Editorial

LNG hot potato on Sri Lanka’s lap

Published

2 years ago

2021/09/26

The hottest potato now on the lap of the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) is an unsolicited proposal from a giant U.S. corporation, New Fortress Energy (NFE), a NASDAQ quoted company on the New York Stock Exchange, to build a new offshore LNG (liquefied natural gas) receiving, storage and regasification terminal in Colombo. A framework agreement to go ahead with this proposal has already been allegedly signed but very little of this was known to the wider public. Unsurprisingly, allegations that this was done in secret is being widely bandied about. Lesser constituents of the government are unhappy about this proposal and Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa who is pushing it on the grounds that it will enable cheaper long-term electricity generation benefiting hard-pressed consumers had a discussion with party leaders of the ruling coalition on this subject last Thursday. What finally emerged there has not been revealed but it is clear that the government is determined to push ahead with the proposal.

Unsolicited proposals are by their very nature suspect. The recent discussions on the project did not reveal who NFE’s local agent is, or if there is any. It is unlikely, if not impossible, that a U.S. based company would make such a far reaching proposal with widespread ramifications without an extensive knowledge of the ground situation. For this a lot of domestic input would have been necessary; and the total picture, obviously, was at the fingertips of the offeror. But there has not been the slightest hint or whiff of a rumour of who the local participant might be. We all know that big projects, the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project is one good example and the Norochcholai coal fired power plant is another, enabled massive commission incomes, probably disproportionate to the work and effort expended in winning the contract for an overseas principal, was earned locally. In the case of most projects, local agents are known by and large. This is as it should be because that is what transparency is all about.

Well documented allegations have been made that the proposal under consideration is a threat to the country’s energy security and would potentially cause enormous losses to Sri Lanka. We do have a National Energy Policy gazetted in August 2019. This is intended to ensure energy security through the supply of reliable, cost effective and competitively priced energy services from diverse sources. Nobody would, or could, quarrel about the push towards renewable energy in place of fossil fuels that are finite and environment degrading. This is the global trend. We in Sri Lanka, having now largely exhausted our hydropower resources that once upon a time gave us very cheap electricity, is now looking at renewables including solar and wind power. But these targets are not achievable in the short term although tight deadlines have been set. It is not possible to immediately dispense with expensive thermal power for which we have, and will continue to pay, a heavy price. That is why the National Energy Policy has identified LNG as the next fossil fuel option for us. But it has made clear that LNG procurement shall be kept under state control in the context of its impact on national energy security.

This policy further establishes that procurement of plant, equipment, crude oil and other fuels as well as power purchase agreements and similar concessions will be made through a streamlined competitive bidding process ensuring transparency and accountability. Critics of the NFE proposal are hammering home the point that all these safeguards will go down the river if the government goes ahead with its plans to sell-off 40 percent of the shares of the state-controlled West Coast Power Private Ltd. (WCPL) to NFE at a price of USD 250 million. The wide-ranging proposal made by the U.S. corporation includes an LNG terminal project together with what’s call a “Floating Storage Regasification Unit” and associated mooring systems and pipelines. There is a high possibility that NFE will supply most of the LNG consumed in the country in the future if this deal goes through. What is most disturbing is the ‘Take or Pay’ (TOP) clause in the proposal that ensures that NFE should be paid irrespective of whether contracted volumes are consumed or not. This is not altogether unusual in Power Purchase Agreements, several of which are already in force between the CEB and small scale independent power producers in business here. Under these arrangements what’s called ‘capacity charges’ are paid. But in the case of a TOP arrangement for future LNG supplies, the costs would be mind-boggling.

Within the last three months there have been two cabinet memoranda pushing the NFE proposal which is strongly supported by the Finance Ministry on the basis that it will enable much cheaper power generation than at present with the foreign investor carrying the capital component of the investment which will benefit the already hard-pressed consumer fearful of having to pay more for his electricity. We are not aware whether there is a cabinet decision to press on with the project although information presently available strongly implies that a virtual fait accomplii has been presented with the framework agreement allegedly already signed in the dead of night. Meanwhile the Energy Ministry is fast tracking the exploration for natural gas in the Mannar basin. What use would any possible strike be if the country’s future LNG needs have already been contracted out?

All News Advertisement

Editorial

Cricket, popular will and franchise

Published

15 hours ago

2023/11/30

Sahan Weerasooriya

Thursday 30th November, 2023

Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, launched a broadside against President Ranil Wickremesinghe for sacking Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe, who has taken on the Cricket Mafia. He said it was the first time a President without a popular mandate had stripped a popularly-elected MP of his ministerial positions. Some other Opposition MPs also inveighed against President Wickremesinghe and highlighted the fact that he had lost his seat at the last parliamentary election but entered Parliament as an appointed MP and secured the presidency with the help of 134 MPs.

