Features
THREATS OF VIOLENCE THE MAIN REPUBLICAN STRATEGY FOR ELECTORAL AND JUDICIAL SUCCESS
TRUMP WARNS OF “CHAOS AND BEDLAM”, IN COURT FILING
by Vijaya Chandrasoma
The Iowa Republican caucus, representing the first votes cast in the current presidential election cycle, was held last Monday, in freezing air and wind-chill temperatures. Only 14% of the total Republican electorate cast their votes, 110,000 to a total electorate of 750,000. However, sub-zero temperatures do tend to shrink dimensions of caucuses.
Donald Trump clinched the Iowa presidential nomination by a large margin, winning 56% of the votes cast. DeSantis finished a distant second (21%) to Haley (19%) in a fight for second place. Trump remains the prohibitive favorite to win the Republican nomination in November.
Some relevant, even frightening facts were revealed by the Iowa caucus. One, over two-thirds of Republicans believe the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Two, 75% of Republicans believe that Trump will be a fit occupant of the White House, even as a convicted felon.
Three, and perhaps the most sinister, is that rank and file Republican politicians are frightened to speak against Trump. Even his rivals for the presidency, except for Chris Christie, who has since withdrawn his candidacy, hardly criticize him for his criminal behavior. Death threats against those who speak against Trump – political opponents, Republican congressmen and senators, judges, prosecutors, witnesses, journalists, – have, according to the FBI, broken all records in the past three years. Fear, violence, death threats – those are the deadly weapons Trump’s terrorist supporters use to maintain his dominance of the white supremacist cult that is the Republican Party of today.
In fact, last Thursday, in a court filing, Trump warned that “chaos and bedlam” would follow if he is disqualified to contest the 2024 presidency, as the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine Secretary of State have ruled. The grounds for such disqualification are impeccable, according to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. There is no doubt that Trump was involved in inciting an insurrection against the legally elected government of the United States, which disqualifies him from holding public office in the future.
If, as seems likely, the Republican majority Supreme Court takes the case, it will permit Trump to remain on the ballot, against a strict interpretation of the Constitution. But this is the type of rhetoric Trump uses to incite his cult to violence when he feels things are going against him.
Where election strategies are concerned, Trump uses his tried and proven weapon, racism. With Nikki Haley threatening him in the New Hampshire primary next week, he has begun using her middle name “Nimrata”, as a dog-whistle to his Republican cult, implying that Haley, the daughter of first-generation Indians, is somehow less than “American”. Just as he used President Obama’s middle name “Hussein” to sow doubt about his “Americanness”.
Last Tuesday, Trump was in court, having donned his rapist hat, to find out how much more damages he will be legally required to pay in continuing to defame a woman he has already been convicted of sexually assaulting.
There are many other hats on his rack, representing treason, sedition, espionage, fraud and most of the crimes in the penal code, which he will be forced to don on numerous trial dates till November, dates which will play a major role in his election campaign.
I would like to explain why I keep on writing about the state of US politics with a most partisan, anti-Trump/Republican slant. The primary ethical function of a journalist reporting the news is to research and analyze every aspect of any person or situation, and arrive at an educated, equitable conclusion.
I report the news based on meticulous fact-checking, evidence of actual events with collaborative sources, and audio/video clips available to the public. Unlike Trump’s famous urging, “Believe me. Don’t believe your lying eyes”, my conclusions are based on provable facts.
My unbiased reasoning is that there is no second side to Trump, no redeeming feature whatsoever. He is pure, unadulterated, white trash evil.
I have always been of a liberal bent, which means that I espouse an ideology practiced in every advanced democracy in the world, in which the super-wealthy willingly pay their fair share of taxes, a thriving middle class form the vast majority of the population, and there is a social safety net to provide for the unfortunate and the vulnerable. A nation living the values enshrined in the Christian Bible, as well as in the tenets of every religion and philosophy in the world.
At what cost? The “cost” is an educated and cared-for society with no impairment in innovative productivity or creation of wealth.
Values completely rejected by the current phony Christian Nation Under God, the richest and most hypocritical, holier than thou country in the world where I would be contemptuously dismissed as a Commie.
During my two decades in the US, I have always been a Democrat. I worked at Party offices in Pasadena, CA and Phoenix, AZ, even when I was not qualified to vote. The invaluable functions I carried out in Phoenix in 2008, licking stamps, registering voters and answering telephones in my thick Sri Lankan accent, no doubt played a role in President Obama’s historic presidential victory.
I have been following American politics closely since the Reagan years, when that mediocre movie star and worse president dismantled a thriving middle class by halving the taxes on the super-rich with his famous “Reagonomics”, the much vaunted “trickle-down theory”, which has proved to be successful only for the super-wealthy and the big corporations.
Reagan was succeeded by the one-term older Bush, who waged “Operation Desert Storm” against Iraq, a military operation aimed at expelling Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait.
