Features
Ranil’s Triple Reconciliation: National, Criminal and Electoral
by Rajan Philips
Everyone is familiar with national reconciliation, some even to the point of being bored. I am using the term reconciliation in two other situations: one, in accommodating criminal activities, past and present; and two, in juggling between different elections (local, provincial, parliamentary) for presidential advantage. The prime mover and chief puppeteer in all three is, of course, President Wickremesinghe. National reconciliation has been a longtime pastime for the President. To be fair, the man actually believes in it and is quite sincere about it. But his pure intentions and the positive benefits of national reconciliation are invariably contaminated by what goes on in the sphere of criminal activity and on the terrain of electoral politics. In both areas, the President has notorious precedents to follow, and he keeps following them rather dissapointingly in spite of his lofty assurances to the contrary.
Let us take criminal reconciliation first, as it is the oldest of the three. The political accommodation of crime and corruption became a phenomenon after the 1977 parliamentary election, and more comprehensively after the presidential election of 2010. We don’t need to name any names here. It was the allegation and experience of corruption that led to the first defeat of a sitting President in 2015. The white knight who promised the eradication of corruption in January 2015 was then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. But within days of his promises and the celebrations at Independence Square, the Central Bank bond scam hit the political fans.
Thajudeen and Schaffter
For all intents and purposes, the promises of yahapalanaya were dead on arrival. But the pretension of action was not given up. Special mechanisms for investigating corruption were set up for public showing, but their progress was stymied from the top. President Sirisena did it clumsily. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe did it artfully. The so called emblematic crimes were reopened from cold storage and nothing actually came out for any of them. Police covered up the death of Wasim Thajudeen as an accident in 2012, but concluded it was murder in 2015. But nothing came out of it. His family had to go through the ordeal of seeing his body exhumed and re-examined, ultimately for nothing.
Another family, the Schaffter family, is now going through the same ordeal after the shocking daylight murder of their son, Dinesh, in the national cemetery. Police investigation of it has been inept and wayward. In the case of Thajudeen, the Police ruled accident first and murder after three years. In the case of Schaffter, the police have become wiser and are suggesting murder and suicide at the same time. Incompetent JMOs have been known to make technical mistakes and have been humiliated in cross-examination during trials by competent lawyers. But never have JMOs been known for tampering with and falsifying medical evidence as it would seem to have happened in the Thajudden and Schaffter cases. And whoever committed the crimes and whoever tried to cover them up are getting away as if nothing ever happened.
The point about reconciliation involving crimes is a point about credibility. How can you trust a government that promises an economic turnaround for the country, when the same government makes no effort to pull the country out of the cul-de-sac of crimes where it is stuck now? Last Wednesday, the President waxed eloquent in parliament as he canvassed MPs for their support of the IMF Agreement. He called for “a national policy framework targeting the Year 2048 (the centenary of Sri Lanka’ Independence) through which the country can achieve prosperity.” He called for creating “a green economy, a digital economy,” and said, “that’s the way forward in the global economy.”
Missing in this litany are references to crime or corruption. Shouldn’t we create a crime free society? A corruption free government and economy? Where are they in the policy framework targeting 1948? What will prosperity be if it is not free of corruption and of crime? It will be Pyrrhic prosperity. The President who is becoming quite garrulous as he ages, never mentions crime or corruption and the need to eliminate them in a serious and committed way. Both are continuing unabated even through the economically difficult times that the country is going through. If debt-restructuring is the buzzword in economic discussions, the key words in law and order discussions are cover-up and inaction.
The X-Press Affair
Take the case of the MV X-Press Pearl disaster that occurred on Sri Lankan waters off Colombo, on May 20, 2021, causing significant ecological and livelihood harm. Compensation claims must be filed within two years, but with hardly 30 days left before the clock runs out, the government is in a scramble not only to prepare the legal claim but also to decide where to file them – in Colombo or in Singapore. Already, the to-be respondents are reported to have set up a ‘limitation of liability fund’ in London up to a maximum of 19.5 million pounds, a paltry starting point. But the Sri Lankan government is yet to send a letter of demand to the respondents even though local experts working on the matter have produced a Damage Assessment Report, which preliminarily estimates the damages to be USD 6.2 billion. Some expect that it could be as high as USD 10 billion. It would be like getting two to three times the current IMF loan without getting into debt. But no urgency to send a letter of demand to counter the ridiculously low limitation amount of GBP 19.5 million.
