Features
The Republic: Fiftieth Anniversary and Fifty Days of Aragalaya
by Rajan Philips
Sri Lanka became a Republic on 22 May 1972, and the fiftieth republican anniversary has come and gone largely unnoticed. The only acknowledgement of the occasion so far in the media has been the articles by Dr. Jayampathy Wickramaratne, which were also a reproduction of a chapter on the 1972 Constitution that he wrote for a book felicitating the political life of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Last Sunday, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe addressed the nation for the second time in as many weeks. He spoke of the need to address issues facing the country not only in the economic sphere, but also in the political sphere which would involve constitutional changes.
However, the Prime Minister made no reference to the fiftieth anniversary of the Republic and its implications for the constitutional changes that are being considered now. He is only too well aware that the current impetus for constitutional changes is not due to the age of the Republic – its fifty long years, but it is due to the pressure brought on by 50 days of Aragalaya protests. The 50-day mark of Aragalaya was faithfully marked by the youthful protesters, quite unlike the 50th anniversary of the Republic.
The Republic came into being by virtue of the First Republican (1972) Constitution under the auspices of the United Front Government with Mrs. Bandaranaike as Prime Minister and Dr. Colvin R de Silva as the Minister of Constitutional Affairs. The parliament that was elected in 1970 with a landslide majority for the United Front Government, was turned into a Constituent Assembly to “draft, enact and adopt” a new constitution quite outside the ambit of the Soulbury Constitution and, as Dr. Colvin would often intone, “not merely despite the Queen but in defiance of the Queen.” Thus, Sri Lanka became a Republic with one more formal severing of its colonial cords.
The First Republican Constitution lasted only five years and was quite easily undone by its own exceptionally flexible provision for its repeal and replacement by a future parliament commanding a two-thirds majority of its members. The 1977 election gave JR Jayewardene and the United National Party more than a two thirds majority, which JRJ used not only to repeal and replace the 1972 Constitution, but also foist on Sri Lanka a presidential system of government that had no justificatory rationale in national politics or support in the country beyond JRJ’s idiosyncratic mind and his possession of undated letters of resignation given to him by all newly elected UNP MPs.
The upshot was the Second Republican Constitution that was adopted in 1978. In contrast to the supreme flexibility of the 1972 Constitution, the 1978 Constitution was deliberately entrenched against changes by future parliaments except the long parliament (1977-1988) that JRJ presided over. The 1978 Constitution has been in force for 44 years, and has been Sri Lanka’s most contentious constitution. It has also lasted the longest.
Constitutional Changes
The constitutional changes that are currently on offer are not changes to anything in the First Republican Constitution, but to the Second Republican Constitution. The main constitutional changes that are now being bandied as part of the 21st Amendment (21A) primarily involve significant modifications to the powers of the Executive President. An anticipated sequel to 21A is the abolishing of the presidency itself. Although they are not included in the current proposals for 21A, there are two other matters that will need to be addressed through constitutional changes sooner than later.
The first is electoral reform to modify the current proportional representation system to a blend of the old first-past-the-post system and limited proportional representation. Constitutional changes to bring about electoral reform have had nearly unanimous support among MPs in every parliament since 1994, but every President and her/his government from 1994 has singularly failed to leverage this support and transform the electoral system. And it is not likely to happen even now without pressure and prodding from Aragalaya protests.
The second matter is more controversial and involves the question of devolution of powers and consistently positive implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment (13A). There is no consensus over what needs to be done even though, it is fair to say, the call for repealing 13A has lost any consequential political support that it may have previously had. Gotabaya Rajapaksa himself once called for the repeal of 13A, but it is unlikely that he is harbouring such thoughts now, if he is harbouring any constitutional thought at all. More so, with all the financial bailouts from India without which his presidency will be a goner much sooner than it would eventually be.
The controversy over 13A cannot be settled by taking extreme positions – either calling Provincial Councils a steppingstone to separation, which is simply nuts; or insisting that PCs are unworkable so long as the Constitution calls itself a unitary constitution, which is equally nuts. Federal and Unitary arrangements are not disconnected poles with nothing in between, but are the ends of a continuum with several intermediate possibilities. The fact that the unitary article and the 13th Amendment are part of the same constitution is proof of the co-existence pudding. The trouble is nobody is interested in actually eating the pudding, only complaining about what ingredients in it are too much and what ingredients are missing.
In my view, it would be distractive and counterproductive to expand the scope of 21A to include constitutional changes involving 13A and Provincial Councils. The main task is to make the Provincial Councils system work, first by providing for them to be elected along with the next parliament under a reformed electoral system. Constitutional adjustments can be brought in later based on sincere and honest operational experience of the newly elected Provincial Councils. For now, the focus should be on constitutional changes involving the executive presidency first, and electoral reforms soon after.
PM’s Statement
In his Sunday talk last week, the Prime Minister spoke to the “two major issues in the political sphere.” The first issue, he said, is “the re-introduction of the 19th Amendment,” and noted that “… party leaders, are now preparing the 21st Amendment in this regard.” The second issue “is to work towards the abolition of the Executive Presidency. The timing and methodology must be decided by the Party Leaders.”
