Editorial
Gnanasara and ‘One country, One law’
Unsurprisingly, the appointment of politician-monk, Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, as chairman of yet another Presidential Task Force (PTF), this one studying the implementation of the ‘One country, One law’ proposal, has raised hornets’ nests in many quarters; and wide ranging protests have been emerging from a variety of interests. Nobody from the government side has yet defended the monk’s appointment, possibly for the reason that they are the prerogative of the president and he presumably knows what he’s doing. Gnanasara sought his party’s single National List place in Parliament after the last election having been shut out of the poll by the rejection of the Apey Jana Balavegaya’s nomination list in Kurunegala. Eventually Ven. Athureliye Ratana, who has worn many political hats and was a UNP National List MP in the last Parliament, was granted the place; though not before much entertaining melodrama.
Gnanasara won visibility, if not notoriety, from the Bodu Bala Sena which he continues to lead for his belligerent ethno-nationalist credentials. These command support of one section of the polity and dismay of another comprising mostly of minorities. Political analyst Dayan Jayatilleka, in an essay we run today, has perhaps tongue in cheek suggested that former Chief Justice Sarath. N. Silva would have been a better choice to run the task force under discussion. He believes that Silva who was both Attorney General and Chief Justice would in addition to Sinhala nationalist credentials have legal attributes lacking in Gnanasara; that is apart from some brushes with the law hat the pries has had. Obviously the president would not have been unmindful of the flak last week’s appointment would inevitably draw. But he went ahead for reasons he would best know. This was very similar to the pardon he granted one time parliamentarian Duminda Silva, convicted of murder by a High Court with the death sentence imposed confirmed by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court. The pardoned convict, as an MP, held a supervisory role over the defence ministry when GR was secretary.
Like Silva, Gnanasara too is a convict, jailed for a lesser offence of contempt of court. He won his pardon from former President Maithripala Sirisena after a short spell in prison. Sirisena had also earlier similarly pardoned the Royal Park murder convict, Jude Shramantha Anthony Jayamaha. We do not know how many presidential task forces have been appointed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa since his 2019 election but there have been many. The most visible of these, of course, is that on Covid 19 PTF headed by Army Commander Shavendra Silva. There have been similar task forces appointed for a variety of subjects including attaining a green economy, and another to review and take forward objectives arising from the president’s much publicized Gama Samaga Pilisandara (Discussions with the village). There’s also a PTF on building a secure country. This comprises entire of military, police and intelligence officers and has drawn the ire of the International Commission of Jurists. Other than for the Covid Task Force, the people don’t know what the others are doing but Gnanasara’s is likely to be different.
Whether the monk, who has previously demonstrated an affinity for both controversy and visibility, will opt for a low profile role in his newest avatar remains to be seen. Duminda Silva who was made Chairman of the National Housing Development Authority weeks after his release from prison has not been in the news in his present capacity. Rajan Philips in his regular column on this page has speculated of the possibility that Gnanasara’s appointment being a counter to Malcolm Cardinal Ranjit, Archbishop of Colombo, who has been increasingly vociferous recently. His focus is what he regards as the glaring lack of accountability over the Easter Sunday massacre and the denial of justice to the victims. His outspoken comments have been well received by his flock much to the embarrassment of the ruling powers. It was widely perceived by analysts and observers that his Eminence favoured President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election two years ago. But that scenario has totally changed since the Easter tragedy.
Dayan Jayatilleka has cuttingly drawn attention to what he calls one of Gnanasara’s “many accomplishments,” among them inviting and hosting the “even more notorious monk,” Venerable Ashin Wirathu of Myanmar. Whether Justice Minister Ali Sabry who has been working on the ‘One country, one law’ project for some time will resent the Gnanasara-led PTF looking over his shoulders remains to be seen but we wouldn’t place money on it. The appointment after all came from high up and no boat is likely to be rocked. Gnanasara’s PTF has been required to make a study of the implementation of the “One country, One law’ concept and prepare a draft Act for this purpose. It is also required to study available material at the Justice Ministry and report on them.
It has been noted that the 13-member PTF comprises of a majority of Sinhalese members and four Muslims but no Tamils. Presumably the majority of the Sinhalese are Buddhists and it has not been revealed whether any Christians are among them. Usually bodies such as this are secular and the non-inclusion of Tamils in the PTF has attracted comment. The subjects on the table will probably include the Thesavalamai law and the Muslim Marriages and Divorces Act. Although the Center for Policy Alternatives, well known for its criticism of acts of omission and commission by governments, has demanded rescinding of the gazette creating the PTF, nobody will expect anything more than a deafening silence.
