Features
Continuing Dangers to American Democracy
by Vijaya Chandrasoma
Those who cast the vote count for nothing, those who count the votes count for everything. – Joseph Stalin
The Republican Party of America has, almost unanimously, decided to entrust the leadership of the Party to a former defeated president and his cult. A cult whose members have been persuaded not to believe facts and evidence right before their own eyes; who still believe in the Big Lie of a stolen election; and most ridiculously, that the insurrection of January 6 was carried out, not by Trump supporters, but by Democratic Antifa and Black Lives Matter sheep in Trump wolves’ clothing.
An insurrection in which the mob carried Trump banners, Confederate flags, with even one sick Nazi rioter, wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” shirt. The sweat shirt contained the slogan “Work Brings Freedom”, in apparent homage to the German saying “árbeit macht frei” which was emblazoned at the gates of Auschwitz, the most infamous of Hitler’s death camps in pre-World War II Germany.
Over 700 of those domestic terrorists have already been arrested and imprisoned. Many have stated in their defence that they were assembled in Washington, D.C. on that fateful day by Trump. They had been incited by a defeated president to wage war against the government of the United States. The government represented by members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Republican and Democrat, who had assembled in the Capitol to fulfil their formal, constitutional duty of certifying the election of President-elect Joe Biden. These insurrectionists have been charged with minor felonies, and have received mainly very light punishments.
The stakes were raised last week when Attorney General Merrick Garland arrested 11 rioters of the Trump cult, the “Oathkeepers”, leaders behind the insurrection, on charges of “seditious conspiracy”. Garland stressed that the investigation of the Department of Justice had just begun and will persist, wherever it leads, however high or low, as long as it takes.
“Seditious Conspiracy”, according to Wikipedia, is defined as follows:
“If two or more persons in any state or territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.
“For a seditious conspiracy charge to be effected, a crime need only to be planned. It need not be actually attempted.”
Would it be possible to define the insurrection of January 6 with more accuracy?
However, leaders of the Republican Party, including Kevin McCarthy, minority leader of the House, whose own life was threatened, and was heard pleading with Trump to call off his dogs of war during the attack on the Capitol, has refused to testify before the legally convened, bipartisan Committee to inquire into the seditious attack on the government on January 6. A subsequent McCarthy speech in the House, a week after the insurrection, recognizing Trump’s responsibility in the coup, has now been covered up. The refusal of Trump loyalists to testify before the January 6 Committee, even at the risk of facing charges of criminal contempt and imprisonment, is clear evidence of Trump’s leadership role in the seditious attack on the government.
Trump himself boasted during a recent interview with a branch of the Radical Right propaganda network, One America News (OAN), that his “Stop the Steal” speech at the Ellipse just ahead of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 was “the biggest crowd I’ve spoken before”. In this speech, he incited his minions to march towards the Capitol and “fight like hell”; that they would lose their country if they did not do so. In his ignorance and his colossal ego, Trump did not seem to realize that this boast was a public admission that his supporters were responsible for the attack.
I had really not been too interested in American politics, even after I emigrated to the United States in 1990. Like everyone in the world, I had followed the racial tensions in the US before the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. The Vietnam war, the Moon Landing, the Nixon scandal were front page news, which held global attention. The Reagan presidency of the 1980s, which has ultimately proved to be a bigger disaster than Watergate in economic terms, interested me only because of Nancy Reagan’s White House affair with Frank Sinatra.
My contempt for the Republican Party began with the Bush/Cheney administration and the illegal war against Iraq. I worked in the lowest capacity in the Obama campaign in Phoenix, Arizona in 2008, doing vital jobs like licking stamps and answering phones in my heavy Sri Lankan accent.
I was in political heaven when Obama won the American presidency, and really believed the then-host of the Daily Show, Jon Stewart, who completed his post-election show in 2008 with the statement that “we have at last become the nation we always said we were”. A statement which has since been proved by the Trump presidency and administration to be the complete antithesis of the truth. We have now become the nation we were before the Civil War, on the cusp of another, even more violent civil war, threatening the oldest democracy in the world.
