Midweek Review

Warning issued over proposed ‘Open Government Partnership’ action plan

Published

2 years ago

2024/01/17

A group session in progress (pictures courtesy PMD)

The USAID had no qualms in announcing the Rs. 1.92 billion (USD $13 million) project with a Parliament that blatantly protected Treasury bond thieves. The civil society, too, remained conveniently silent over the Treasury bond scams (do not forget the Samagi Jana Balawegaya MPs, as then members of the UNP, shielded the Treasury bond thieves. They can never absolve themselves of their culpability in the bond scams. One of those MPs even had the audacity to write a book stating that there was no scam!).

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Additional Secretary to President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the Presidential Secretariat Chandima Wickramasinghe recently declared that there shouldn’t be a dispute whatsoever over the proposed third National Action Plan (NAP) expected to be implemented in line with the ‘Open Government Partnership’ (OGP) project.

She strongly advised against the government and the civil society pointing fingers at each other after having jointly worked on such a project. The official emphasized that neither the government nor the civil society should be held responsible, separately, as it was a joint venture.

The Additional Secretary issued the warning at the inaugural multi-stakeholder workshop meant to prepare the country’s third NAP for 2023-2025, held at the Renuka Hotel, Colombo, on January 10.

The latest initiative involved the Presidential Secretariat, Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) and Sarvodaya. The OGP project is meant to bring the government, the civil society and citizens together to primarily achieve transparency and accountability.

Declaring that the government decided to prepare the NAP on a directive issued by President Wickremesinghe, principally for the benefit of the people, Mrs. Wickramasinghe said that the report would be submitted to the Cabinet-of-Ministers for approval.

The gathering was told Cabinet approval would be sought next month. The country is in such a deepening political-economic-social crisis that agreeing on a NAP at this juncture would be a herculean task. Rapid developments taking place, both in and outside Parliament, emphasize further divisions among political parties, individual members of Parliament and civil society as the country struggles to cope with the worst-ever post-independence economic fallout.

Perhaps, the Presidential Secretariat, TISL and Sarvodaya should examine why the first and second NAPs failed before they proceeded. If they are genuinely interested in addressing the issues at hand, the need to identify the root causes for the developing crisis should be identified and properly dealt with. The PMD launched an online survey to collect public response in respect of key sectors/issues in support of their effort.

Over the years, as various interested parties, including the civil society, examined the root causes of the deterioration of the public and private sector here, there is absolutely no need for a fresh examination. Democracy rests on three pillars – executive, the legislature and judiciary. The legislature enacts laws, the executive implements them and the judiciary arbitrates when either of the other two fail in their responsibilities. Therefore, those formulating the third NAP should peruse the unprecedented Supreme Court judgment in respect of the fundamental rights petitions filed against the economic ruination caused during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency.

The Nov 14, 2023 ruling was delivered by a five-member Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC. While the Chief Justice with Justices Buwaneka Aluwihare, Vijith Malalgoda, and Murdhu Fernando agreeing collectively issued the majority verdict, Justice Priyantha Jayawardena dissented.

Political parties represented in Parliament obviously lacked the strength to address issues raised by the Supreme Court. Parliament owed an explanation regarding the continuation of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to Investigate Causes for the Financial Bankruptcy declared by the Government and to Report to Parliament and Submit its Proposals and Recommendations in this regard many weeks after the SC ruling. It would be pertinent to point out that absolutely no action has been initiated so far in respect of those who had been found faulted by the SC. The SLPP General Secretary Sagara Kariyawasam heads the PSC. On January 09, Secretary to the Treasury Mahinda Siriwardena appeared before the PSC where he was quoted, in a statement issued by Parliament on January 12, 2024, that the government never announced bankruptcy.

That statement issued by Parliament’s Director Legislative Services/Director Communication (Acting) Janakantha Silva further quoted Siriwardena as having explained that the government declaration that certain debts couldn’t be settled couldn’t be technically considered a state of bankruptcy.

Action hasn’t been taken to close the massive loopholes created by the Yahapalana government that is draining valuable foreign exchange from the country, mainly created by it doing away with the time tested exchange controls in 2017 that were in existence since 1953. With the country’s finances being in charge of the people responsible for two massive Central Bank heists can we expect anything better than their oft repeated mantra IMF, IMF, IMF….? But, most importantly, the IMF mantra is not working as was espoused by those who insisted on taking its medicine and most Sri Lankans are suffering as never before! Some of these economic hitmen even wanted to bring in economic whiz kids from places like Harvard and Yale business schools to put things right here from Yahapalana days, not seeing the obvious that those wizards can’t put right the continuing slide to economic disaster in the US, which is dragging down even countries like Sri Lanka with it, mainly because of our dependence on the fiat dollar system.

