Features
TRUMP’S CURRENT SCORE – FOUR INDICTMENTS, 91 FELONY CHARGES
TRUMP INCITES VIOLENCE – “REPUBLICANS MUST GET TOUGHER”
by Vijaya Chandrasoma
The criminal behavior of Donald J. Trump, since he stole the US presidency in 2016, reached a crescendo last week, when Trump and 18 co-conspirators were indicted by a Grand Jury of 23 citizens of Fulton County, State of Georgia, one of the most conservative of Republican states in the nation. The indictment was brought by the District Attorney of Fulton Country, Fani Willis, as a criminal enterprise by Trump under the State’s racketeering (RICO) laws.
The Georgia indictment brought Trump’s personal criminal score to an astounding record, in cricketing parlance, of 4 for 91 – four indictments, four separate jurisdictions, four months, with a total of 91 felony charges.
Trump’s reaction to the Georgia indictment was, “I have four now, the presidency is mine”. He also said that the Republicans must fight harder, get tougher, a veiled incitement to violence.
The playbook he has used for seven years, that he gets stronger the more charges he faces, is belied by election results since 2016.
The Republican Party lost the Senate in the 2018 midterms, during his presidency; he lost the presidency in a landslide to President Biden, together with the House, in the general election of 2020; the Party performed abysmally in the 2022 midterms, losing the Senate and winning the House with a most disappointing wafer-thin majority; most of the candidates he endorsed for the Senate and the House were defeated handily in 2022. These national election results show that while Trump may retain the support of the radical section of the Republican Party, he is not at all popular with moderate conservatives and Independents.
Republicans, even those who are running against him for the 2024 presidency, pretend to fall for this lie. They send this self-acclaimed billionaire donations in the millions to help pay his legal fees. They dare not anger him and his violent MAGA (Make America Great Again), radical red base, whose support they believe would be essential for a Republican victory in 2024, when not only the presidency, but 34 Senate seats and all 435 House seats will be at stake.
The continuing support of Trump by over 50% of the Republican Party, after his public demonstration of racism, criminal incompetence and violent crimes of sedition, is not difficult to understand. There are many people of white European heritage who still believe in the dominance of their racial heritage, and are prepared to resort to any means, including violence, to preserve their Christian God-given right of white supremacy.
The names of the Grand Jurors in Georgia who testified against Trump have been released to the public, and they have already received death threats. As are the judges, members of the prosecution and witnesses known to be against Trump. The Fulton County Sheriff is investigating these threats and making every effort to ensure the safety of these people, who are merely doing their jobs. In spite of these efforts, they live in terror on a daily basis. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed by a member of the Trump white supremacist cult.
Trump is facing serious criminal charges. The campaign finance felony of hush money payments to a porn star; the stealing, for nefarious purposes, of top-secret documents from the government; and inciting an insurrection to overturn the results of a legitimate election, with a violent attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power; these have seen him arraigned and arrested, presently on release on bail, with extremely lenient conditions.
However, he will probably not receive any special treatment on the latest charges he faces in Georgia. Trump and his co-conspirators have been ordered to surrender on or before August 25 at Fulton County jail, where they, including Trump, will be fingerprinted, photographed and, on a plea of not guilty, released on bail, with conditions which may not be as lenient as those enjoyed by him on the other indictments. His lawyers are currently negotiating the terms of his surrender at Fulton County jail next week.
He is guilty of all these indictments, with incontrovertible evidence against him, but the sheer volume of his caseloads works for him. It is unlikely, though not impossible, that any of these trials will reach the verdict/conviction stage before the presidential election in November 2024.
Conventional wisdom is terrifying. The richest and most powerful nation in the world is grappling with the unthinkable. A twice-impeached criminal former president, burdened with four pending indictments and 91 felony charges, arrested and on bail, is, amazingly, the prohibitive favorite for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party, with an even money chance of winning the 2024 presidency outright.
And if he wins, he erases all his criminal, indeed treasonous convictions with a presidential self-pardon, and throws out all federal cases against him. This will give him a clean slate to complete the job he started, of destroying the democracy in the oldest democracy in the world, and installing himself as President for Life, surrounded by his equally treasonous cronies.
