Features
A King’s Coronation: Nostalgia and Anomalies
by Rajan Philips
As a Sunday Island reader in Colombo, you would be having the paper in hand on Saturday as London wakes up to the full panoply of the coronation of King Charles the Third. The processions and the ceremonies will be watched by millions in the united Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, and even throughout the world. This is London’s first coronation in 70 years. The last one was when Elizabeth the Second was crowned the Queen of England and the Empire, on June 2, 1953. The Queen was young at 25, and Charles, today’s King, was a four-year old attendee. Today, he is the oldest king to be crowned in the long line of British monarchs spanning a thousand years. The 1953 coronation was the first to be televised, as a way towards modernizing the monarchy, against the opposition of traditionalists including then Prime Minister Sir. Winston Churchill. Seventy years on, the world is a different place, the means of communication have exploded to new levels, and the monarchy is also in a different place.
Charles is a historically ominous name for an English King, and today’s King is poignantly aware of it. King Charles I was the cause of the 17th century Civil War, and he ended up making parliament supreme by relentlessly trying to subordinate it. He was sentenced to death by the Parliament’s own High Court of Justice, and was beheaded on November 18, 1648. The monarchy was abolished by a resolution of parliament that called it “unnecessary, burdensome, and dangerous to the liberty, safety, and public interest of the people of this nation.” But the new republic was short lived, for after 11 years a new Parliament voted to reinstate the monarchy and inducted the eldest son of Charles I as the new King Charles II.
There is an important constitutional principle in the abolition of the monarchy by one parliament and its restoration by a successor parliament. That is the principle that one parliament must not rigidly bind a future parliament. That was a core principle for Colvin R. de Silva, the Marxist. Think of the rigidly frozen current constitution of Sri Lanka. Think as well of the superiority of the deliberative decision making process of an elected parliament to the copout device of a popular referendum. One is deliberative democracy, the other is populist demagoguery. Not surprisingly, the British people today are still ruing the stilted result of the 2019 Brexit referendum. Every time a Bill is drafted in Sri Lanka, the Supreme Court is called upon to pronounce if the Bill needs a referendum or not for its passage. Be that as it may.
The restored monarchy in the 17th century was a highly restricted monarchy predicated on the principle that Kings and Queens come into being only by the consent of the people and are subordinate to the House of Commons elected by the people. The ensuing system has lived and worked ever since: enabling the British isle to become the crucible of a mighty industrial revolution, while avoiding a corresponding sociopolitical upheaval by extending parliamentary representation; and creating along the way a worldwide empire and managing to shed it even if not always involuntarily, but almost always in a very orderly and constitutional way.
For all that and more, Britain has remained a polity without a written constitution and has preserved the apparent anomaly of fusing parliamentary democracy with an unelected monarchy. And parliament itself has limitations on its power in spite of its supremacy. Limitations that are mostly self-imposed by adherence to healthy conventions, and where necessary administered by the rule of law and the oversight of the courts. The system is anomalous but there is a reservoir of nostalgia for keeping the monarchy. To paraphrase Jennings, the monarchy is there for the people to cheer whenever they are provoked to damn the government.
At the same time, there is a generational divide with mainly the older generations retaining nostalgia for the monarchy and the younger generations increasingly finding it irrelevant to their universe. It is also fair to say that if the monarchy were to wither away, it would be more on account of the excessive indulgences of the royal family than due to any resentment among or revolt of the British people. Queen Elizabeth managed the transition from tradition to modernity quite magnificently. The new King has a tough act to follow, but is showing not unremarkable adaptability in spite of his age and his stodgy reputation as the prince in waiting seemingly forever.
Post-imperial Britain
The coronation ceremonies are being choreographed to reflect the changing faces of post-imperial Britain. The processions preceding the arrival of the King will include non-Christian faith leaders and representatives, as well as representatives from Commonwealth countries carrying the flags of their country and accompanied by their governors general and prime ministers. For the first time, the public will be given an active role in the ceremony, and the “homage of the people” will replace the traditional “homage of peers,” with the people and not the traditional squires called upon to swear in chorus their allegiance to the new King. Critics have called the people’s swearing of allegiance “complete nonsense,” but the idea seems to have originated not at the Buckingham Palace but at the Archbishop’s House. There is also criticism about the drastically reduced number of parliamentarians invited for coronation ceremonies in comparison to the number of MPs invited in 1953.
However, Rishi Sunak, a practising Hindu and Britain’s first Prime Minister of Indian heritage, will continue the tradition of British prime ministers participating in coronation ceremonies and other state functions. In a bow to the ecumenical tone of the coronation service, Mr. Sunak, will read the Epistle, a passage from what Paul wrote to the Colossians. The passage has been selected for the occasion by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Right Reverend Justin Welby, the chief celebrant of the Liturgy.