The age old saying is that the test of a pudding is in its eating, but for most Sri Lankans it is increasingly a case of there being nothing to eat.

Interestingly, the Parliament issued this statement a day after an IMF delegation arrived here on a week-long visit to examine the recent economic developments and follow-up on upcoming programme targets and commitments. Perhaps the Parliament should explain why Sri Lanka knelt down before the IMF for the 17 occasion if the situation here didn’t technically require it to be called bankrupt.

Persons in charge of the Presidential Secretariat led-effort to prepare the third NAP, should take into consideration the country had been bankrupted by the actions of the executive and those who represented the legislature as well as political appointees. They should also keep in mind that the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government enacted under controversial circumstances a new Central Bank Act to restore fiscal discipline in the country after the SC ruled that the then President, two Finance Ministers and Governor of the Central Bank created the problem by their actions or non-actions.

PMD survey

Additional Secretary to the President,
Chandima Wickramasinghe addressing the
inaugural multi-stakeholder workshop at the
Renuka Hotel.

The Presidential Media Division (PMD) sought public views on five specific issues to help prepare the third NAP. The PMD based its survey on the following five sectors:

*Improvement of public services

–ways and means to improve public service machinery, promotion of innovations in the private sector for efficient delivery of public services including health, education, transport, public utilities, consumer services.

*Prevent bribery and corruption

– How to deal with systematic corruption at every level thereby encouraging accountability in the public sector as well as promotion of access to information, etc.

*Manage public resources more effectively

– Measures meant to maximize utilization of financial and physical resources of the government.

*Create safer environments for communities

– Measures that address public safety, including needs of children, women, disabled and other vulnerable communities.

*Effective management of National and Provincial projects

– Proper implementation of projects that had been funded with foreign and domestic sources, in a cost-effective manner, with transparency, timely completion and achievement of desired results.

The issues at hand/explosive combination of factors – deterioration of public services, unbridled waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement, squandering of public resources, perilous economic-political-social environment and pathetic state of utilization of foreign and domestic funding remain cause for serious concern.

The private sector, too, at varying levels, is embroiled in corruption. In fact, the five matters raised by the PMD can be described as deterioration of public finances to such an extent the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government had no option but to suspend debt repayment due to public sector corruption and public-private sector corruption. There cannot be a better example than the controversial sale of debt free and tax paying Lanka Marine Services Limited (LMSL), a wholly owned company of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to John Keells Holdings (JKH) subsequently reversed by the Supreme Court in May 2008 to explain Sri Lanka’s predicament.

A three-member bench of the SC, consisting of then Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva and Justices Ameratunga and Balapatabendi, agreeing in respect of a fundamental rights case filed by lawmaker Vasudeva Nanayakkara (UPFA), ruled that the Chairman of PERC (Public Enterprise Reform Commission) Dr. P. B. Jayasundera, caused the sale of LMSL in an illegal and biased manner.

The case dubbed Vasudeva Nanayakkara vs Choksy and others (John Keells case) revealed how political authorities, at the highest level, and officials, collaborated unabashedly in a corrupt deal that shook the very foundation of the government. At the time the SC gave its historic ruling in 2008 Dr. PBJ served as the Secretary to the Treasury.

The influential official continued till the end of 2014 and again returned as the Secretary to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in late 2019. Dr. PBJ was one of those faulted by the SC in its Nov 14, 2023 ruling in respect of fundamental rights petitions filed against economic ruin.

Choksy, referred to in the SC ruling regarding LM case, had been the one-time Finance Minister (the late K.N. Choksy). Successive governments did absolutely nothing. Did anyone bother to examine the responsibility on the part of the blue chip in this regard? The 18th respondent in the LMS case Susantha Ratnayake of JKH was invited by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government to run the BoI. That proved the government didn’t bother about the LMS ruling.

Collapse of earlier initiatives

Sri Lanka joined the OGP in 2015, the year the yahapalana government perpetrated the first Treasury bond scam in late Feb 2015. The first NAP covered the Yahapalana period (2015-2019) and the second (2019-2021). The government perpetrated the second Treasury bond scam in late March 2016.

The second NAP covered the Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s period of unprecedented chaos. In short, at the end of the period covered by the second NAP, disorder and confusion reigned.

Interestingly, the third report had been ordered by Wickremesinghe who served as the Premier during the period covered by the first NAP and then elected as the executive by the SLPP held responsible for the economic chaos that descended on the country with the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, those in power, regardless of the political party they belonged to, blatantly acted contrary to the Constitution, thereby violating even the basic OGP principles intended to make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. Had governments abided by the law of the land, Sri Lanka could have automatically fulfilled the OGP obligations and preparation of NAP would have been child’s play.