There is one small problem, which makes the above scenario a mere fantasy. If, even after he is elected to the 2024 presidency, he is convicted on the Georgia indictment (a state crime over which he has no control), then he will have to serve a minimum of five years in prison, without the option of probation. State crimes cannot be pardoned by the President or the State Governor. He will have to function as president for his full second term from behind bars. The Leader of the Free World will himself not be free!
Of course, he may attempt to use his dictatorial powers and make the necessary amendments to the Constitution to keep him in power. Which may well result in America’s second civil war!
To return to reality, Trump will never be able to contest any election in the United States of America in the future because of a few eternal golden linings, “where the positive will always prevail over the negative, where the unwavering truth will always stand apart from the lies”.
One of those golden linings is the aforementioned fourth Georgia indictment against Trump and 18 co-conspirators, charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. An indictment which is brimming with damning evidence. In announcing the charges, District Attorney Fani Willis said:
“Their indictment alleges that rather than abide by Georgia’s legal process for election challenges, the defendants engaged in a criminal racketeering enterprise to overturn Georgia’s presidential election result”.
The RICO Act was originally enacted for the purpose of prosecuting criminal organizations like the Mafia. “The power of RICO lies in its conspiracy provision…that allows tying together apparently unrelated crimes committed by different individuals with a common objective into one prosecutable pattern of racketeering”. RICO also imposes severe penalties for substantive violations of the Act, and provides for a defendant to be convicted and separately punished for any of the underlying crimes”.
For example, Trump’s recorded telephone call to Georgia State Attorney General threatening him with criminal charges if he did not “find” 11,780 votes which he needed to win the State of Georgia in the November 2020 election; accusations that Dominion voting machines were fraudulently designed to favor Biden, made by Trump attorneys Rudi Giuliani, Sydney Powell and Jenna Ellis, subsequently proved to be false in a court of law; attempts by Giuliani and others to create alternative, fraudulent slates of Electoral College electors for the State of Georgia and other swing states; some co-conspirators had even advised Trump to order the military to seize the Dominion voting machines. All these crimes were committed in the pursuance of one larger objective, the overturning of the results of the legitimate presidential election of November 2020 and installing Trump as the President of the United States of America. That was the ultimate criminal enterprise.
D.A. Fani Willis’ indictment has been hailed as “the most far-reaching response to Trump’s assault on democracy”. The New York Times acclaimed it as “ingenious”; Lawrence O’Donnell, MSNBC anchor and writer, described it as “the single most important document detailing the attempt by the criminal enterprise of Donald Trump to destroy American democracy, and to destroy any person standing in the way of this enterprise”.
District Attorney Willis has now requested the trial to begin on March 4, 2024. If the trial begins around that date, there may be a possibility of reaching a verdict before the November election. Predictably, Trump’s lawyers have proposed that trial date of the federal election date begins in April 2026 (yes, 2026!) and are negotiating for trial dates, post mortem, three months after Trump’s death, for the other three indictments.
In reality, the trials on all four indictments will probably start in the early months of 2024. Unfortunately, according to federal law, court proceedings of federal trials cannot be televised. But the proceedings of the state trial of Georgia will have no such restriction, and the public will have a daily dose on television of the criminality of the actions of Trump and his co-conspirators.
If the villainous details that such proceedings will reveal on a daily basis do not capture the minds of moderate Republican and independent voters, then nothing will.
Finally, two conservative constitutional lawyers, members of the far-right Federalist Society, published last week an “audacious argument” that Trump is constitutionally prohibited from running for president, that state officials have “not only the authority but the legal obligation to prevent his name from appearing on the ballot”.
The legal opinion, authored by University of Chicago Law Professor William Baude and University of St. Thomas Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen, is based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, that “Former President Donald J. Trump is constitutionally disqualified from again being President (or holding any other office) because of his role in the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election and the events leading to the January 6 attack”.
Also, Trump’s lawyers indicate that Trump will not participate in the first presidential debate under the aegis of Fox News, scheduled for Friday, August 25. A debate which will be an exercise in futility if the front runner, by a mile, for the nomination of the Party presidency in 2024 chooses not to attend.
The latest news from the Trump camp is that the name of first term New York Congresswoman and lunatic QAnon spokesperson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, is being touted (by herself) as a possible Vice-Presidential candidate for the 2024 election. A Trump-Greene ticket which will make the Republican Party seem even more like a circus within a zoo.
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 . )
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