While abolishing the executive presidential system has been a constant policy plank across all major political parties from 1994, this is the first time a Prime Minister has addressed the nation indicating that parliament must “work towards the abolition of the Executive Presidency,” and that “the timing and methodology must be decided by the Party Leaders.” There are number of ways of looking at this statement and its implications.
First, it must be acknowledged that such a statement would have been unthinkable, and even more unthinkable that it could be made by someone like Ranil Wickremesinghe, without the ground-breaking effects of the Aragalaya protests. To be sure, it is not only the Prime Minister who is talking about abolishing the presidency as a result of Aragalaya, but even President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has been forced by it to meekly indicate his readiness for abolishing the presidency. This was before May 9, when Aragalaya was in full flight. Now the President seems to be changing his tune, but more on that later.
Second, it is possible to see the Prime Minister’s statement both as a notice to the President, as well as a rallying call for supporting constitutional changes both within parliament and outside. Those within parliament who are committed to enacting 21A and abolishing the presidency must stop using them to make rhetorical points and start focusing on winning support among MPs to obtain the requisite two-thirds majority.
Third, insofar as the PM’s statement might also be meant for the ears of Aragalaya protesters, one can only say that the Prime Minister is being better late than never. I say this because it has been reported that in his discussions with the President before being appointed as Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe has told Gotabaya Rajapaksa that he should resign as President. I say as well that Mr. Wickremesinghe would have strengthened his position immensely, both within and outside parliament, if he had made his position publicly known instead of keeping it as a private suggestion to the President. Belatedly, he has gone public now, but it is too soon to tell if he is too late in publicly stating that 21A must be passed and the Executive Presidency must be abolished. Here is why.
Last week I noted some of the consequences of the deflation of Aragalaya after the tumults out of Temple Trees on May 9. It is not only reactionary politics and Basil Rajapaksa’s antics that have been resurrected by the deflation of Aragalaya. There is also the ministerial resurrection of Wijeyadasa Rajapakse who has been entrusted with the drafting of the 21A Bill. Given his chequered past, no one should be surprised that the draft Bill that he is currently circulating is unacceptable to almost all genuine stakeholders for constitutional reform. In addition, quite a few SLPP MPs and former Ministers are now ganging up against substantive constitutional changes and abolishing the executive presidency.
PMD’s Monkey Business
Above all, the President, either on his own bad advice or that of others, would appear to be keen on consolidating his political position with no apparent interest in addressing the burning issues in either the economic sphere or the political sphere that the Prime Minister has been harping on. While others are talking about separating the Head of State from holding ministerial portfolios, the President is gazetting himself authority over 42 institutions by bringing them under the Defence Ministry. Why should the President be directly bossing over institutions like The Board of Investment, Sri Lanka Telecom and the Port City Economic Commission, and why should such institutions come under the Ministry of Defence?
And why is the President extending the duration of the ‘One Country One Law’ Presidential Task Force headed by the controversial Gnanasara Thero even after the Attorney General has instructed that charges by filed against the monk for using hate speech against religious minorities? Is the Task Force going to be helpful in getting bridge financing from the IMF? Or is there a new credit line from Saudi Arabia that Gnanasara Thero recently visited apparently for enlightenment on religious cohabitation?
If the President seems earnest about consolidating his positions and murky bases, he is also showing himself to be deceptive and manipulative in spreading misinformation about Aragalaya protesters. At least, the President’s Media Division (PMD) is. Last week, the PMD put out a press release that has since been exposed and dismissed as false information. The PMD statement alluded to an organization called “The Confederation of Professionals for a National Policy” and described it as “a group of professionals and youth involved in ‘Aragalaya’ (struggle).” The statement went on to say that this ‘group’ met with the President on Wednesday (June 1), the meeting was held under the patronage of Ven. Prof. Pathegama Gnanissara Thera and Shastrapathi Ven. Vitiyala Kavidhaja Thera, and that the meeting was attended by Dr. Asoka Jayasena and Mr. Nelum Weragoda representing the “group of professionals and youth involved in Aragalaya.”
Unsurprisingly, the PMD statement did not provide the names of Aragalaya youth who allegedly attended the meeting. In fact, there were no names to provide because no one from Aragalaya attended any meeting with the President. The protesters who have been out for over 50 days demanding the resignation of the President have flatly denied meeting with the President as (falsely) claimed by the President’s Media Division. Aragalaya protesters have been quite categorical in denouncing the PMD’s falsehoods: “We don’t want to have any sort of discussion with the President. We just want him to be sent home. That’s the name of our movement “Gota Go Gama” (GGG), meaning for Gota to go.”
Why would the PMD publicly lie about anyone from Aragalaya attending any meeting with the President? The PMD had further stated that the meeting was also attended by the new Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, and the discussion at the meeting “focused on short, medium and long-term measures that should be taken to address the current political, social and economic crisis and the adoption of a new ‘people-friendly’ Constitution.” Assuming that Minister Rajapakshe did in fact attend a meeting at the President’s House, where was the Prime Minister in all this while the President was leading a discussion on adopting a new “people-friendly” Constitution? And where was 21A in all this? Never mind abolishing the executive presidency. (To be continued)
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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