As OGP is a global effort involving governments, perhaps they should pay attention to what is going on in Parliament here. One of the key issues that emerged in the wake of Aragalaya that ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who had been elected with a significant majority at the 2019 presidential poll, is how the abolition of time-tested Exchange Control (emphasis is mine) Act No 24 of 1953 contributed to the deterioration of the national economy. During the period covered by the first NAP, the Yahapalana government enacted a new Foreign Exchange Act No 12 of 2017 that favoured unscrupulous exporters and importers.

In spite of Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakse, PC, publicly declaring, both in and outside Parliament, that the 2017 Act contributed to the crisis, the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government remains committed to that law. In fact, no less a person than former Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Indrajith Coomaraswamy told Parliament, in 2019, how the 2017 law diluted regulatory powers exercised by them, thereby greatly weakening financial discipline. But the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government did nothing to amend that law. Now the Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghe are together and the possibility of remedial measures seems very unlikely.

It would be interesting to see whether the third NAP would address this issue. Would PMD and its partners dare to recommend restoration of time-tested provisions in the original law to compel the Cabinet-of-Ministers to take tangible measures?

Regardless of past atrocious actions, the government can take tangible measures to reinstate public faith in the governance. The responsibility on the part of the Cabinet-of-Ministers for the crisis should be examined taking into consideration the fundamental rights application filed by the then ministers Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila against the transferring of 40% of government-owned shares of Yugadanavi power plant to US Company New Fortress Energy in Sept 2021. In early March 2022 The Supreme Court dismissed their petition as well as other petitions without taking them up for examination.

There hadn’t been a previous instance of members of the Cabinet moving the Supreme Court against their colleagues who exercised executive powers while simultaneously functioning as lawmakers. In line with the OGP principles, Sri Lanka should seriously consider bringing in far reaching but necessary constitutional amendments to bar members of Parliament exercising executive powers.

The writer doesn’t think we (parties represented in Parliament) have the political will to do so. The recent disclosure of the alleged manipulation of the Cabinet-of-Ministers by those responsible for the immunoglobulin scam and the subsequent directive issued by Maligakanda Magistrate Lochani Abeywickrema for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to obtain Cabinet papers and other relevant documents submitted by the Health Ministry in this regard underlined the gravity of the problem.

The success of the third NAP entirely depends on the willingness on the part of the executive, legislature and judiciary to genuinely examine the repeated failings. Those tasked with preparing the NAP should consult the National Audit Office (NAO) and, depending on the requirements, heads of parliamentary watchdog committees, regarding the failure on the part of successive governments to act on recommendations made by the NAO.

A case in point is the NAO report on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) pertaining to the tour of Australia for the T20 World Cup (Oct 09-Nov 13). That audit report, released in 2022, laid bare sordid operations of the SLC but the government stood firmly by those who had been faulted by the State Audit. Instead of taking immediate remedial measures, Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe, who sought to tackle the powerful body, was sacked. Obviously, lawmaker Ranasinghe lacked the political support enjoyed by former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella who received a new ministerial portfolio regardless of serious accusations regarding his direct involvement in the sordid immunoglobulin scam and its apparent attempted cover up.

Can ministers accused of acting contrary to their responsibilities be dealt differently and granted privilege status depending on their political affiliations?

Audit on 2016 USAID project, etc., needed

Initially, the writer wanted to participate in the PMD survey but later decided to raise relevant issues to compel interested parties to pay attention. The OGP project shouldn’t be just another lucrative project for the civil society as over the year’s deterioration of the public sector and related sectors paved the way for various foreign funded projects that consolidated civil society.

In late 2016, during Karu Jayasuriya’s tenure as Speaker, Sri Lanka entered into a high rofile agreement with the USAID in Nov 2016 to strengthen accountability and good governance. USAID-Sri Lanka Parliament ‘operation’ got underway over a year after the launch of the OGP project.

The USAID had no qualms in announcing the Rs. 1.92 billion (USD $13 million) project with a Parliament that blatantly protected Treasury bond thieves. The civil society, too, remained conveniently silent over the Treasury bond scams (do not forget Samagi Jana Balawegaya MPs, as then members of the UNP, shielded the Treasury bond thieves. They can never absolve themselves of their culpability in the bond scams. One of those MPs even had the audacity to write a book stating that there was no scam!).

Those who benefited from the USAID project, are on record as having said that the three-year Strengthening Democratic Governance and Accountability Project (SDGAP) was meant to improve ‘strategic planning and communication within the government and Parliament, enhance public outreach, develop more effective policy reform and implementation processes, and increase political participation of women and underrepresented groups in Parliament and at local levels.’

The Presidential Secretariat as the focal point for the OGP project should examine major efforts undertaken by previous administrations to address the issues the third NAP intended to deal with. It can ask for a report from Parliament regarding the implementation of the USD 13 mn project, just one of the many USAID projects.

