Features
2024:Year of the Chinese Dragon and the Year of South Asian Elections
by Rajan Philips
2024 is the year of the dragon in Chinese zodiac system and is supposed augur well for those in power and authority. That might suit China’s strongman Xi Jinping just fine. The 12th anniversary of his becoming President falls in 2025, the year of snake, the same sign as for the year of his birth in 1953. Whether dialectics or astrology, Mr. Xi is going strong in spite of the country’s economic slips and social uncertainties at home. How well the dragon will play for those facing elections in 2024 will be determined not by the dragon or stars, but by the voters in the countries that will be holding elections in 2024. Four South Asian countries will be having elections in 2024.
The mother of all elections will be in November in the United States of America. The contest is widely expected to be between the oldest of them all – incumbent President, Joe Biden, and the most perversely tenacious of them all – Donald Trump, a former President and a defeated candidate. And the country will go through monthly rituals till November, involving primaries, conventions and finally the campaign. Adding to the list this year will be lawsuits and trials involving Trump. The Supreme Court will be in the thick of it all, and all nicely set up to be damned for what they do, and damned for what they don’t.
If President Wickremesinghe goes ahead with a March parliamentary, as we speculated earlier, then there would have been an election every month of the first four months in 2024, for four South Asian countries. Now, in Sri Lanka it is anticipated, the President willing, to have presidential election first, followed by parliamentary, both occurring in the last quarter or one of them spilling into 2025.
That leaves three South Asian countries having elections in the first four months – Bangladesh in January, Pakistan in February, and India in April-May. Sri Lanka is also the outlier and in a more important respect – the only country in South Asia to labour under a presidential system that is screwed atop a parliamentary system.
Bangladesh: Potemkin Election
The country will go to the polls a week into the New Year, on Sunday, January 7. The voters will directly elect 300 members of the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament), for a five year term, in a first-past-the-post voting system. An additional fifty members, all women, will be elected proportionately by the elected members of parliament. Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy with a unicameral legislature that is still functioning under its first and only constitution adopted in 1972, one year after its liberation from its transcontinental rulers in Pakistan.
However, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution enacted in January 1975, under the direction of the nation’s founding father Mujibur Rahuman himself, introduced a presidential form of government based on a one-party system, reduced the powers of parliament, and weakened judicial independence. That was the beginning of a whole era of political assassinations and military coups until constitutional order was restored 16 years later by the Twelfth Amendment enacted in 1991, which abolished the elected presidential system, reinstated the parliamentary system of government, and provided for parliament to elect the president as the constitutional head of state.
Another constitutional point to note is that the 1972 Constitution was founded on four fundamental principles – nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism. The Eighth Amendment in 1988 established Islam as state religion. Twenty three years later in 2011, the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, restored secularism and freedom of religion as fundamental principles of the state, while retaining Islam as the state religion.
The president has power to dissolve parliament and appoints the prime minister from among the members of the Sangsad. The prime minister is head of government and head of the Council of Ministers (the cabinet), whose members are appointed by the President on the recommendations of the Prime Minister. The President also appoints the chief justice, other judges of the supreme court, and the chief election commissioner.
The current President is Mohammad Shahabuddin Chuppu, who was elected uncontested in February 2023. The Prime Minister is Sheikh Hasina, leader of the governing Awami League, and she has been in office since January 2009.
Ms. Hasina and the Awami League are certain to return to power with more than a comfortable majority in the election that Kallol Mustafa, a Bangladeshi engineer and writer, has called the “Potemkin election” – an election with all the paraphernalia, but without a real contest. That is because the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) that has been in office multiple times is boycotting the election over the Awami League government’s rejection of the BNP demand that the election must be conducted under a neutral caretaker government.
The third major political party in Bangladesh, the Jatiya Party, which too has led governments in the past, is currently the opposition party in parliament but is too weak to take on the Awami juggernaut that has been in office for 14 years. In the outgoing parliament, Awami League had 304 out of the 350 MPs, while the Jatiya Party has 27 MPs. Ideologically, the League is to the left-of centre, BNP to the right-of-centre, and the Jatiya Party is more rightwing.
However, the Jatiya Party has been in governing alliances with both the League and the BNP. The BNP’s decision to boycott the election is counterproductive because it leaves the political field open to be monopolized by the governing party.
The electoral void is being filled by official candidates of the Awami League and “independents” planted by the government to create the pretense of a contest. Yet there is pre-election violence between the official candidates and independent pretenders. The violence has been bad enough to provoke an editorial criticism in The Daily Star, Bangladesh’s leading English daily. The paper’s concern is that the violent clashes among politicos will frighten voters to stay away from the polls.
The Star also carried a remarkable exposé of the Bangladeshi Minister of Lands, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed, who apparently owns more than 260 properties in the UK worth about GBP 135 million, and most of them are in London. Mr. Javed is a three term MP, now running for the fourth time. The Star’s cartoon (reproduced on this page) is quite an attention grabber in the world of political money making.
