Friday 16th May, 2025

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has begun to sound just like his predecessors, who succumbed to the arrogance of power and alienated the public. He has declared that he is ready to do everything in his power to enable the JVP-led NPP to secure the control of all local councils it has won with or without absolute majorities. Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the JVP, on Wednesday, Dissanayake said he would not hesitate to make use of the government’s two-thirds majority to achieve that goal.

The problem with power is that it goes to the heads of the wielders thereof and makes them take leave of their senses. Executive presidential powers can act like a mind-sucker, draining empathy, humility and rational thought from even the most grounded politicians. This has been our experience over the past several decades. Hence the aversion of the champions of democracy to the executive powers of the President. Even some defenders of democracy who secured the presidency with good intentions let their executive powers get the better of them.

In 1994, Chandrika Kumaratunga became the President, vowing to eliminate corruption (dooshanaya) and state terror (bheeshanaya), but her rule became a metaphor for political violence, election malpractices and corruption. The less said about J. R. Jayewardene, Ranasinghe Premadasa and Mahinda Rajapaksa, the better. President Maithripala Sirisena also abused his executive powers unflinchingly; in 2018, he sacked the UNF government, appointed Mahinda Rajapaksa Prime Minister, and then ordered the dissolution of Parliament in violation of the Constitution. Thankfully, a historic Supreme Court judgement restored the status quo ante.

Even non-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe was intoxicated with executive powers from 2022 to 2024; he caused the local government elections to disappear and suppressed democracy. D. B. Wijetunga served as the President only for a brief period from 1993 to 1994 following President Premadasa’s assassination, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa could not complete his term.

It is against this backdrop that President Dissanayake’s aforementioned declarations and warnings that border on veiled threats should be viewed. General Secretary of the ITAK, and former TNA MP M. A. Sumanthiran has torn into President Dissanayake for his declaration that he will use his presidential power to secure control of local councils which, he thinks, the NPP deserves to run, in all parts of the country. The ITAK apparently feels threatened as the NPP has won a considerable number of seats in the LG bodies in the North and the East. If only the ITAK/TNA had defended democracy so ardently while the LTTE, which did not have representation even in a local council, was controlling the North and the East.

It is a supreme irony that President Dissanayake has said that he will not allow anyone to trifle with the NPP’s popular mandate. He has either forgotten or chosen to ignore that popular mandates come to naught when governments fail and public resentment spills over onto the streets, with thousands of people baying for the rulers’ blood. Gotabaya, who won the executive presidency outright in 2019 and helped the SLPP secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament in 2020, had to run away and resign during Aragalaya in 2022 as he and his government mismanaged the economy. The JVP, which had only three MPs, at that time, almost succeeded in marching on Parliament. Now that a bad precedent has been created, the Presidents who fail in the future may have to hightail it like Gotabaya. It is popularly said in this country that no clay pot is too big for a wooden pole.

It is only wishful thinking that the NPP will be able to arrest the decline in its national vote share and shore up its support base by gaining the control of the local councils, where it has not obtained absolute majorities. Not even its hold on the executive presidency and Parliament has helped the NPP prevent a severe erosion of its vote base during the past six months or so. It finds itself in this predicament because it has failed to live up to people’s expectations. Instead of bellowing rhetoric and issuing warnings and threats, the NPP leaders must solve the burning problems faced by the public. They must at least try to make salt freely available at reasonable prices.

Thursday 15th May, 2025

There appears to be no let-up in road accidents in the central hills. A van plunged down a precipice in Ramboda, injuring 11 passengers, yesterday.

The police swing into action after catastrophic road accidents—not to address the root causes of those mishaps but to adopt band-aid solutions to deflect criticism. Following Sunday’s fatal bus accident, which killed 23 passengers near Kotmale, they have launched a programme to inspect long-distance buses at night. This measure is welcome, but it will have to be coupled with roadside drug tests to enhance their effectiveness. Drug addiction is believed to be prevalent among heavy vehicle drivers. One can only hope that the new scheme will not end up being like the practice of placing night patrol visit books at houses and shops after break-ins and forgetting them after a few weeks. The night-time bus inspection scheme however has the potential to keep bus workers and their employers on their toes.

Much is spoken about substandard medicinal drugs used in the state-run health institutions. An ex-Health Minister and some former Health Ministry panjandrums are facing legal action for the fraudulent procurement of medicines, etc. The need for such drastic measures to rid the Health Ministry procurement process of corruption, bring the corrupt to justice and ensure the safety of patients cannot be overstated. Worryingly, there has been no such public debate on the substandard buses in operation, endangering the lives of passengers and other road users alike.