In addition to the USAID projects, the European Union, too, implemented various projects but, unfortunately, regardless of such efforts to improve good governance and accountability, Sri Lanka is in chaos. Such efforts appeared to have had no impact on the executive and legislature at all. If they did, Ali Sabry Raheem, who had been a member of the House Privileges Committee at the time he was arrested and fined in March 2023 for smuggling of gold and smartphones worth nearly Rs. 80 mn couldn’t have remained a lawmaker.

All News Advertisement

Related Topics:Chandima Wickramasinghe Open Government Partnership

Up Next

‘Reconciliation’ Once More

Don't Miss

Rehabilitation Pains

Click to comment

Midweek Review

NPP drowning in sea of scams

Published

2 days ago

2026/04/29

Sahan Weerasooriya

Outgoing Treasury Chief Mahinda Siriwardena congratulates his successor Harshana Suriyapperuma in late June 2025 at the Finance Ministry

The Opposition is pressing for a one-day debate on USD 2.5 mn Treasury theft, which is more like a daylight robbery that had been kept under wraps by Treasury mandarins till ‘Free Lawyers’ made it public. However, the government is strongly opposed to the Opposition proposal. The Opposition is seeking consensus among

different parties to intensify the campaign against the government, struggling to cope up with a spate of controversies. Against the backdrop of the devastating debate on the coal scam, the NPP seems reluctant to face another over the theft of Treasury funds.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

USD 2.5 mn brazen heist at the Treasury several months ago and the bigwigs there obviously dragging their feet over the matter till it was brought to light recently, thanks to the Free Lawyers movement, which has dampened the NPP’s enthusiasm for May Day. The Treasury fiasco humiliated the cocky NPP leadership against the backdrop of damning report issued by the National Audit Office (NAO) that found fault with the government for awarding the coal tender for 2025/2026 period to Trident Champhar Limited of India in violation of tender procedures. The NAO emphasised that the Indian company shouldn’t have even been considered for the tender.

Even after the exposure of the scandalous handling of the coal tender, the NPP, in spite of some rumblings within the party, remained confident of overcoming the growing accusations regarding governance issues. But, the sudden revelation of the loss suffered by the Treasury, and pathetic efforts made by the NPP to suppress the truth, has caused irreparable harm to the ruling party. The arrogant NPP will have to use May Day to defend the government. Instead of preaching to the masses ad nauseum the corruption allegations against previous administrations, the NPP would have to explain such massive failures/corruption, particularly the loss of USD 2.5 mn.

There hadn’t been a previous instance of such an incident at the Treasury. The NPP will have to answer questions posed by ‘Free Lawyers,’ a civil society group that first raised the Treasury issue. On behalf of ‘Free Lawyers,’ its President Maithri Gunaratne, PC, former Governor of several provinces Rajith Keerthi Tennakoon, and Attorney-at-Law Shiral Lakthikala, targeted the government over the unprecedented Treasury heist. The Opposition, too, censured the NPP, with SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, MP, Chairman of Public Finance Committee (CoPF) Dr. Harsha de Silva, MP, and United Republican Front (URF) taking the lead.

The NPP’s excuses, based on claimed raids carried out by hacker/hackers targeting the Treasury, are untenable. The NPP’s position cannot be defended or supported against growing criticism. The coal scam and Treasury fiasco dominated social media, with the Opposition, as well as ordinary citizens, having a field day at the expense of the NPP, a political party that accused its opponents of waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement. Its successful propaganda campaigns, at the presidential and parliamentary polls, in September and November, 2024, respectively, were centered on fighting corruption.

Their anti-corruption platform appealed to the people for obvious reasons. Against the backdrop of bankruptcy, declared in May, 2022, after failing to meet debt commitments, the electorate rallied around the NPP that thrived on waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement, perpetrated by previous governments. Having bagged the executive presidency in September, 2024, the NPP assured the electorate that the Parliament would be cleansed of evils at the general election. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake declared that the people have been vested with the responsibility of cleansing the Parliament. Dissanayake went a step further when he addressed a public gathering at the 18th mile post on the Negombo-Colombo road. The NPP leader, who also leads the JVP, asserted that there was no need for an Opposition in Parliament and the House should be filled with NPPers.

Dissanayake based his assertion essentially on two failed No-Confidence Motions (NCMs) moved against Ravi Karunanayake and Keheliya Rambukwella in 2016 and 2023, respectively. The NPP/JVP leader found fault with Yahapalanaya and the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government for protecting the two wrongdoers, hence the call to cleanse Parliament.