Both President Saddam Hussein and the Palestinians had accused western colonialists of arbitrarily carving artificial states of Kuwait and Israel after World War II.
Saddam claimed that Kuwait was the 19th province of Iraq. Palestinians had made the equally ridiculous claim to ownership of Palestine, just because they owned 97% of the land and comprised over 90% of its population (Jews numbered less than 10%) in 1947.
Still, the American and European rulers of the world after World War II, had two irrefutable reasons for the creation of both the states of Kuwait and Israel. Kuwait had nearly 10% of the world’s oil reserves, and the Holy Land of Palestine had been promised to the Jews 4,000 years ago by Yahweh, God of the Israelites Himself. What more authentic reasons and title deeds do you need as proof of ownership?
Then we had the younger Bush who was presented the 2000 presidency by the Republican majority Supreme Court, which ordered the termination of the counting of votes in Florida when Bush was ahead. Democrat Al Gore won the national popular vote by over 500,000 votes, but conceded the election to Bush “for the good of the country!” An extraordinarily stupid reason only a Democrat would conceive. Trump has yet to concede an election the Republican Supreme Court ruled he lost over three years ago!
The younger Bush waged an illegal war against Iraq, lying to Congress and the United Nations that Saddam was about to use Weapons of Mass Destruction on his own people, a claim since proved to be entirely false. A war that cost hundreds of thousands of innocent lives and trillions of dollars of taxpayer money. Bush’s reign of error left the nation with a housing crisis and a near recession in 2008, only to be rescued by the brilliance of the administrations of President Obama.
I have deliberately left out Nixon and Watergate, which forced the resignation of a crooked president. Trump’s crimes make Watergate seem like a Jaywalking misdemeanor.
The above digression is intended to illustrate how difficult it has been to recall any acts beneficial to regular, middle-class Americans by Republicans in 50 years of four pre-Trump Republican administrations. Though it must be conceded that all these pre-Trump presidents, possibly bar Nixon, were men who may have been stupid and/or consumed with greed, but they were not entirely evil.
Not so with Trump. The task of searching for two sides in Trump’s moral compass is similar to looking for a non-existent needle in a filthy Republican haystack, an exercise in futility.
Trump’s lie that the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol was a peaceful protest, rather like a tourist visit, a “beautiful day”, provides the greatest danger faced by American democracy. A lie against the evidence of our own eyes, as we saw the violence unfolding of the storming of the Capitol by domestic terrorists brandishing TRUMP and Confederate flags and Nazi Swastikas. An insurrection that left five dead, hundreds seriously wounded, and millions of dollars damage to the Capitol, the seat of American government and one of the most iconic and beautiful buildings in the nation.
This is a lie that has denigrated the integrity of future elections, the cornerstone of American democracy. The peaceful transfer of power may be a thing of the past, with every future election subject to dispute, even a repeat of the violence of January 6, 2021.
President Biden made a most inspiring speech at the historic African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Charleston, South Carolina, on the eve of the third anniversary of the January 6, 2021 insurrection. He concluded his speech with the most important question Americans will face in November:
“Today, we are here to answer the most urgent question of our time. Is Democracy still America’s sacred cause?”
There is no confusion about who Trump is and what he intends to do.
He has shown the world that, in his perverted mind, democracy in the United States has run its course, the US Constitution is outdated and should be terminated. He has laid down publicly his plans, if re-elected, of weaponizing the Department of Justice, exacting retribution on his political opponents, and employing only Trump loyalists in key federal positions.
And, of course, rounding up all illegal immigrants, separating children from their parents, interning them in concentration camps and implementing the greatest deportation program in history.
The real questions facing America today are:
Who are the American people of today? Who are these people who keep pretending to believe that a criminal convicted on multiple felonies and facing trial on many others, including sedition and espionage, would be a suitable occupant of the White House?
Who are these Americans who believe that a criminal who consorts with the dictators of the world, the nation’s adversaries, would be the ideal Leader of the Free World?
Have Americans crossed the thin line to white supremacy, anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic hatred and fascism, as the Germans did in the 1930s?
If Donald Trump wins in November, the Cradle of Democracy would be transformed by a criminal wannabe dictator into an authoritarian kleptocracy, a satellite of Russia. Russia’s Putin will use Trump to achieve his ultimate goals – the illegal annexation of Ukraine and other neighboring European nations.
And the United States will abdicate from the longest lasting military alliance the world has ever seen, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
It will be America First. And America the Most Despised.
When former New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie recently decided to withdraw his candidacy for the 2024 Republican nomination, he said he was disgusted by what had happened at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the part he had played in that insurrection.
He was reminded of a statement made by Benjamin Franklin, when he was walking the streets of Philadelphia after the Constitution Convention in 1787, a woman asked him, “Mr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us?”
Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it”.
November 2024 will provide the answer.
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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