Friday 26th June, 2026

The whole world is enjoying the benefits of the US-Iran peace deal. Vessel traffic has more than doubled via the Hormuz Strait over the past 36 hours or so, bringing oil prices down steeply, according to media reports. Predictions that oil prices would not return to the pre-conflict levels in the foreseeable future have gone wrong.

World oil prices have come down almost to the pre-Iran war levels, with the global benchmark Brent crude dropping below USD 72.48 a barrel, described as the price it was at the day before the launch of the US-Israel attacks on Iran on 28 Feb., and settling at USD 72.63 per barrel. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell below USD 70 per barrel. These are very positive signs. Oil price decreases have stood all economies in good stead.

Some countries, such as the US, Australia and Pakistan, have opted for partial pass-throughs causing pump prices to drop, much to the relief of consumers who were reeling from the inflated fuel costs for more than three months. They have managed to cool inflation to some extent. But Sri Lankans are not that lucky. At the time of going to press, the JVP-NPP government had not decided to lower fuel prices; it was only trotting out various excuses for the so-called lag phase while pressure was mounting on it to reduce fuel prices at least partially. Sri Lanka’s fuel pricing has shown a rockets-and-feathers pattern under successive governments.

The JVP-NPP government did not scruple to opt for an immediate asymmetric cost pass-through when world oil prices increased. It allegedly resorted to price gouging by revaluing oil inventories, procured at lower costs, at prevailing market prices. When the Iran war erupted in late February, the government declared that the country’s fuel stocks were sufficient for several months, but it increased fuel prices immediately afterwards in keeping with global oil price hikes. Thus, it gets the best of both worlds by making fuel prices cost-reflective only when world oil prices rise. It is continuing the policies of the SLPP-UNP government, which it condemned for exploiting the public.

During their opposition days, the JVP/NPP leaders claimed that a government that increased local fuel prices whenever world oil prices rose was not worth its salt; it was a simple task that even a Pettah trader was equal to, they argued. They are now doing exactly what they flayed the previous governments for.

The Opposition has accused the government of keeping fuel prices unconscionably high to recover the staggering losses caused by the coal procurement scam, which has made the diesel-fired power plants operate overtime to compensate for a generation loss at Norochcholai. The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has admitted that it had to buy some diesel shipments at prices as high as USD 286 per barrel to prevent supply disruptions. What has driven the demand for diesel high is the country’s overdependence on diesel-fired power plants to avoid power cuts.

Meanwhile, private bus operators, who secure fare hikes whenever diesel prices increase significantly, have argued that the operational and regulatory framework involving them and the National Transport Commission does not require them to lower bus fares when diesel prices decrease. If so, the government ought to introduce new laws and regulations to ensure that bus fares reflect diesel price decreases to prevent asymmetric pricing, for fuel is a major cost input in the transport sector.

If the JVP/NPP leaders were in the Opposition today, they would take to the streets demanding fuel price reductions. While out of power, they promised to champion the cause of the poor and resist injustice with might and main, just like Robin Hood and his Merry Men, but once in power, they are accused of behaving like Prince John and Sheriff of Nottingham; they are increasing taxes and enforcing compliance ruthlessly, besides jacking up tariffs. Such a hero-to-villain transformation usually carries significant political costs. No wonder the government is reluctant to face the Provincial Council elections.

Thursday 25th June, 2026

The government has decided to scrap the long-held legal requirement to mark voters’ fingers with indelible ink at polling stations. It is in overdrive to introduce necessary legal amendments, we are told. The reasons given for its decision is that the practice of using indelible ink causes “operational inefficiencies” and “significant additional costs”. The Election Commission has claimed that the scrapping of the indelible ink requirement is its brainchild.

The JVP-NPP government is busy amending election laws and working on a new electoral system while doing everything in its power to postpone the Provincial Council (PC) elections further. If only the election monitors had continued to pressure the government to hold the PC polls rather than focusing on relatively inconsequential matters.

The use of indelible ink is not a silver bullet capable of preventing electoral malpractices, and therefore one can argue that its discontinuation may not render the electoral system any more vulnerable to practices, such as multiple voting. But whether it is prudent to do away with such safeguards against election malpractices, relying solely on the voter identification requirement is a moot point, given the fact that none of the main political parties are respecters of people’s franchise.

The UNP resorted to election malpractices and unleashed barbaric violence to retain its hold on power in the 1980s, when it used a heavily rigged referendum to make a general election disappear. The SJB, an offshoot of the UNP, is widely viewed as sharing the latter’s political DNA. The SLFP and its allies also rigged elections. In 1999, they chased away polling agents and stuffed ballot boxes in full view of the police to win the North Western PC polls. Some of the SLFP organisers responsible for violating election laws in that despicable manner are currently in the SLPP. The TNA fully endorsed the election boycott ordered by the LTTE in 2005 and even announced it. The JVP employed brutal methods such as shooting, beheading and quartering as part of its campaign to sabotage elections in the late 1980s. What guarantee is there that such political parties are any different from the proverbial cat that calmly held a lamp on a dining table only to revert to its old ways at the sight of a mouse?