The results of the parliamentary election proved that the electorate responded very favourably to Dissanayake’s call. Of the 225-seat Parliament, the NPP secured 159 seats, including 18 National List slots. Having accused previous governments of shielding wrongdoers, Dissanayake easily directed the NPP’s steamroller parliamentary group to defeat the NCM moved against Energy Minister Punyakumara Dissanayake (National List) on 10 April, just a few days after the NAO report exposed the coal scam.

First ex-MP as Treasury Secy.

If its own hands are clean, there is no doubt that the NPP now deeply regrets the appointment of ex-NPP National List MP Harshana Suriyapperuma as the Secretary to the Treasury and the Finance Ministry. That appointment was made in June 2025 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Mahinda Siriwardana who, along with Governor of the Central Bank Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, played a significant role in the country’s post-Aragalaya recovery programme.

Suriyapperuma, who had served as Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning for just seven months, before being appointed the Treasury Secretary/Finance Ministry Secretary, is under heavy fire for suppressing the truth. No less a person than CoPF Chairman Dr. de Silva publicly accused Suriyapperuma of trying to undermine his committee. The SJB has demanded Suriyapperuma’s immediate resignation. Dr. Anil Jayantha succeeded as Deputy Minister of Finance and Planning.

Those who inquired into the crisis-hit Treasury are of the belief that 53-year-old Suriyapperuma lacked the much required experience to fill the shoes of Mahinda Siriwardana. Perhaps, the breach at the Treasury could have been averted if an outsider was not brought in place of Siriwardena. The recent reportage of the incident revealed that Suriyapperuma had been aware of the breach and sought to avoid appearing before the CoPF. The NPP could have responded to the developing situation differently if an ex-MP hadn’t been entrusted with the task of steering the Treasury/Finance Ministry. To make matters worse, President Dissanayake holds the Finance portfolio.

Although the government declared that the theft of USD 2.5 mn had been reported to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) after initial detection made in January this year, controversy surrounds the failure on the part of law enforcement authorities to bring it to the notice of the courts. Maithri Gunaratne, appearing in Hiru last Saturday (25), questioned why the police failed to inform the relevant Magistrate if the government lodged a complaint in that regard.

Australia has confirmed irregularities in payments owed to their government. Regardless of NPP efforts to blame it on hacker/hackers, the truth is clear. Payments have been made to an account that hadn’t been in the original agreement between the governments of Sri Lanka and Australia. That is the undeniable truth that the NPP cannot suppress by propaganda.

The NPP should be ashamed that such a fraud had been perpetrated on a country still struggling to cope up with the economic destruction caused by the UNP- and the SLFP-led governments with the help of “mission impossible” type roles played by outside interests, especially during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure using the JVP/Aragalaya.

The world knows how the UNP perpetrated the Treasury bond scams with the direct involvement of the then Governor of the Central Bank Arjuna Mahendran, in February 2015 and March 2016. Regardless of that intolerable scam, the UNP made a desperate attempt to retain the services of the Singaporean as the Governor of the Central Bank. Party leader and the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe demanded the re-appointment of Mahendran. That despicable move had to be dropped due to massive Opposition protests and growing public discontent over the Treasury bond scams.

The first Treasury bond scam carried out on 27 February, 2015 caused a direct loss of approximately Rs. 2 billion. On the instructions of Mahendran, the Treasury suddenly and arbitrarily changed the process of issuing Treasury Bonds. According to media reports at that time, higher interest payments, over the next 30 years, caused a further loss of around Rs. 145 billion.

Then Mahendran struck again. Caused further direct losses of more than Rs. 4 billion to the government through the fraudulent increase in interest rates as a result of the Treasury Bond issues on 27th March, 2016 ,and 29th March, 2016, in order to provide an undue advantage to connected primary dealers by indulging in further pre-meditated bond scams.

NPP on back foot

The ruling party put on a brave face with lawmakers and various others trying to play down the incident at the Treasury. Some pathetically tried to compare various accusations directed at the Rajapaksas with the incident at the Treasury which they conveniently blamed on hacker/hackers.

The NPP is facing an explosive mixture of issues. Both the coal and Treasury scams have brought immense pressure on the national economy and caused automatic deterioration. The resignation of Punyakumara aka Kumara Jayakody over the coal scam indicated that defeating the NCM moved against him was a strategic political blunder. Had the NPP asked the tainted first time Minister to step down and appoint a Presidential Commission to go into the coal scam, the NPP could have averted a major disaster. However, the Energy Minister and the Energy Secretary Udayanga Hemapala had to resign before the Parliament took up the NCM. Had the top NPP leadership bothered to peruse the executive summary of the NAO presented to Parliament on 7 April, the Party wouldn’t have tried to defend the minister.