Saturday 8th June, 2024
It was with shock and dismay that we received the news about death threats to COPF (Committee on Public Finance) Chairman Dr. Harsha de Silva over the ongoing parliamentary probe into the on-arrival visa scam. Dr. de Silva yesterday told Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, in Parliament, that he was facing death threats and intimidation, and it was incumbent upon Parliament to ensure his safety. He stopped short of naming names, but revealed that some ruling party MPs were among those who had ganged up against him. The Speaker only said there had been no complaint, and he would look into the matter.
The SLPP-UNP government has been doing everything in its power to have all parliamentary committees under its thumb. The COPE (Committee on Public Enterprises), which once helped restore public faith in the legislature by exposing state sector corruption, has now become a mere appendage of the incumbent regime, thanks to the appointment of SLPP MP Rohitha Abeygunawardena as its Chairman. The SLPP-UNP combine also tried to oust COPF Chairman Dr. de Silva, but in vain. However, it knows more than one way to shoe a horse.
The COPF, under Dr. de Silva’s chairmanship, has been a thorn in the side of the government, which is struggling to cover up numerous corrupt deals. Dr. de Silva yesterday told Parliament that he found it extremely difficult to function as the COPF head due to severe resource constraints his committee was facing; he himself had to pay the salaries of some of his staff members besides burning the midnight oil.
The sheer workload he had to cope with as the COPF chief had taken its toll on his health, he said, informing the Speaker that he was at the end of his tether, and at times thought of resigning from the COPF. This is exactly what the government wants him to do; resource squeezes and threats are aimed at making him quit.
On 26 May, Dr. de Silva revealed, in an ‘X’ post, that the COPF had uncovered some vital information about the visa scam and it would reveal everything after its final meeting on the issue; the COPF was committed to exposing the truth behind the controversial tender, he added. In an editorial comment on 27 May, we warned him.
While thanking him for his bold stand, we pointed out that by making such a statement, he had thrown caution to the wind, and become a marked target, with the government making an all-out effort to delay the COPF investigation lest the truth should come out much to the detriment of its interests in this election year. Unfortunately, what was feared has come about; Dr. de Silva is complaining of death threats and government moves to strangulate the COPF financially to derail its investigations.
Dr. de Silva’s predicament exemplifies the fate that befalls the few good men and women in Parliament. It is hoped that all those who seek an end to the state sector corruption will rally behind Dr. de Silva, and bring pressure to bear on the government to ensure his safety. Let Dr. de Silva be urged to reveal the names of those who have issued threats, veiled or otherwise, to him and are trying to scuttle the COPF probes.
Friday 7th June, 2024
The SLPP-UNP government is going hell for leather to make bad laws as if there were no tomorrow. It is abusing its parliamentary majority, which has been retained with the help of some crossovers, for that purpose. The Opposition, the media and trade unions are up in arms, and understandably so. The incumbent regime is a dead man walking; it is so desperate that it is capable of anything. Hence the need for it to be restrained.
The Electricity (Amendment) Bill (EAB) plunged Parliament into turmoil yesterday, but the government secured its passage. The Supreme Court (SC) determined the entire EAB inconsistent with the Constitution and recommended changes thereto. After unveiling the Bill, sometime ago, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera hailed it as an excellent piece of legislation aimed at straightening up the power sector to serve the public interest better.
The SC determination left him with egg on his face. He reminded us of the proverbial curate who, while eating a stale egg, assured his host, a Bishop, that parts of it were excellent. Wijesekera’s egg, as it were, made Parliament stink yesterday, but he sought to please his masters by praising it as a silver bullet.
EAB should have been discarded and a new one drafted in consultation with all stakeholders. But the government is apparently driven by an ulterior motive; its aim is not to serve Sri Lanka’s interests but to look after those of some moneybags.
It is not uncommon for Bills to contain some flaws, which are rectified either before or during the committee stage. But there is something terribly wrong with draft Bills that are full of sections inconsistent with the Constitution. The drafters of EAB have demonstrated their sheer ignorance of the supreme law, and that they are not equal to the task of drafting Bills. If they had read the Constitution at least perfunctorily, they would not have drafted such a bad law.
