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Editorial

Gesture of solidarity

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Thursday 25th February, 2021

Nothing could be more reassuring and uplifting in times of trouble than a true friend’s presence. Sri Lanka has only a few generous, altruistic friends, and Pakistan certainly is prominent among them. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit, albeit brief, could not have come at a better time for Sri Lanka, a badger facing a pack of growling mastiffs in Geneva; what it needs most at this juncture is moral support.

Many are the nations that have proffered loads and loads of unsolicited advice to Sri Lanka on how to protect democracy and human rights. But none of them helped remove the scourge of terror, the gravest threat to democracy and humankind. Pakistan stood unwaveringly behind Sri Lanka during the latter’s war on terror and helped the latter in numerous ways. It was the multi-barrel rocket launchers Pakistan rushed here in the aftermath of the fall of Elephant Pass garrison, in 2000, that enabled the Army put the brakes on the ‘unceasing wave’ of the LTTE. Otherwise, the Tigers would have laid siege to Jaffna with ease, forcing the Army to withdraw its troops. (Some countries even offered ships for ferrying soldiers to Colombo!) Today, Sri Lanka is free from political assassinations, massacres, child conscription, etc., as LTTE terrorism has been neutralised. If it had given in to pressure from the Western bloc and spared the LTTE’s military muscle, thousands of lives would have been destroyed during the last 12 years or so.

There were calls, in some quarters, for PM Khan to take up the issue of ‘forced burials’ with Colombo. They were obviously aimed at creating a media feeding frenzy and thereby giving the anti-Sri Lankan campaign in Geneva a boost. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have their own way of sorting out problems; never do they resort to megaphone diplomacy. But, the fact remains that mandatory burials have hurt the Muslim community beyond measure mostly because those who die of COVID-19 are allowed to be buried in other countries including those notorious for their antipathy towards Muslims. Some prominent Sri Lankan medical experts are of the view that the burial of pandemic victims should be permitted, provided the health regulations in place to prevent the spread of the pandemic are strictly followed. Prime Minster Mahinda Rajapaksa, as a sensible leader, must have gone by expert opinion including that of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, when he said in Parliament recently that the burial of COVID-19 victims would become an option. Sadly, he was overruled.

It is significant that the Head of State of a prominent Islamic nation has been to Sri Lanka while the pro-LTTE groups are exerting a considerable pull on a section of the Muslims community who courageously stood up to LTTE terror and thwarted Prabhakaran’s efforts to extend his control over the Eastern Province. Some of the Muslims who became the target of a hate campaign following the Easter Sunday carnage have joined forces with the pro-LTTE political groups masquerading as crusaders for democracy, in the Eastern Province, which is of pivotal importance to the countries that seek to counter increasing Chinese presence here. This is something Sri Lanka and its Islamic allies such as Pakistan should take cognizance of.

Meanwhile, there are many areas where Sri Lanka and Pakistan can partner to realise their full potentials as developing nations. Besides trade, commerce and investment, they can concentrate more on agriculture, construction, science and technology, education, medicine, tourism, etc. PM Khan’s ‘Global Initiative on Debt Relief’ is something that Sri Lanka, as well as other nations in the Global South, should fully support.

There are some issues that Sri Lanka and Pakistan should address jointly. One of them is the narcotic trade, which has affected both countries badly. Drug cartels have established a supply route via Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which has become a narcotic transit point of sorts.

It is a pity that the Sri Lankan Parliament did not have the honour of being addressed by PM Khan, a brilliant orator and trusted friend.



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Editorial

Honorable MP in the Customs net

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Whether they will admit it or not, politicians in the country are well aware that they are not top of the pops where public opinion is concerned. Few people rate politicians positively although there are many exceptions. Last week’s gold and smartphone smuggling detection at the Bandaranaike International Airport served to aggravate this assessment. Puttalam District MP Ali Sabri Raheem arriving from Dubai was detected, on a tip off, by customs and found carrying contraband worth Rs. 75 million.

Telephones hummed and he was able to reach the highest in the land who reportedly promised to “go into the matter.” Thankfully, he got no respite, the contraband was confiscated and he was slapped with a fine of Rs. 7.4 million which was quickly paid. Raheem was free within hours and was able to be present in Parliament to vote against the government motion to sack Janaka Ratnayake, the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).