Having championed a corruption-free political party system and then won both the presidential and parliamentary polls on that platform, the NPP executed the shocking move to move 323 containers out of the Colombo Port, in January 2025, without even any cursory checks. Those who perpetrated that operation used continuing port congestion as an excuse to clear red-flagged containers without mandatory physical checking. The NPP recently thwarted a bid by Opposition lawmakers, representing a parliamentary committee inquiring into the illegal release of containers, to summon President Dissanayake.

That committee, headed by Justice Minister Attorney-at-Law Harshana Nanayakkara, owed an explanation as to why President Dissanayake, in his capacity as the Finance Minister, shouldn’t appear before a House committee. President Dissanayake very often addresses Parliament on crucial issues. As the Minister in charge of Finance, the President should offer an explanation regarding the high profile container issue that tarnished the NPP’s image.

Three major issues in hand, namely the release of 323 containers, coal scam and theft at the Treasury, regardless of what various apologists say on mainstream and social media, have caused irrevocable damage to the party, let alone escapades involving the likes of Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne, Minister Lal Kantha, etc. The impact on the NPP can be ascertained only at an election. With the public increasingly aware of the growing accusations against it, the ruling party will do whatever possible to put off long delayed Provincial Council elections. Facing the electorate against deepening discontent among the public seems to be a frightening situation. It would be interesting to observe how a House committee, headed by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, appointed to explore ways and means to conduct Provincial Council polls, address the issue at hand.

When compared with the three major issues, the resignation of Asoka Ranwala, as the Speaker, in December, 2024, over his failure to produce the much-touted educational qualifications, seems unnecessary. Of course, Ranwala’s case attracted tremendous public attention at that time as the public really believed the NPP wouldn’t deceive them. Ranwala’s lie shocked the public. NPP theoretician Prof. Ranjith Nirmal Dewasiri had no qualms in publicly attacking Ranwala in the wake of the NPP defending the Speaker. But, subsequent NPP actions revealed massive manipulations that shamed the first post-Aragalaya government.

Having accused Ranil Wickremesinghe of squandering as much as Rs 16 mn to join his wife Prof. Maithree in the UK in September, 2023, the NPP has ended up facing far more serious accusations. The incident at the Treasury should be sufficient for the Opposition to move NCM against the government. Of course, the NPP got the numbers in Parliament to easily defeat the NCM but the consequences would be devastating. Those who still talk of recovering the missing USD 2.5 mn must be living in a dreamland. The UNP is labelled with Treasury bond scams (2015 and 2016) and the SLPP faulted with tax cuts (2019) and sugar tax scam (2020). The NPP will have to live with the coal scam and Treasury theft. The NPP will no longer be able to parade on political platforms as paragons of virtue. It would be pertinent to mention that the Presidential Commission appointed to probe the procurement of coal, since 2009, would be able to produce a report to meet the NPP’s expectations. All indications point to that and 2026 is going to be far more challenging, both in and outside Parliament, than the previous year.

NDB fraud

Examined together, the massive fraud at the National Development Bank (NDB), perpetrated during the 2024-2026 period, and the Treasury incident, they underscore the vulnerability of the entire banking system. The 13.2 bn NDB fraud and theft of USD 2.5 mn from the Treasury exposed the regulator, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, in respect of the NDB. The situation at the NDB cannot be examined without taking into consideration that Ernst & Young is the external auditors of the NDB and its Managing Partner Duminda Hulangamuwa functions as Senior Economic Adviser to President Dissanayake. People haven’t forgotten that Hulangamuwa had been mentioned as the possible successor of Mahinda Siriwardena before the NPP brought in Suriyapperuma. The Central Bank and Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) come under the purview of the Finance Ministry now embroiled in the expanding Treasury fiasco.

The Board of Directors at the NDB consists of Sriyan Cooray (Chairman), Kelum Edirisinghe (Director / Chief Executive Officer (Executive), Bernard Sinniah (Director /Non-Independent), Sujeewa Mudalige (Director /Independent), Kushan D’Alwis (Director/Independent), Kasturi Chellaraja (Director/Independent), Shweta Pandey (Director /Independent), Hasitha Premaratne (Director/Independent), Sanjaya Mohottala (Director (Non-Independent) and Shanil Fernando Director (Independent).

The issue at hand is how such a fraud went unnoticed for a considerable period of time and whether the top management simply ignored warning signs and the failure on the part of the regulator to intervene. Those who have read Mahinda Siriwardana’s ‘Sri Lanka’s Economic Revival: Reflections on the Journey from Crisis to Recovery’ would know the circumstances leading to the 2022 economic collapse. Soft spoken Siriwardana meticulously discussed how the then Central Bank leadership as well as the so-called economic leadership of the Pohottuwa party deliberately deceived President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Siriwardena’s narrative is explosive. The book, launched before his retirement, with the participation of President Dissanayake, underscored the responsibility on the part of the political leadership and those running the banking system. Obviously Siriwardena’s work had no impact on the current dispensation as well as the top banking management.