Although the election is a foregone conclusion, the government is under scrutiny for good behaviour in the business of elections and in the area of human rights. The US has already (in May) announced visa restrictions targeting government officials, members of political parties, law enforcement officials, the judiciary, and security services, who are “believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.” The US Ambassador Peter Haas is also reported to have had meetings with Bangladeshi Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal.
It is quite a turnaround for the US and Bangladesh from where they were in 1971. The US took the side of Pakistan and ignored the bloodbath that Bangladesh had to go through for its liberation. Few years later, the US Administration called Bangladesh an economic “basket case.” Not anymore. It is an emerging economic success story, the credit for which, as well as for steering Bangladesh away from religious extremism, belongs to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League government, despite their poor record on human rights, mass arrests and incarceration of political opponents, not to mention the holding of virtual one-party election.
Pakistan: the new basket case
A month after Bangladesh, on February 8, Pakistan will have its general elections to elect its 16th National Assembly. In Bangladesh the main opposition party is boycotting the election, while in Pakistan the government and the establishment are trying to keep their main rival Imran Khan indefinitely in jail to neutralize the electoral threat that he is posing them. In contrast, Nawaz Sharif who is leading the governing Pakistan Muslim League Party (PML (N) in his bid to become Prime Minister for a record fourth time, has been acquitted of all charges against him and is being given all the perks of a prime minister designate.
Against all the odds, Imran Khan will be contesting the election from prison for three seats in the National Assembly. The latest blow to Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insa (PTI) Party is from the heavily partisan Election Commission that is hell bent on denying the PTI the use of its ‘bat’ election symbol. The Peshawar High Court has overruled the Commission’s decision but the Commission might keep appealing the ruling to create uncertainty for the PTI and its supporters over its election symbol with just five weeks before the elections.
Recent opinion polls seem to indicate that the PTI still leads in voter intentions, but Nawaz Shariff is the military’s favoured candidate this time unlike in 2018 when the military backed Imran Khan against Nawaz Sharif. The third major political party is the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) founded by the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the father of Benazir Bhutto. Her son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the Foreign Minister in the outgoing PML government, now leads the PPP whose main electoral base is the Province of Sindh.
India apparently is hoping for a Nawaz victory as the former Prime Minister is seen as being friendly towards India unlike the rest of the establishment. He was opposed to the Kargil war of 1999 and paid the price of being ousted from office by Pervez Musharraf. It will be interesting to see how Mr. Sharif might be able ease the relationship with Delhi if he were to win the election. The Modi government and its handling of Kashmir is not making it easy for any Pakistani government to mend fences with India.
The US is being deafeningly silent on the Pakistani elections while threatening visa restrictions to Bangladeshis over their election. Silence on Pakistan has been the Biden Administration’s approach over the last three years.
And with Imran Khan accusing the US of involvement in his expulsion from parliament and the sacking of his government, there is no quick prospect for rapprochement between the two former Cold War allies.
For the people of Pakistan, the state of the economy and their own predicaments will be top of mind in the ballot booths. While Bangladesh is emerging as a successful economy, Pakistan has been in a free fall over several years. It would be poetic irony if someone in Washington were to call Pakistan a “basket case,” 50 years after disparaging Bangladesh.
Despite their violent separation, Pakistan and Bangladesh share similar constitutional experiences. Bangladesh was East Pakistan when Pakistan became independent with a parliamentary system of government. After the 1958 coup, and with the second constitution adopted in 1962, the country abolished the office of the prime minister and shifted to a presidential form of government.
Parliamentary system and the office of the Prime Minister were restored only after the separation of East Pakistan as Bangladesh, and under the 1973 Constitution championed by then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
The president in Pakistan is now a constitutional head of government elected by an electoral college comprising the National Assembly, the Senate, and the four Provincial Assemblies.
Pakistan has a federal constitution with four federated provinces and a bicameral legislature. The National Assembly consists of 336 members, 266 of whom are directly elected under the first-past-the-post system. 60 seats are reserved for women and 10 for non-Muslim minorities, both of whom are elected by members of parliament in proportion to the number of MPs in each of the political parties represented in parliament. The Senate of Pakistan is the House of the Federation. It has 100 members, 92 of them elected by the four provincial legislatures, four to represent the Federal Capital and another four to represent Federally Administrated Tribal Areas.
After Pakistan, it will be India that will have its general election in April-May to elect its 18th Lok Sabha. Only in Sri Lanka, the President calls the shots when it comes to election timing. Like Bangladesh and Pakistan, Sri Lanka too shifted from a parliamentary system to a presidential system of government with a complicated proportional representation system to elect its unicameral legislature. But unlike in Bnagladesh and Pakistan, there was no military compulsion for the system change in Sri Lanka.
What is more, both Bangladesh and Pakistan have reverted to the parliamentary system and the simple first-past-the-post system for electing members of parliament with additional reserved seats for women. Their constitutional experience could be a source of hope for Sri Lanka, as the New Year dawns and the stage is set for the much anticipated national elections.
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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