He went over national television to plead his innocence blaming an unnamed golaya for the crime. This worthy, the MP claimed, had packed their bags and the politician said he did not know what went into them. That, of course, is a story that will be hard to sell. People are not as gullible as Raheem would like to believe. Though photographs of customs officers posing with the contraband detected have been widely published, the public is totally ignorant of many relevant details of this detection. In the first instance, who was this person who accompanied the MP? Was he a paid member of the MP’s staff? Was the contraband found only in the MP’s baggage or was it divided between the two passengers’ bags? If so, was the golaya, who the MP has publicly blamed for the scandal also been questioned and what did he say? Queries on all these matters and more remain unanswered and only the tip of the iceberg has surfaced.

Predictably there have been many developments since the smelly stuff hit the fan. It was reported on Friday that some 20 MPs, mostly belonging to opposition parties, have handed a letter to the speaker requesting an investigation. They have rightly said that a scandal of these proportions would result in all parliamentarians being tarred with the same brush in the court of public opinion. The cynic would say that they need ot bother on this score as this has already happened in the public mind, with politicians and not only parliamentarians, having been negatively viewed long before the newest scandal broke.

Be that as it may, we wonder whether the speaker has any role in such matters. MPs are very conscious of their rights and privileges and there have been occasions where the speaker’s permission – he is the custodian of such rights and privileges – were obtained before an MP is questioned by police in the case of an investigation. This has been demanded on occasions when need for such questioning arose. There is also a code of conduct for parliamentarians adopted in March 2018. Clearly the recent smuggling matter would (or should) be caught up it that.

People could well ask whether hurling missiles, throwing chilli flakes in the parliamentary chamber and not allowing the speaker to take his seat and perform his functions do not come within the ambit of the code. If it does, why did not what happened in the House during the “October Revolution” of 2018 when then President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and installed Mahinda Rajapaksa in his stead, come under the glare of that well-intentioned but seemingly impotent code?

Apart from the demand that the speaker looks into Raheem’s conduct and take appropriate action, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has seen a deeper conspiracy. He alleged on Thursday that the MP, free of the customs clutches, rushing to parliament post-haste to vote against the resolution to remove the PUCSL Chairman from his post was a government plot to lump Raheem with the opposition! That worthy himself is on record saying he voted against the government as there was nobody to help when he needed assistance. “So why should I vote for that government?”, he asked

Criminals are usually not apprehended committing a first offence. The fact that somebody knew that something was going on and was able to tip off the customs suggests that this recent detection is not a one off. Why should Members of Parliament be issued diplomatic passports and accorded VIP facilities at the airport? What differentiates them from ordinary people whose votes catapulted them into positions of privilege with perks galore at the taxpayer’s expense? Tipping off customs is, of course, a lucrative business with fat reward entitlements. Whoever blew that whistle which felled the MP will benefit tidily. Let us hope that such a person does not get a bullet in his head from a motorcycle gunman for his pains as is becoming all too common today in this island of ours.

A question was also asked in parliament why the fine imposed was relatively modest considering the value of the contraband. We believe that the law permits a fine three times the value of the smuggled goods. In this instance it had been a mere 10 percent. State Minister of Finance Ranjit Siyambalapitiya had replied that the fine that was slapped was highest for such offences in recent times.

Admittedly a fine of over Rs. 200 million might never have been collected. Such fines seldom are. Of course the confiscation of the contraband would have cost somebody very big bucks. Couriers are widely used for smuggling via passenger baggage and how tight a hold the customs has on this business method that is widespread is anybody’s guess.

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Editorial

It’s asset disclosures, stupid!

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Saturday 27th May, 2023

SJB MP Eran Wickramaratne has called upon the former Presidents of Sri Lanka to make public their asset disclosures and thereby set an example to others. He has said there are two ex-Presidents in the House––Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena––and they should lead by example. One cannot but endorse his call, which was made during yesterday’s parliamentary debate on proposed amendments to the Declaration of Assets and Liabilities Act. The question however is whether the ex-Presidents, or other politicians for that matter, will ever want to disclose their assets truthfully, and run the risk of landing themselves in trouble in the process.

There are said to be lies, damned lies, and statistics. One can replace ‘statistics’ with ‘the declarations of assets and liabilities’ where Sri Lankan political leaders are concerned. It is nothing but naïve to expect our politicians, to whom deception is second nature, to be truthful when they declare their assets, most of which are ill-gotten, as is public knowledge. Truthful asset disclosures will serve as self-indictments, given the sheer amount of wealth they are believed to have amassed and stashed away in offshore accounts.