The Opposition sees an apparent opportunity to heap pressure on the NPP as it contemplates counter measures. Their challenge is how to take remedial measures without jeopardizing the government. The IMF declaration that it is closely watching the theft of USD 2.5 mn from the Treasury must have added pressure on the government, ripped apart by the situation at the Treasury. Let us hope the government and the Opposition reach consensus on ways and means to improve financial discipline. Overall, the Parliament cannot absolve itself of the responsibility for enactment of laws and ensuring financial discipline and the fact that Sri Lanka needs to start repayment of debt in 2028.

Midweek Review

Is language social or psychological phenomenon?

Published

2 days ago

2026/04/29

Sahan Weerasooriya

This essay was presented at The Philosophy Group of the University of London about 20 years ago. The thought provoking essay published in The Island on 22 April by Usvwatte-aratchi- Some languages confine you; some languages free you prompted me to try to get this essay published if possible. It may help the readers to further their ideas about the importance of usage of language.

Personally, I have firsthand experience in this subject. I was exposed to two different cultures and two languages. In my formative years I was brought up in a certain culture and spoke the language pertaining to that culture/language (Sinhalese -Sri Lanka). I spent all my studying and working life (55 years) using a different language in a different culture (English -England). I must mention that this was not recently. It was the early 1960’s. I can claim that I have enough knowledge and experience to justify this essay topic. In this essay I shall be investigating some of the social aspects of language with the aid of some opinions put forward by some philosophers. Then I shall be making an attempt to see what psychology has to offer before I draw my own conclusions. I am treating social aspects as part and parcel of the culture. In my view these are inseparable entities, unless one chooses to forget his or her cultural upbringing to suit a particular society.

Adoption of different culture

Socially, learning a different language and adopting a different culture is quite possible. In this case what dominates is one’s attitude or the circumstances. Attitude is psychological. I am convinced that circumstances may lead to a change of attitudes. Having said that, we must not forget that there are individuals who have not taken the trouble to learn the language of the culture in which they live. This has created a lot of socio-psychological problems in the community in which they live. It is obvious that the problem is one of communication. The main tool of communication is language. Philosophers and psychologists have spent many years investigating how language helps us to communicate and also how it may lead us to misunderstand our own fellow human beings. Understanding others (family members, members of the community in which we live, and the strangers we meet) is one of the most important aspects of living.

An awareness of the problem of language goes back to the early Greek philosophers. Parmenides gave us the first example of an argument from language to the world, saying that if we speak of a thing it must exist, since we speak of a thing at various times, it must continue to exist in a particular form. It is recently that language itself has come to be studied in a systematic way. The two landmarks in this respect were the development of Linguistics and the philosophy of language in the 20th century. The great philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) has admitted that until he became a middle-aged man, he did not think about language per se, but regarded it as ‘transparent’. I am sure this is true with most of us although we are not of Russell’s caliber when it comes to philosophy. And one may not have to wait until one reaches one’s middle age.

Linguistics and philosophy of language

It will help us if we understand the difference between Linguistics and philosophy of Language. What linguists discover may be applied to philosophy, sociology, psychology, anthropology or physiology. But as a discipline of study, it remains independent of them. The philosophy of language is different. One of the modern philosophers John Searle (1932-2025) thought, by contrast to linguistics, philosophy tries to solve philosophical problems by analyzing the ordinary use, meaning and relations of words in a particular language. Searle goes on to say that language is crucial to understand human experience. In my opinion this is a very valid comment. At a very practical level we spend a lot of time sharing our experiences. Verbal communication is vital in this area. According to Canadian philosopher Ian Hacking(1936-2023) the influence of language on philosophy has been profound and almost unrecognized. He indicates, if we are not to be misled by this influence, it is necessary to become conscious of it, and to ask ourselves deliberately how far it is legitimate.

It is appropriate to bring in Ludwig Wittgenstein(1889-1951) at this point. He brought in the subject predicate theory of language. For example, if we say “John is king”. Where John is the subject and king is the predicate. Here existence requires substance. For Aristotle, forms do not exist independently of things—every form is the form of something. A “substantial” form is a kind that is attributed to a thing, without which that thing would be of a different kind or would cease to exist altogether. Wittgenstein supports Saint Augustine’s view that words are names of objects and that combinations of words have the sole function of describing reality. For example, if we point at a certain object, say a table and try to say to a child “this is a table”, the child will be confused as to what we are pointing at. Is it the colour, the tabletop or one or more of its legs This is called the ostensive definition method of teaching. Ostensive definitions lead to a variety of interpretations. The child may understand a particular case of this definition but there is no guarantee that she will be able to make a transition from one case to others like it.

