Features
Trump, Biden Tied At 46% In National Polls Pathetic Choice For 2024 Presidency
by Vijaya Chandrasoma
Labor Day, Monday, September 4, marked the unofficial beginning of the US election season. The choice for the presidency in 2024 remains up in the air. Seventy five percent of Democrats polled don’t want Biden to run as their nominee, while 69% of Republicans don’t want Trump to be the Republican nominee.
The main objection, and probably the only one, against Biden, in spite of his outstanding performance so far during his first term, is his age. He will be 86 at the end of his second term. The main objection against Trump – one in at least 91 – is that he continues to be a threat to the nation’s democracy.
Nevertheless, both these candidates are currently prohibitive favorites of their respective Parties for the 2024 presidency. They are defined more by their weaknesses than by their strengths. What is most distressing – and mystifying – is that an incumbent president, having brought back sanity to a disgraced White House, cannot put any distance in the national polls between himself and his rival, a former twice impeached president, convicted of fraud and sexual assault, arrested and on bail on 91 felonies.
They are currently tied at 46% each. However, polls are “fragmentary snapshots of a moment in time” and can change rapidly as circumstances fluctuate.
This is the most pathetic choice for the presidency American voters have ever faced in its history. The one hope is that the whole political landscape will change in the next 14 months, and Americans will finally come to grips with the dangers they face to their very democracy with the election of either of these candidates.
Should Trump regain the White House, the guardrails protecting the nation’s democracy will be gone. Biden may not survive a second term, and Democrats may well be compelled to change horses in midstream.
America was not always like this. US presidents after WWII, Democratic and Republican, have been much like the curate’s eggs: some good and bad at the same time, others having distinct good and bad parts. But every single one of them, from Roosevelt to Biden, even Nixon, had always revered the sanctity of the Constitution, the inviolability of the Rule of Law and the dignity of the Oval Office.
Bar Trump, who has shamelessly violated these fundamental institutions of American democracy.
President Roosevelt guided the nation well on the path to social and economic justice with his New Deal after World War II, representing the beginnings of the social safety net in America. Progressive policies Republicans contemptuously decry today as “Commie” ideology. Social and economic benefits enjoyed by citizens of all other developed countries.
FDR was succeeded in on his death by President Truman, who in 1945 was faced with the most heartbreaking decision any president could face: to authorize the dropping of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 6 and 9, 1945, killing an estimated 200,000 innocent civilians, men, women and children. Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, officially ending a war in which 70 – 85 million people had perished. The alternative to this inhumane decision was to sacrifice millions more lives in the invasion of Japan, a nation which would not have surrendered under any other circumstance. Truman was considered to be one of the greatest presidents in US history.
Eisenhower continued with the New Deal programs, expanded social security, prioritized taxes where the wealthy paid taxes up to 90% which made for a thriving middle class. He played a major role in the construction of the nation’s highway network. Every Republican president who came after him pales by comparison.
Then came Kennedy, a war hero and the most charismatic president in the nation’s history who, with his charismatic style, soaring oratory and a beautiful wife, brought new glamor to the White House. His administration was renamed after Camelot, the mythical fifth century kingdom of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
Kennedy is mainly remembered for his unflinching courage during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where he stared down Khrushchev to dismantle nuclear bases and weapons in Cuba; and for his determination to conquer space, when he famously said, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”.
Kennedy was extremely popular with the ladies; his numerous extra marital affairs, notably with sex bomb Marilyn Monroe, were legendary. He is famously supposed to have told the British Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan in 1961, “if I didn’t slip the presidential sausage to a woman once every three days, I would get a splitting headache”. Poor MacMillan had probably not enjoyed any sausage action in years.
Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded to the presidency on Kennedy’s assassination. He presided over the enactment of the Civil Rights and the Voting Rights Acts. But he was most unpopular for his role in escalating the Vietnam War, which prompted him not to seek re-election in 1968.
Richard Nixon won the Presidency in 1968 and 1972 in landslide victories. He counted many signal achievements during his presidency, bringing about the end of the Vietnam War and negotiating a détente with the Peoples Republic of China.
However, his presidency will always be held in disgrace because of Watergate, an attempt at a cover-up of a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office building and hotel in Washinton D.C. Compared to the felonies of sedition and espionage surrounding the contemptible Trump, Watergate was a mere bagatelle.