As for the legal requirement of national identity cards (NICs) and other proofs of identity for voting, one may recall that the JVP seized the NICs of thousands of people during its reign of terror in the late 1980s. Some of the current JVP leaders have declared that they will not let go of power. They stand accused of working towards a one-party rule.

The Cabinet of Ministers is reported to have decided to remove provisions related to the use of indelible ink from election laws, while retaining voter identification requirements. Accordingly, the Presidential Elections Act, the Parliamentary Elections Act, the Provincial Council Elections Act, the Local Authorities Elections Ordinance, etc., are to be amended. One can only hope that the government will not turn amending election laws into a mega political project and use it as a pretext to postpone elections it is reluctant to face.

Most of all, a watchful eye needs to be kept on the amendments to be introduced, for there is no guarantee that the amendment Bills will not be stuffed with sections without judicial sanction to further the interests of the government. It has been revealed that when the Parliamentary Election Act of 1981 was amended in 1988, the words, “any member” (of a political party) were surreptitiously inserted thereinto after ratification to provide for the appointment of persons of party leaders choice to fill National List vacancies. In 2017, during the UNP-led Yahapalana government, several sections were incorporated into the Provincial Council Elections amendment Bill arbitrarily at the committee stage to provide for postponing the PC polls indefinitely. Controversy surrounds the manner in which the Online Safety Bill was “passed” in 2024. It was declared ratified amidst a noisy protest in the House.

Indelible ink is used by the countries in this part of the world as an antidote to multiple voting. Other democracies, especially in the West, have no need for it as they have reliable voter identification systems, which are however not totally foolproof. It is not prudent to presume that the franchise and the electoral process are invulnerable in this country, given the tainted records of the political parties that remain unremorseful. Hence, it is imperative that all safeguards against election malpractices be retained and strengthened.

Wednesday 24th June, 2026

The JVP-NPP government yesterday did not scruple to deprive the Opposition of an opportunity to debate some vital issues affecting the judiciary, in Parliament. The Opposition made a request to the Speaker, under Standing Orders, for a debate on the vacancies numbering four each in the Supreme Court (SC) and the Court of Appeal (CA) and an alleged move to raise the retirement ages of the SC and CA judges. But the government raised objections and put paid to the Opposition’s efforts, triggering protests in the House. It was obvious that the government members did not want even a brief debate on the aforementioned issues as they could not defend their position.

Some Opposition MPs rightly pointed out that the judicial power of the people was exercised by the legislature through courts, etc., according to the Constitution, and therefore Parliament was duty bound to debate issues, such as vacancies in the judiciary and a questionable government move to increase some judges’ retirement ages. Leader of the House and Minister Bimal Rathnayake took a swipe at the Opposition, recalling an attempt by some MPs to summon the Supreme Court judges before a parliamentary committee over a judgement during the previous government. True, the members of the SLPP-UNP government, currently in the Opposition, undermined the judiciary by criticising judges whose rulings were not to their liking and by postponing elections in violation of court orders. But two wrongs do not make a right.

The Bar Association of Sri Lanka, the Colombo High Court Lawyers’ Association, etc., have severely criticised the alleged government move to extend the retirement ages of judges of the SC and the CA and urged it to fill the vacancies in those two courts. The Opposition has gone to the extent of claiming that the government is trying to leverage judges’ promotions, etc., to further its political interests at the expense of the integrity of the judiciary. These are issues that must be debated in Parliament urgently.

As the dynamic balance of Vata, Pitta and Kapha is to a person’s wellbeing, in Ayurveda, so is the harmonious functioning of the three branches of government, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, to a country’s democratic health. In both cases imbalance invites trouble. Unfortunately, no government has fully adhered to the principle of the separation of powers during the last several decades, and the Executive Presidency has made a bad situation worse. All Executive Presidents have meddled with the legislature and the judiciary. ‘Change’ that the current administration promised during its election campaigns has become pie in the sky. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake stands accused of having the legislature under his thumb and undermining the judiciary.

JVP/NPP politicians never miss an opportunity to boast of their two-thirds majority. Minister Rathnayake yesterday reminded the Opposition of the government’s supermajority. A common trait of all Sri Lankan politicians is that they let power go to their heads. Steamroller majorities are apparently jinxed in this country. Intoxicated with power, governments exude arrogance, become aggressive, suppress dissent and dig their own political graves in the process. No government with a supermajority has secured a second term at a free and fair election in this country. The J. R. Jayewardene government, which had a five-sixth majority obtained under the first-past-the-post system, retained its hold on power in 1982 through a heavily-rigged referendum. The UNP won the 1989 general election mainly because of the JVP’s reign of terror, which prevented many people from voting and created a situation where the UNP could stuff ballot boxes. Two-thirds majorities could not save the SLFP-led United Front government (1970-1977), the Mahinda Rajapaksa government (2010-2015) and the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government. Such is the transient nature of political power and huge parliamentary majorities.

The JVP-NPP government can abuse its parliamentary majority to bulldoze its way through, but there is no way it can justify its refusal to allow issues affecting judicial independence to be debated in Parliament. It ought to remember that the power of the people is far greater than the people in power, as a saying goes.