Plato’s theory

J G Herder (1744-1803) pointed out the object to which we make reference may be defined by numerous different terms. How then can we justify direct, one to one correspondence-either of so many to one, or of one to so many? How are we going to deal with situations where a term describes something non-existent or only possible? Plato’s “Forms” theory cannot be applied here as anything that we can speak of already exists as a Form. Critics of this theory ask the question: “how can the world be crowded with so many imaginary objects?” We use words to describe and define. Is there any room for slang language? This comes in handy in our day to day social communication. Ostensive definition raises the questions that require a constant selection of what counts as relevant. In Aldous Huxley’s novel Chrome Yellow, the character Old Rowley is confused as to: Does ‘pig’ refer to the quality of having a curly tail? Or standing in rows to eat? Or being pink skinned and fat? Or wearing no clothes? When we use the word “piggishness” is it something inherent to pigs, or simply, a matter of how we choose to describe them?

How can we relate the above ideas and theories of language to our daily living? Daily living is a psychosocial activity.

Perceptions

The nature of language reflects the nature of our perceptions, and these are far from straight forward. Franz Brentano (1838-1917) developed his theory of intentionality: that every mental phenomenon has a relation of direction to its object, i.e. perceptions, desires, imagination etc. are related to what is perceived, desired or imagined. I presume this can be applied to any language irrespective of the culture (our social conditioning). Say for instance the images of art and the writings are given the ability to represent objects by imposing the intentionality on the object. Thus, when we assert that we see or believe something, we impose, by convention and intention, (that is true if and only if it is the case) on the statement, and these conditions are not contained intrinsically in the sounds that make it up, but in our perception of belief about the fact. I begin to wonder how this can be applied to non-physical and unseen situations. Sometimes our feelings and attitudes are unknown to the observer. A person may shout because he is angry but you cannot see the anger, only its physical expression. We will not be able to see the prior event that has led to the anger and the utterance. This shows that there is a limit to how much is revealed simply by observing a word and its context; there is often more than that can be said.

How can we account for unexpected linguistic behaviour? This has both social and psychological implications.

For a long time behavioural theorists believed that every development of the human being was controlled by environmental and social factors. This is similar to an ostensive explanation of meaning. It implied that everything was learnt through training and association. But Noam Chomsky (b.1928) was not happy with this idea. He thought language is a complex phenomenon and which is not taught bit by bit or systematically to infants. It is successfully acquired by (almost) everybody. From my own experience it is true to say that the difficulty in learning a second language is a very different process from that experienced with the first language. Chomsky argued that the first language is not in fact learned, but rather acquired through exposure to a particular language. According to him all languages share the same basic structure, and he called this “deep structure”, which may be expressed as surface structures through a process called ‘transformation’. Chomsky’s theory helps us to assume a universal system of grammar, which may generate an infinite number of particular sentences within a language. This explains how we may create sentences within a language we have never encountered before from a limited set of grammatical rules and this appears to be a rational scientific approach.

Social or psychological phenomenon

The argument/discussion whether language is a social or a psychological phenomenon requires much more investigation than this essay warrants. I have briefly brought in various philosophers’ work, which are invaluable to this topic in terms of philosophy of language. In conclusion I am tempted to state my own experiences as a bi-lingual person. When it comes to my first language, which is Sinhalese I don’t think I learned it. I heard my parents speaking it and I picked up a few words and I constructed my own sentences and gradually became proficient by accumulating more words. Of course, the proper grammatical use of even my own language was taught in school and not by my parents. Learning my second language i.e. English took a different form. I was taught to speak, read, and write English at school and I had to work harder at this than my first language, because my English was confined to the classroom situation only, i. e. I learnt English in a non- English environment. First language came naturally and the second one I had to learn to fit into the social and the education structure that prevailed at that time. Compulsion can motivate us to learn!I had no choice but to adopt myself culturally and linguistically as a university student in England and then as a university teacher in England. Apart from the native English students, I have taught students from different countries. European, African and Asian. I had the opportunity to intermingle with them and learned various different cultural and linguistic aspects. After almost a half a century in England, I am back to my own culture (language, customs, food etc) where I was born and started my life. I am still proficient in my own language Sinhalese. No conscious effort needed.

After all the foregoing arguments and philosophy that I have put forward, my own conclusion is Chomsky’s theories are more plausible to me than other theories on this issue. It is difficult to be exact and say whether language is a social or psychological phenomenon. From the above arguments, we can see that culture and language of a given society are tightly bound. This leads us to psychological adjustments in order to fit into a society. Who can deny that even the philosophers mentioned above have not been subjected to their own cultural environment?

by Prof. Sampath
Anson Fernando
Formerly University of
The Arts London