The Damage Assessment Report and the estimate were completed in September 2021, but nothing has gone from the Sri Lankan government by way of a letter of demand to X-Press respondents. As if all this is not enough the Minister of Justice casually drops a grenade that he has received information that a certain Chamara Gunasekera was paid USD 250 million as bribe to stop the government’s lawsuit for damages. The Minister would seem to have informed parliament even before he alerted the police to find out what on earth is going on. That really is the question as the media is now questioning who Chamara Gunasekera is, and others speculating who he really could be.
To get back to reconciliation, how can the President or the government make credible assertions that they are all set to liberate the economy based on the IMF Agreement, when they cannot even send a letter of demand to X-Press Pearl and put them on notice? How can they reconcile their economic assertions with their inaction on any and all corruption files? Oh yes, there were cover-up attempts and inaction when X-Press Pearl caught fire, but the inferno was too much to hide and extent of the damages to marine ecology and maritime livelihood was too vast to paper over.
Elections as Pawns
The dilemma for the President is that he cannot withdraw his protection of the Rajapaksas from the allegations that are swirling around them, without risking his majority in parliament. All that he has been able to do so far is to keep the Rajapaksas out of the cabinet and away from the levers of power. But there are ministers in the cabinet who are as corrupt as the Rajapaksas, but they are all supporters of the President now. The President with his usual cleverness is not only poaching erstwhile UNPers from under the wings of Sajith Premadasa, but he is also peeling off SLPPers who want to break away from the fallen Rajapaksa family enterprise.
The question if he were to establish a majority in Parliament independent of the Rajapaksas, what will he do with it? Will he use it to declare a National Government and use that ruse to cavalierly expand the cabinet? Will he use it to crack down on corruption sparing no one, not even the Rajapaksas? Or will any fight against corruption have to wait until Ranil Wickremesinghe becomes an elected president? Even as he calls on the parliament and the country to “target 2048” as the year of our prosperity, the President is targeting the next presidential election, the last hurdle to clear to achieve the ultimate goal in his political life.
It is here I think we could be seeing the President resorting to what I call electoral reconciliation. That is to reconcile the opposition demands for elections by giving them not the elections they are expecting but the elections that are of advantage to him. In other words, use elections as pawns. The local government elections are now dead, not only for now, but potentially until the next presidential election is over. That is because the local elections will give significant advantage to the NPP/JVP, and a sound electoral platform to prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections.
None of the other (southern) parties want the JVP to steal a march over them. That includes the SJB. The mainstream media is unable to shake off its JVP phobia even if the people have started warming up to it. And the President did all of them and himself a favour by scuttling the local elections. He did so with his usual artfulness by starving the Election Commission of funds for the local elections. There was no need for any other fuss, or emergency.
Now there is talk of conducting provincial elections, one or two at a time, until the next presidential election. Whether this is a trial balloon that is being floated, or not, we know not. But it is a time tested method for staggering provincial elections to the advantage of the governing party. The Rajapaksas made the most of it, and now Ranil Wickremesinghe seems ready to make enough of it to buy electoral time till the next presidential election.
The calculation is simple. Unlike the local elections, the provincial elections can be called one at a time so any negative effect (to the President) will be limited and not nationally significant. Also, no party is in a position to win in multiple provinces. The President’s Party, the UNP, is not in a position win anywhere (unless there is a re-merging of the UNP and the SJB), but the President can pretend that he is not losing anywhere. His main advantage would be to divide the opposition and make sure no single party emerges as a dominant force and provides the base for a viable presidential candidate to run against him. Right now, there is none.
And he can compound national and electoral reconciliations by calling the Northern Provincial Council election to go first. The Tamil Parties will not object. India will be pleased. The President cannot lose no matter who wins in the north. And Wimal Weerawansa can write another book that the whole scheme was cooked up in a Washington kitchen. Weerawansa will get good press but no one will notice, while Wickremesinghe will move on to the next province. The East, perhaps, to please the Muslims. Then the Central to accommodate the Plantation Tamils. And gradually to the cosmopolitan Western Province before targeting the Ranil-wary heartland provinces. A perfect scheme if that indeed is the plan and nothing goes wrong.
Chandrika Kumaratunga started in the South and marched on Colombo in 1994. Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to start in the North, but the difference now is that Mr. Wickremesinghe does not have to march on Colombo. He is already President, he is already in Colombo, and you can see why he has been busy fortifying it. He is the executive establishment, not an outside usurper. The hugely bigger difference between 1994 and today is the economy. That is the elephant in the room which everyone misses as they keep playing the same old political games, even if in different costumes.
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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