Windbags and sacrifices

Wednesday 1st March, 2023

Sri Lanka finds itself in the same predicament as a gang rape victim being forcibly kept in the custody of her rapists. Those who are responsible for stealing public funds, mismanaging the economy and bankrupting it continue to be in power. Worse, while living high on the hog at the expense of taxpayers, these characters are urging the people, who are struggling to keep the wolf from the door, to make more sacrifices and help straighten up the economy!

Sri Lanka and Pakistan have many things in common, the most noticeable being the sheer number of parasitic crooks at the levers of power. The latter is also facing a severe forex crunch, but thankfully its dollar reserves are not exhausted. So far so good. Both countries are pleading with the IMF to throw a lifeline. The Pakistani government, however, has launched an austerity drive, and is trying to lead by example while its Sri Lankan counterpart is splurging public funds on ceremonies, etc., to boost the egos of political leaders on the pretext of improving the country’s image.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced that ministers and special advisers have decided to forego their salaries and perks in view of their country’s economic situation. According to him, there will be a complete ban on buying luxury items and on purchasing all types of new cars until June 2024; all luxury cars being used by Cabinet members will be revoked and auctioned; federal ministers will travel in economy when undertaking domestic travel or going abroad; support staff will no longer be allowed to go on state visits; Cabinet members will not stay in five-star hotels during foreign trips; government officers will only be allowed to undertake ‘obligatory visits’, and they will travel in economy; security cars will no longer be provided to government officers; teleconferencing would be promoted to reduce traveling expenses; for the next two years, no new administrative unit, division or sub-division will be created; to conserve gas and electricity, offices will open at 7.30 a.m. during summer; only a single dish would be allowed at government events; there will only be one dish in all the ministries in Islamabad, and in the Prime Minister’s House; if it is tea time, only tea and biscuits will be provided; current expenditure of ministries, departments and sub-departments will be reduced by 15%; government houses spread on acres will be converted into townhouses; no official or minister will be allowed to retain state gifts worth more than $ 300 million, and a single treasury account will be established.

There is no reason why the Sri Lankan government cannot do likewise. After all, its leaders never miss an opportunity to make a public display of their patriotism and what they make out to be their readiness to die for the country. But we bet our bottom dollar that they will not emulate their Pakistani counterparts; they are not willing to do anything for the country other than paying PAYE tax.

Leader of the House and Minister Susil Premajayantha has gone on record as saying that the ministers and other MPs are making ‘huge sacrifices’ by paying Rs. 241,000 each and Rs. 90,000 each respectively as PAYE tax. No Sri Lankan is so naïve as to believe that for an MP or a minister his or her salary and allowances are the only source of income. Going by the amounts Premajayantha has mentioned, the lawmakers, most of whom are not eligible to secure employment in the public sector even as sanitary workers, are drawing much bigger salaries than senior professionals in highly-specialised fields such as medicine, higher education, finance, banking, engineering, IT, accounting, etc.

Is any Sri Lankan minister willing to allow his official vehicles to be auctioned so that the proceeds therefrom could be utilised for some productive purpose? Having fallen from grace and failed to secure a Cabinet post in the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration, Premajayantha, in January 2022, put on a boru show at the Delkanda fair, where he held a brief presser and flayed the government’s agricultural policy, which, he said, had caused the prices of vegetables to go into the stratosphere. Thereafter, he went back home in a tuk-tuk, claiming that it was the only mode of transport he could afford, and his lot would improve if he resumed his legal practice. Subsequently, he clawed his way back into the Cabinet and is now enjoying all ministerial perks. Why can’t he stop using luxury vehicles and travel in trishaws?

Minister Premajayantha is reported to have said that MPs from far-flung areas such as Ampara find it difficult to travel to Colombo due to PAYE tax deductions from their salaries and fuel allowances. These worthies are wealthy enough to spend truckloads of money during elections. So, why can’t they pay for their fuel? Why can’t they travel by bus or train as their electors do? Unless politicians are made to do so, they will never feel the need to develop public transport. More often than not, parliamentary sessions are inquorate, and the Speaker has a hard time trying to have a quorum in the House. So, where do the MPs who travel long distances go after reaching Colombo? There is an MPs’ housing complex close to Parliament, and the MPs from faraway places can travel to Colombo by bus or train and stay there when the House is in session.

In Sweden, one of the most developed nations, as we have pointed out in a previous comment, no people’s representative other than the Prime Minister is entitled to an official vehicle. The MPs are given bus and train passes. Of course, they can use their private vehicles but at their own expense. Not even the Swedish Speaker is given an official vehicle. No wonder such countries are developed. The deification of politicians is one of the main reasons why Sri Lanka remains underdeveloped. So long as the ordinary Sri Lankans do not care to assert their rights and prevent politicians and other such leeches from sponging off them, the country will not be able to attain its development goals.

It is high time the Sri Lankan politicians in power stopped wasting state funds and shared in people’s suffering lest they should worsen the economic crisis, enrage the public further and find themselves in a situation where they will have to outrun irate protesters for their dear lives.