Nixon’s vice-president, Gerald Ford succeeded him on his resignation. Ford’s only “achievement” during his presidency was his pardon of Nixon for crimes committed during Watergate.
Ford was succeeded by Democrat Jimmy Carter. He championed human rights, bolstered Social Security, added nearly eight million jobs and sought to improve the environment. He helped to bring amity between Israel and Egypt with the historic Camp David Agreement of 1978. He also established full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.
Carter was a fine president but a terrible politician. He was outmaneuvered by the Great Communicator, Reagan, after serving one term, in 1980.
Carter, deemed the greatest ex-president in history, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 “for his decades of untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social welfare”.
Since 1984, Carter and his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, have been personally involved in building and renovating homes for the poor with Habitat for Humanity. At age 94, he is still actively engaged in the project, in spite of the sad fact that Rosalynn is suffering from dementia.
Reagan was a worse president than he was a mediocre Hollywood actor. His infamous trickle-down Reaganonomics, which cut the maximum tax rate of corporations and the wealthy from 65% to 40%, began the process of decimating a thriving middle class.
The two Republican presidencies of the Bushes, George H.W. and George W. served as disastrous bookends for a prosperous eight-year presidency of Bill Clinton (1992 – 2000).
The older Bush started the Gulf War against Iraq. The younger Bush tried to outdo daddy, and waged an illegal war against the same country, also doomed to failure, with enormous costs to lives, property and international reputation. Both left their presidencies in financial crises with massive budget deficits, to be rescued by their successors, Clinton and Obama, in 1992 and 2008, respectively.
Clinton’s two terms boasted of the longest economic expansion in American history, added 22 million new jobs, the largest expansion of education and college opportunities since the GI bill, among many other achievements. His administration ended in a budget surplus of $230 billion.
The charismatic Clinton also had a penchant for the ladies, though he was an altar boy compared to JFK. His presidency was marred by an affair with an intern, and was impeached for lying under oath for the consensual “crime” he was alleged to have committed with her. The case against him was “blown” away, as his crime did not fall within the dictionary definition of sexual intercourse.
The two-term administration of President Barack Obama extricated a nation on the brink of recession. In eight years, he transformed it to a prosperous country with 72 final weeks of continuous economic growth, well on the path to social and economic justice. A nation that adorned the mantle of the Leader of the Free World, winning international respect and admiration. Achieved in the face of Republican obstruction at every turn, without a whiff of political or personal scandal.
Four short years later, from 2016 to 2020, the USA became a different country. Trump’s America has lost the confidence of its allies as he consorted with its adversaries; sacrificed the threat of climate change at the altar of pollution and corporate profits; cost the avoidable deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans to the pandemic, in a cynical effort to safeguard the economy; employed unqualified family members to senior White House positions, which they used to steal the country blind; forsook the plight of the neediest for the benefit of billionaires and corporations; and, worst of all, rekindled racial and religious tensions simmering below the surface to the cusp of a second civil war.
For the first time in history, the nation’s budget deficit topped $ one trillion in 2020, at the end of Trump’s first and only term.President Biden, who defeated Trump by a landslide in 2020, has brought back a semblance of dignity to a White House which had been riddled with corruption, nepotism and a criminal repudiation of the Constitution and the Rule of Law.
There will be many twists and turns, for both Parties, before the November 2024 election. Biden did not run for the presidency in 2016, because of the grief after the death of his beloved son, Beau. Perhaps he could now take the honorable, save-face path to resignation because of the ongoing investigations and imminent indictment relating to gun charges and financial misconduct of his second son, Hunter, although there is no evidence of his own involvement. Take one for the team, as it were.
Such a resignation would open the door for younger, proven leaders like Vice President Harris, California Governor Newsom and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, to run for the Democratic nomination. Whoever wins, there will be a welcome breath of fresh air of young and vibrant leadership to the Party.
And the Republicans will be forced to field Trump, with all the legal baggage he is carrying, as their nominee. Should he be compelled to drop out by disqualification of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment or any other reason, up to and including imprisonment, they will have to find a suitable candidate at short notice, while the nation would probably be forced to cope with white supremacist violence that may erupt on the great big fall of Humpty Trumpty.
The 2024 presidential election will be one of the most momentous events in the nation’s history. Whatever the result, Trump has created a suspicion in one of the cornerstones of a democracy – the integrity of its electoral process. It is entirely possible that elections in the future may be decided not by the ballot but by the bullet.
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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