public.

Former Minister Weerasekera said that the government, the SLPP and the police should come clean on this matter. MP Weerasekera said that the government mishandled the challenge posed by those who cleverly exploited the economic crisis. Perhaps one of the major blunders was allowing the public to block roads. Now, it has become a style. Interested parties also exploit the media and social media. The government seems clueless,” MP Weerasekera said, urging the government to review the developments.MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage, too, told The Island, the top SLPP leadership ignored repeated warnings. The former Agriculture Minister questioned whether those who had advised the Cabinet of Ministers chaired by the President deliberately deceived them.

Courtesy Adaderana

Proposals for the 21st Amendment to the Constitution have been presented to the Cabinet of Ministers today (May 23).

Accordingly, the Cabinet has decided to forward the draft proposals to the party leaders for their comments by Friday (27). 

The first meeting of the new Cabinet was held today under the patronage of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that a full report with the relevant amendments will be submitted to the Cabinet after consulting the party leaders on the 21st Amendment to the Constitution.

The Prime Minister said this while making a special statement regarding the relevant constitutional amendment.

He stated that the committee met today to discuss the 21st Amendment to the Constitution and that it was decided to discuss Minister Wijayadasa Rajapaksa’s draft proposal and present it to the Cabinet. 

The PM said they discussed this bill in the Cabinet and instructed to handed it over to all the party leaders in Parliament and instructed them to discuss with them and then report to the Cabinet.

Accordingly, Minister Wijayadasa Rajapaksa will hand over copies of the 21st Amendment to party leaders in Parliament. After that we hope to meet on Friday and get those ideas. Thereafter a full report will be submitted to the Cabinet along with the amendments,” he said.

We are looking at expeditiously publishing this amendment first in the Gazette and then allowing those who want to go to the Supreme Court. Present it to Parliament and pass this amendment immediately with the full support of all.”

Courtesy Adaderana

Minister of Mass Media, Transport and Highways Bandula Gunawardene has been appointed as the new Cabinet Spokesperson.

Meanwhile ministers Mahinda Amaraweera, Manusha Nanayakkara and Kanchana Wijesekara have been appointed as Co-Cabinet Spokespersons, the Govt. Information Department said. 

Courtesy Adaderana

The Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in charge of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has reportedly been transferred. 

It is reported that the Minister of Public Security has accepted the request for a transfer made by the DIG of the CID W. Thilakaratne.

The request had been made around two weeks ago while he has been transferred to the VIP Security Division. 

Meanwhile it is also reported that the DIG in charge of Nuwara Eliya, Prasad Ranasinghe is to be appointed as new DIG of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Courtesy Adaderana

The appointing of eight more Cabinet Ministers of the All-Party Government took place before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa this morning (23).

The new ministers were sworn in at the President’s House in Fort, the PMD reported. 

Mahinda Amaraweera has been sworn in as the Minister of Agriculture, Forest Resources and Wildlife while Roshan Ranasinghe has been appointed as Minister of Irrigation, Sports and Youth.

Bandula Gunawardena has been sworn in as the Minister of Mass Media, Transport and Highways while MP Vidura Wickramanayake is appointed the Minister of Buddhashasana, Religious Affairs and Cultural Affairs.

Douglas Devananda is re-appointed Minister of Fisheries while parliamentarian Ahamed Naseer has been sworn in as the new Minister of Environment.

Keheliya Rambukwella has been appointed Minister of Water Supply in addition to his portfolio as Health Minister while Ramesh Pathirana has been appointed Minister of Industries, in addition to his portfolio as Plantations Minister. 

New Ministers:

1. Douglas Devananda – Minister of Fisheries 
2. Mahinda Amaraweera – Minister of Agriculture, Forest Resources & Wildlife 
3. Roshan Ranasinghe – Minister of Irrigation, Sports and Youth 
4. Bandula Gunawardena – Minister of Mass Media, Transport & Highways
5. Vidura Wickramanayake – Minister of Buddhashasana, Religious Affairs and Cultural Affairs
6. Keheliya Rambukwella – Minister of Water Supply 
7. Ramesh Pathirana – Minister of Industries
8. Ahamed Naseer Zainulabdeen – Minister of Environment 

Thirteen cabinet ministers including Rambukwella and Pathirana had been appointed on two previous occasions. Accordingly, this brings the total number of cabinet minister to 19.