Power and wealth are conjoined twins in this country. Politicians who savour power for a few years are set for life. One may recall that Rs. 17.8 million was found at the President’s House in the immediate aftermath of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ouster, last year. This alone is proof that the Sri Lankan Presidents are never short of cash. Heaps of money were reduced to ashes in some ruling party MPs’ houses which came under arson attacks, last year, according to media reports. Therefore, it defies comprehension why the MPs and former Presidents should be given pensions. This is something that the Opposition should take up if it is genuinely concerned about state funds.

Sri Lanka may be the only country where the state looks after failed leaders even in retirement. The current economic crisis is not of recent origin; the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration only worsened it and precipitated the country’s bankruptcy. The economy deteriorated for decades under successive governments, which were characterised by waste and corruption. The blame for the country’s bankruptcy should therefore be apportioned to all Presidents, both elected and appointed, since 1978, albeit to varying degrees. Instead of being made to pay for their sins against the country, they are looked after at the expense of the public and provided with houses, vehicles and security by the state, when they leave office. They have the wherewithal to look after themselves, and public funds must not be wasted. Will the Opposition take up this issue as well?

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Editorial

Babes in arms!

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Friday 26th May, 2023

Our honourable MPs would have us believe that they are as innocent as unborn babies and butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths. Ali Sabry Raheem, who was nabbed by the Customs, on Tuesday, for trying to smuggle in more than 3.5 kilos of gold and 91 mobile phones, and fined Rs. 7.4 million, has sought to protest his innocence! Blaming one of his assistants for the botched smuggling attempt, he has claimed that he did not know what was inside his bags. Why should he try to insult the intelligence of the public in this manner? The people do not vote wisely, but they are not so stupid as to buy into Raheem’s claim.

MP Raheem voted against the government’s move to remove Public Utilities Commission Chairman Janaka Ratnayake, in Parliament, on Wednesday. He said he had done so because the government had not responded to his appeal for help to clear his name when he was nabbed at the BIA the previous day. But we think he has left something unsaid. No MP in the good books of government leaders is ever made to undergo Customs checks, much less taken into custody in the BIA VIP lounge, of all places.

One may recall that even senior Tigers were allowed to bring in loads and loads of undeclared goods into the country via the BIA, during the UNP-led UNF government (2001-2004) because the LTTE had struck a deal with that regime. Those terrorists who had attacked the BIA and caused massive losses to the tune of billions of rupees were even treated to BBQ dinners by the then airport manager. During the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, Mervyn of Kelaniya escorted a wanted drug lord called Kudu Lal through the BIA, and ensured that the latter emplaned to Dubai safely while the STF was looking for him.

The BIA being a place where even such dangerous criminals are given VVIP treatment thanks to the intervention of powerful politicians, a ruling party MP will never be nabbed by the Customs unless he or she has fallen out with the government. So, there is reason to believe that MP Raheem had planned to vote with the Opposition, on Wednesday; the government had got wind of it, and that is why he was left in the lurch.

MP Raheem cannot be the only politician involved in smuggling and other such illegal activities, and therefore, the need for thorough checks to be conducted on all those who use the BIA VIP lounge cannot be overstated. Entourages of government leaders are usually whisked past the Customs without any checks, we are told. This practice has to end forthwith.

There has been a severe erosion of public trust in Parliament, and the presence of lawbreakers among the MPs is one of the reasons for this sorry state of affairs. One wonders whether political parties handpick notorious characters such as smugglers, bootleggers, chain snatchers, cattle rustlers and killers to contest elections. The public votes for the lowest of the low in politics, and then takes to the streets, demanding a ‘system change’, and asking all 225 MPs to go home.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, as an Opposition MP, told the members of the current Parliament some home truths. In one of his speeches, he dwelt on anti-politics and the deterioration of parliamentary standards. In response to a call for all the MPs to be dumped into the Diyawanna lake, he jokingly said something to the effect that it would be a mistake to do so because even the waters of the Kelani Ganga would be polluted in such an eventuality.

Many a true word is said to be spoken in jest! He, as the President, is now in a position to take corrective action. There is no way the government could justify having within its ranks an MP fined for his involvement in a smuggling racket. There are many other racketeers in the incumbent regime and they, too, will have to be got rid of if public faith is to be restored in Parliament.

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