Convener of the Road Safety Task Force Dr. Sanjay Perera has, in a recent television interview, told some home truths about the public transport sector and its deficiencies. Besides factors such as overloading and drivers’ fatigue, the poor quality of buses on Sri Lankan roads also contributes to ever increasing road accidents, he has said.

Dr. Perera has pointed out that most buses are not worthy of the name, for they are actually truck chassis fitted with seats; these ‘truck-buses’, as it were, are without any safety features, and, worse, have metal bars for headrests, which could pose a serious risk of neck injuries and spinal cord damage in the event of accidents. No wonder most commuters complain of back pain, neck and shoulder strain, postural problems, etc. These are believed to be the results of frequent travel in boneshakers with poor suspension and cramped seating. Dr. Perera has stressed the need for importing modern buses like the ones in operation on expressways.

Although the state-owned bus service has been drawing a lot of flak of late due to the Kotmale tragedy, the private bus operators are the worst culprits. Dr. Perera has called upon the SLTB and the transport authorities to enforce the laws and regulations already in place to ensure road safety. But the incumbent government apparently lacks a clear vision to develop the SLTB. It is also without the courage to tame the private bus owners, who have risen above the law just like the wealthy rice millers. The bus Mafia has effectively put paid to the government’s efforts to remove unauthorised accessories from private buses.

Successive governments have done very little to standardise the bus service. Their focus has been on fare systems and scheduling, and nothing has been done by way of improving driver training and behaviour and maintenance protocols. Private bus operators therefore are under the impression that they can run their buses the way they want.

The government should seriously consider making it mandatory for all bus workers to wear uniforms besides abiding by laws and regulations governing the transport sector. Enforcing discipline among bus workers will be half the battle in ensuring road safety.

Wednesday 14th May, 2025

It never rains but it pours. Less than 48 hours after Sunday’s tragic accident, where an SLTB bus careened off a winding road and plunged down a precipice near Kotmale, killing 22 passengers and injuring 35 others, a private bus veered off the road, injuring 30 passengers, in Kandy, on Monday night. Thankfully, there were no fatalities. The mishap has been attributed to a brake failure. The Grim Reaper has been in overdrive on Sri Lankan roads.

The police are reported to have appointed a committee headed by SDIG Ajith Rohana to probe Sunday’s fatal accident. It is hoped that the committee members, who are senior police officers, will conduct a thorough investigation, and action will be taken, based on their findings and recommendations, to prevent road accidents.

No sooner had Sunday’s accident had occurred than some SLTB officials claimed that the ill-fated bus had experienced a sudden brake failure while negotiating a bend. But an inspection of the vehicle, or what remains of it, has reportedly revealed that it experienced no mechanical defect. Some media reports have said the driver of the bus had been working for more than 12 hours continuously and was fatigued. The SLTB is overstaffed, and it defies comprehension why its workers have to exert themselves to the point of burnout.

Safety regulations require that heavy vehicle drivers work for only about six hours a day lest they should be fatigued and drowsy. Road safety experts inform us that most road accidents occur due to human error—drivers become either reckless, distracted or fatigued; due to the circadian rhythm, most drivers become drowsy between midnight and 7:00 a.m. and between 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. This is believed to be the main reason for most crashes on expressways as well as other roads. It has to be addressed as a national priority to prevent crashes and make roads safe.

As for drowsiness or sleep-related road accidents, which have become a significant concern, there is a need for more rest areas along the expressways. Besides, technology provides solutions. There are electronic devices that detect signs of fatigue or distraction of drivers and alert them to prevent accidents. Modern vehicles come fitted with them, and some drowsiness detection systems can be retrofitted to older vehicles to help save lives. Making such technologies available at affordable prices should be part of any road safety programme. Most of all, measures should be adopted to ensure that heavy vehicle drivers are well-rested and sober before getting behind the wheel, and all vehicles must be inspected to ensure their roadworthiness.

Meanwhile, the police should reveal what action they have taken against the NPP activists who parked buses on the Southern Expressway illegally on May Day. A few days prior to that incident, the police had fined the driver of a bus carrying a group of schoolchildren for the same offence, we are told. If the culprits are allowed to get off scot-free because they are NPP supporters, a very bad precedent will be set, and the government’s approval rating will plummet further. Sadly, the culture of impunity, which the present-day leaders promised to do away with, persists.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, taking part in a television interview a few days before the recent local government polls said those who were responsible for the expressway incident would have to face legal action. He also said they may have been compelled to stop on the expressway as the rest areas had been full of vehicles. If so, they should have taken the next exit, had lunch and re-entered the expressway. Nothing can be cited in extenuation of the serious offence they committed.

The success of any programme to ensure road safety hinges on the strict enforcement of traffic laws. Impunity undermines public trust and compromises road safety efforts.