Ignorant and incompetent, they do not deserve to be paid with public funds and must be sent back to law school. They must be summoned before Parliament and questioned on their serious lapses, which have caused public faith in the national legislature to diminish.
Curiously, the MPs who demand that judges, doctors, Central Bankers, and other public officials be summoned before Parliament have taken badly drafted Bills for granted. The power sector trade unions yesterday alleged that EAB was of Indian origin and geared towards furthering the interests of Adani Group at the expense of Sri Lanka.
Most critics of EAB are agreeable in principle to the need for power sector reforms; the Ceylon Electricity Board should be given a radical shake-up, and transformed into a modern organisation capable of providing a better service at a lower cost. They only asked the government to tread cautiously, consulting all stakeholders and taking action to ensure that the country’s interests prevailed over everything else. But the government was in a mighty hurry to steamroller the Bill through Parliament, making the Opposition ask whether it was doing so at the behest of some external forces involved in controversial power generation deals here.
What is passed by the current Parliament can be either amended or abolished by a future parliament in a constitutionally prescribed manner. But that does not mean that a government is free to pass bad laws, making the country enter into long-term agreements with powerful nations and their investors. It looks as if the SLPP-UNP regime did not care two hoots about the consequences of its actions.
Thursday 6th June, 2024
The outcome of India’s parliamentary election (2024) has led to a ‘perspective ambiguity’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost no time in declaring victory for the BJP-led NDA alliance, which secured 293 seats in the 543-member Parliament, but he must be a worried man. The BJP is short of 32 seats to form a government under its own steam; it has lost 63 seats or about 20% of its parliamentary strength. It had 303 seats in the previous Parliament, and that number has dropped to 240.
Modi has become the second Indian Prime Minister to win a third term. The first PM to do so was Jawaharlal Nehru. But Nehru won an outright majority in Parliament in 1962; Modi has had to depend on smaller parties in his alliance to retain his hold on power. Modi must be reeling from a sharp drop in his victory margin in his own constituency, Varanasi; it has decreased to 152,000 from 480,000 in 2019 whereas Modi’s bete noire, Rahul Gandhi, won Raebareli by a staggering 390,000 votes.
Modi, who reigned supreme with 303 seats in the previous Parliament, is now dependent on parties such as Nitish Kumar’s JD-U and Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP to form a government. He has had to lead an alliance of strange bedfellows. Both Kumar and Naidu were bitter critics of Modi. Kumar helped form the oppositional alliance, the INDIA bloc, before switching his allegiance to PM Modi. Naidu also closed ranks with the BJP in the run-up to the election. These politicians have been described as extremely ambitious and highly unpredictable, and whether Modi will be able to manage them and consolidate his grip on the NDA alliance remains to be seen. They will demand plum ministerial posts in return for their support. The TDP is said to be eyeing Transport and Health portfolios! That is the name of the game in coalition politics, where it is not uncommon for the tail to wag the dog, so to speak. These two political leaders are however not the only problem Modi will have to contend with. The next five years will feel like an eternity for PM Modi.
Nothing would have been more shocking for the BJP than its defeat in Uttar Pradesh’s Faizabad constituency, where the Ram Mandir has been built. Modi may have thought he would be able to win the Lok Sabha election hands down after the consecration of that temple, which became a centrepiece of the BJP’s election campaign. The BJP lost that seat to the Samajwadi Party! Modi must be disappointed that the Ram Mandir hype failed to trigger a massive wave of support for his party. This particular defeat signifies a massive setback for the BJP’s ethno-religious agenda.
Modi’s divisive election campaign failed to yield the desired result. The BJP’s failure to secure an outright majority could be attributed to a host of factors, some of them being the suppression of the Opposition, the arrogance of power, chronic unemployment, and the rising cost of living. The BJP also did not care to reimage itself in a positive light to attract the youth.
Modi will hereafter see the Congress-led INDIA bloc with 223 seats, in his rearview mirror. The Congress (99 seats) and its allies have eaten into the BJP support base considerably, but they have a long way to go before being able to capture power.
The bumpy ride ahead for the BJP-led coalition government to be formed may improve the INDIA bloc’s chances of bettering their electoral performance and turning the tables on the BJP and its allies in time to come. Modi will have a lot to worry about in his third term.
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