Leading Scotland’s political representation at the ceremony will be another Britisher of South Asian origin, Humza Haroon Yousaf, son of Pakistani immigrants in Glasgow, who recently succeeded Nicola Sturgeon as the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party and Scotland’s First Minister. As I have commented before, the emergence of Sunak, Yousaf and others, men as well as women, to positions of political and institutional leadership in Britain is emblematic of the evolution of British society to the point of accepting women and men of colour regardless of their race, colour or creed.
Britain’s former colonies, on the other hand, especially countries in South Asia, have slid back from the early promises of secularism and inclusiveness to bigotry and exclusion. In Modi’s India, Muslims and other religious minorities are actively excluded and more than occasionally harassed. Sri Lanka’s record of exclusion targeting non-Sinhala Buddhists is even more longstanding. There are similar instances in other ex-colonies in the Commonwealth.
The United Kingdom might be coming of age in celebrating its diversity, but on the economic front it is in dire trouble, and it is the Tory government, and not the monarchy, which is being held accountable and will have to pay the price in the polls. The coronation week began with a massive a day long strike on Monday, May Day, by Nurses in England; and on Thursday, May 4, English and Welsh voters went to the polls for the Local Government elections in 230 of 317 local councils, practically everywhere except London and the other English major cities. As expected, early results are showing a “terrible night” for the Tories. On the eve of the coronation of King Charles III, the prospects for the Tories in the next national election that is due before 28 January 2025 have gotten locally gloomier, so to speak.
Postcolonial Commonwealth
The point here is that strikes and elections are not tampered with in monarchical Britain, but it is a different story in many of Britain’s former colonies. Sri Lankans are intimately familiar with the machinations of their governments past and present when it comes to sabotaging strikes and cancelling elections. It is the same story now in Pakistan. Even though elections are remarkably independent of governments in India, there are plenty of democratic deficits in Modi’s India. It is remarkable that governments both in India and Pakistan should be striving to keep their main political opponents – Rahul Gandhi in India and Imran Khan in Pakistan – out of contention by every foul means possible.
It is not only political opponents who are under threat in Modi’s India, but also intellectuals and academics. Even the aging, emeritus ones are not spared. Some years ago, Modi busybodies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi wanted Romila Thapar, India’s foremost historian, to submit an updated curriculum vitae to maintain her emeritus status. Now, a similar kind of busybodies are trying to oust Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen from his ancestral house in Santiniketan, Kolkata. Rabindranath Tagore founded Santiniketan in 1921. It is now the Visva-Bharati university in Kolkota, the only central government university in West Bengal. Its Chancellor is the Prime Minister of India.
Visva-Bharati has sent an eviction notice to 89 year old Amartya Sen, who does not live in India, unless he vacates 0.13 acres of the 1.38 acre property owned by the Sen family, because the university claims ownership of 0.13 acres of the land. The real reason is that Dr. Sen has been critical of the Modi government. In a tit for tat response, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked her State Ministers to conduct a sit-in at Dr. Sen’s residence to protest against the university’s eviction threat.
It is a quite a digression from King Charles’s coronation to Modi’s machinations. But there is a connection. India has been a special place both in the British Empire and in post-imperial Commonwealth. The unruptured continuity of Indo-British relations from the colonial era to post independence, has been the work of the genius of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first and longest serving Prime Minister. A central piece in the Modi agenda for India is the dismantling of every aspect of the Nehru legacy, and India’s relationship with Britain is part of it. The recent BBC documentary, India: the Modi Question, revisiting the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, when Modi was Chief Minister, has not diluted the bad blood between the Modi Government and its critics in India and elsewhere.
It may not be accidental that Prime Minister Modi is not attending the coronation of King Charles III, even though Britain now has a Prime Minister who is not only a Hindu of Indian origin, but is also of the same ideological bent. It was a different story in 1953. Then Prime Minister Nehru attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. He would not have missed it, even though ideologically he would have been poles apart from the British government. The Prime Ministers of Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well President Wickremesinghe are all in attendance today.
India is being represented by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. And so is China, with Vice President Han Zheng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi both attending the new King’s coronation. In what is being called a “diplomatic choreography,” the Chinese Vice President is expected to extend an invitation to the British Foreign Minister, James Cleverly, to visit China. Mr. Cleverly is equally expected to accept the invitation. The China hawks in the British Conservative Party are not at all pleased, to put it mildly. The internal reaction in Delhi will also be anything but mild. But all of that is for another day. For today, sit back and enjoy the tradition and ceremonies on television with the Sunday Island in hand.
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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