{"id":49476,"date":"2015-11-16T05:40:52","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T12:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=49476"},"modified":"2015-11-16T05:40:52","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T12:40:52","slug":"riot-and-responsibility-governance-and-growth-in-south-and-south-east-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/11\/16\/riot-and-responsibility-governance-and-growth-in-south-and-south-east-asia\/","title":{"rendered":"Riot and Responsibility: Governance and growth in South and South East Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Politics in Sri Lanka is a ticket to hell\u201d Most.Ven.Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero<\/em><\/p>\n

One of the greatest Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka most Ven.Maduluwawe Sobitha who spoke fearlessly to overthrow the previous Government to usher in better political order has passed away.\u00a0 The entire nation mourns the loss of this great human being.\u00a0 He was a leader who spoke for a better political culture.\u00a0 In his speech at the book launch of the author\u2019s Towards a better world order\u201d few months ago, a clear statement was made politics in Sri Lanka is a direct ticket to hell\u201d.\u00a0 Change that was expected by Ven.Sobitha was not fulfilled and his disappointment was clear from his speech. \u00a0I have my highest respect and gratitude for Ven.Sobitha Thero for his role in making our society a better place. \u00a0I hope his dream could be fulfilled by the present and future politicians of our country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"sobitha\"<\/a><\/td>\n\"Aung<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The first serious shock comes to the new Government as the Minister of Law and Order Hon. Thilak Marapana resigned from his post over an issue about Avant Garde a floating armoury. While political stability should remain priority, looking at the present state of the economy, we should spend work toward the economic vision indicated by Prime Minister at his economic policy statement.<\/p>\n

Political turmoil and protests in South Asia are now rife. \u00a0The Maldives is declaring a state of emergency as of a few days ago. \u00a0The Nepalese people of the plains bordering India called Madhesis take to the streets and in Colombo students were beaten by the police.<\/p>\n

In Nepal, the protest was against the new constitution passed in September which has sparked domestic political turmoil.\u00a0 The denial of citizenship to Madhesis who often marry Indians across the border has turned to violent protest disrupting trade routes from India causing a fuel shortage in Nepal. \u00a0Some argue that this move presents a deliberate measure from India against the new constitution.\u00a0 This could move Nepal closer to emerging China. Many Madhesis\u2019s are looked on by other Nepalese themselves with suspicion owing to the groups geographic location and socio-cultural ties with India.<\/p>\n

In Colombo, 39 students from the Higher National Diploma in Engineering (HNDE) were arrested after an intense battle with the police. \u00a0The student protest was to reinstate their Higher National Diploma to a B.Com<\/a> degree for recruitment and promotion purposes. \u00a0As well as few other demands against privatisation of Education, increasing levels of university intake and upgrading existing infrastructure. \u00a0All these demands could be discussed and peacefully worked out but unfortunately it turned to a violent police attack which took national attention. The opposition and some members supporting the 18th Amendment, when scrapping the National Police Commission, is now requesting the same body to investigate the incident. \u00a0It was the present Government that re-installed the independent commissions which was scrapped by the previous.\u00a0 It\u2019s important that the Government address the student issues. Unfortunately, the Education Ministry\u2019s portfolio is split across many Ministries and due to this it will be difficult to take policy measures. \u00a0The university student intake would be increased to 40,000 and this should be increased further with adequate infrastructure. \u00a0Producing the best competent graduates that could contribute to the economy should be the priority just as the example of Singapore which invested heavily to create world class labour pool back then during the time of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. \u00a0Investment in education and R&D is essential as a nation and getting the right education policy to introduce a single qualifications authority to certify this is essential. \u00a0Most students that pass out are not job fit or they don’t have an opportunity as graduates to find work. \u00a0These challenges have to be addressed by the government as student unrest can lead to serious complications if unheard. \u00a0Sri Lanka has previously faced two insurrections before as a nation in 71 and 89.<\/p>\n

The gruesome pictures from the protest were available in all social media. This is a significant negative blow to the country and the administration who promised to introduce good governance. \u00a0Some comments from media were a re-visit to the past regime. \u00a0However, authorities have now taken measures to address the issue.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka with its new administration needs to fix many areas in the economy, ignored by the previous government. \u00a0As a nation we are the only South Asian country that has moved to stage 2 which is an efficiency driven economy this year according to Global competitiveness Index this year report. \u00a0All others are in Stage 1 Factor driven or in transition to stage 2. \u00a0This shows we have done comparatively well with other South Asian countries to improve the basic factors of the economy.\u00a0 It is time that we start competing with the East Asian economies now as we should aim to achieve a per capita of US$8000 in 2020. \u00a0For this several wheels of the economy needs to be strengthened.<\/p>\n

The value added exports needs to be increased from the existing low percentage to a higher value. Sri Lanka should aim to map as a regional financial center such as Singapore and Dubai: to be planned out by Finance Ministry. \u00a0Improving the University infrastructure and providing space to most number of students to get a world class education is a priority. \u00a0The recommendations from Chamber, IPS and all top think tanks in the country and outside needs to be carefully looked at and considered.<\/p>\n

After more than a decade you will finally have high level political representation at Davos 2016 as the Prime Minister has accepted the invitation. This is a great opportunity for him to spell out the new government\u2019s economic policy to win investment and build confidence. The first top level foreign conference Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attended after being in house arrest was the World Economic Forum in East Asia where she clearly spelled out her political vision for the people of Myanmar. \u00a0I was honored to meet her in person at this conference where she shared her view and importance of national reconciliation in Sri Lanka after a three decade war. \u00a0The Myanmar NLD party of Aung San Suu Kyi has won with a landslide victory to end years of undemocratic rule. \u00a0This will be a great moment for the people of Myanmar to experience fruits of true democracy for the first time with the new Government.<\/p>\n

When a fearless voice dies, another is elevated to victory;\u00a0reflecting upon our late great priest Ven.Sobitha Thero and the force of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It is their want of change, questioning autocratic leaders inspiring leadership that helps instill good governance in their own societies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Asanga Abeyagoonasekera Politics in Sri Lanka is a ticket to hell\u201d Most.Ven.Maduluwawe Sobitha Thero One of the greatest Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka most Ven.Maduluwawe Sobitha who spoke fearlessly to overthrow the previous Government to usher in better political order has passed away.\u00a0 The entire nation mourns the loss of this great human being.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49476","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49476\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}