I had retired to Sri Lanka after the war in 2009. I had always enjoyed writing, and started writing essays, for my own pleasure, during the Trump campaign in 2016. I submitted one of these essays to the Sunday Island. It was published, and as Shashi Tharoor, the renowned Indian orator and politician puts it, “I can tell you seeing your name in print as the author of an article the first time is the equivalent of that first bar of chocolate or whatever you are addicted to……the first time you see your name in print, you are addicted, and you want to keep writing”. This is true, whether you are a world renowned writer and orator who had his first articles in print when he was 10-years old, or a mediocre, wannabe journalist who had his first article published when he was 75-years old.
So I kept writing, which became easier as my hatred against Trump and his white supremacist tribe grew to be an obsession with each passing month, with each act of criminal incompetence, with each example of fraudulent nepotism and vulgarity, after 2016. Hatred blending with fear, reaching a crescendo with the Trump-incited insurrection of January 6, and the continuing sycophantic behaviour of the Trump cult. A cult which has strong claims of winning a majority in both Houses in the mid-terms of 2022, culminating in the winning of the 2024 presidency, thus permanently destroying democracy in the USA.
Permanently, because Republican states are already enacting laws to make voting more difficult for minorities, voter suppression laws which a new Republican administration will consolidate from 2024. Kevin McCarthy said the other day that, as Speaker of the House from 2022, his only actions would be blocking all Democratic legislation and retaliating against Democrats who had acted against Trump. And once the Republicans claim the presidency with Trump, Desantis or any of those white supremacist presidential aspirants in 2024, the Republican controlled Congress will ensure that there will never be another free election.
I can understand the Radical Right, Christian white supremacists, who are taking this route to contain their white privilege against the approaching Brown Invasion. It is predicted that whites in the USA will be in the minority by 2050, which means, in the eyes of white supremacists, the end of white privilege which has dominated the country for 400+ years. The current Republican Draconian voter suppression laws are aimed at marginalizing voting rights of these minorities.
I can understand these movements of white supremacy spreading in Europe. Countries like France, Germany and Italy are also facing this monster, and their history of racism and anti-Semitism is recent enough for white supremacy to present a real threat to their democracies.
I can even understand the support of conservatives in the USA defending Republican policies, who eschew the idea of a welfare state, which they equate with communism. Even though the greatest Republican president since WWII, Eisenhower, continued with the New Deal social security and welfare policies of Roosevelt. During Eisenhower’s regime, taxation rates for corporations and the wealthy were in the 90%s, which made for a thriving middle class.
A middle class destroyed by successive Republican administrations which reduced these tax rates to 39% (Reagan), 29% (Bush) and Trump (21%). Republican majorities in Congress have thwarted all efforts by subsequent Democratic presidents to increase corporate and wealth tax rates, and so reduce the deepening chasm in income inequality. Efforts by the Biden administration to increase these tax rates by a few percentage points have been blocked in spite of a Democratic majority (50/50) in the Senate, because of opposition by two Democratic Senators from battleground states, Arizona and West Virginia. Democratic Senators Sinema and Manchin are more concerned about securing their own re-election than the welfare of the country. They are also blocking Biden’s signature Build Back Better infrastructure legislation and the Voting Rights Act.
But I cannot understand the mind-set of brown skinned minorities, including Sri Lankans in the United States and Sri Lanka, from the lower middle classes to highly educated professionals, who support a cult completely controlled by the most vulgar, incompetent, narcissistic, fraudulent, treasonous, white supremacist sociopath this planet has seen since Adolph Hitler. A maniac who would classify them as sub-human as Hitler classified Jews, however rich they are; a racist who would undoubtedly classify our nation as a shithole country.
It will take me too much time to list examples proving each of the adjectives I have used to describe this crook. But I will, if required. If these wannabe whites can only get their eyes and asses out of radical right controlled media like Fox News and the One America Network (OAN) for a moment, they will see the truth, even urgency, of my abuse, and recognize the clear and present danger this movement presents to the oldest democracy in the world.
But they won’t and they can’t. Trump reigns supreme in their blinkered eyes and cult-addled brains. I have been writing of the imminent danger to the democracy of the United States posed by this sociopath and his white supremacist enablers in this column over the past few years. I would welcome one of these brown-skinned Trumpers to respond to my vitriol, and prove me wrong.
Again, they won’t because they can’t.
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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