Ironically, Wickremesinghe’s fortuitous ascent to the presidency happened because none of the popularly-elected MPs whom President Gotabaya Rajapaksa requested to accept the premiership had the courage to take up the challenge. They shied away from accepting that post, citing various excuses and bellowing rhetoric. It so happened that the historic task fell upon Wickremesinghe, who squared up to the unprecedented politico-economic chaos. He arrested the country’s slide into anarchy by preventing mobs from marching on Parliament and made unpopular yet crucial decisions to stabilise the economy.

The fact that the country came to be dependent on an appointed MP to regain political and economic stability, and he has, with the help of others, achieved some positive results is an indictment of the self-important elected MPs.

One cannot but agree with the Opposition MPs that ideally defeated candidates must not be brought into Parliament via the National List (NL), and only those presented as NL candidates to the public prior to a general election should be appointed as MPs. However, the practice of bringing unsuccessful candidates into Parliament as NL MPs is constitutional though it undermines the popular will in that the persons whom electors deem unfit to represent them become MPs. Article 99A of the Constitution provides for such appointments. Almost all political parties have made use of this constitutional provision to appoint unsuccessful candidates as MPs.

Now that the Opposition has made an issue of defeated candidates entering Parliament via the NL, will it take action to have the Constitution amended to put an end to that practice?

There is however a far more serious issue that all political parties have chosen to ignore. The Parliamentary Elections Act No 1 of 1981, as amended in 1988, enables the leaders of political parties to circumvent Article 99A of the Constitution and appoint virtually anyone of their choice to Parliament by engineering an NL vacancy. Although the Constitution limits NL appointments to the ‘persons whose names are included in the list submitted to the Commissioner of Elections … or in any nomination paper submitted in respect of any electoral district by such party or group at that election’, Section 64 (5) of the Parliament Elections Act provides for the appointment of ‘any member’ of a political party to fill an NL vacancy. This provision is inconsistent with Article 99A and Article 101(H) of the Constitution, according to legal experts. Worse, it is believed that Section 64 (5), introduced in 1988 as an urgent Bill, was surreptitiously altered after its ratification to provide for the appointment of ‘any member’ of a political party as an NL MP.

Thus, it is possible for anyone to become an MP, without contesting a general election or being an NL nominee, with the help of a political party entitled to NL slots, become the Prime Minister and even secure the presidency in case of the elected President ceasing to hold office. This path, which could be likened to a smuggling tunnel, has to be closed. Both the Constitution and the Parliamentary Elections Act will have to be amended to ensure that only those who successfully contest parliamentary elections and the National List nominees enter Parliament. Will the Opposition MPs who claim to be so concerned about the will of the people press for these vital amendments? Having talked the talk, they should walk the walk.

Editorial

Games kleptocrats play

Published

2 days ago

2023/11/29

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wednesday 29th November, 2023

The SLPP-UNP government finds itself in the same predicament as the proverbial cat that defecated on a rock and struggled to cover the stinking mess. Having sacked Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe for taking on Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) officials and ruffling the feathers of some members of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s kitchen Cabinet in the process, the SLPP-UNP combine is trying to justify its action to protect the corrupt responsible for ruining cricket in this country. Government propagandists are doing their darnedest to dupe the public into believing that Ranasinghe was sacked because he had violated collective responsibility.

The government has granted the beleaguered cricket administrators’ wish by sacking Ranasinghe and appointing Harin Fernando as the Sports Minister. Now that it has demonstrated it has no qualms about shielding the corrupt and defenestrating the campaigners for transparency, integrity and accountability, the newly-passed Anti-Corruption Act might as well be relegated to the wastepaper basket. There is nothing stupider than to expect a government that does not even allow a sports governing body to be cleansed to resist the lure of filthy lucre and go all out to rid the country of corruption.

The IMF, which has tied transparency, integrity and accountability to its bailout packages as conditions ought to take cognisance of the unspeakable manner in which the government of Sri Lanka is protecting the interests of the corrupt responsible for ruining cricket.

It may be recalled that in 2012, some crooks in the cricket administration sought to safeguard their interests vis-à-vis a move to oust them as part of a campaign to cleanse SLC; they urged the ICC to impose a ban on SLC so that they could use it as a bludgeon against the government, but the then President Mahinda Rajapaksa summoned the SLC officials concerned and warned them against having SLC banned; they fell in line and stepped down. But President Wickremesinghe waited until the ICC suspended the SLC to use the suspension to pressure Sports Minister Ranasinghe to dissolve the newly-appointed cricket interim committee.

The unfolding drama in Parliament reminds us of what the current strange bedfellows used to say about one another before joining forces to safeguard their own interests. One may recall that during the Yahapalana regime, the Joint Opposition (JO) consisting of the dissident UPFA MPs opposed to the UNP-SLFP unity government, and their UNP counterparts staged two dramas in Parliament.

During a stormy parliamentary session, the UNP MPs burst into a noisy protest with the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe himself asking, “Kauda hora (who is the thief)?” and others chanting in chorus, “Mahinda hora (Mahinda is the thief)”. Not to be outdone, the JO members invaded the Well of the House, with one of them asking, “Kauda hora?”, and the other Rajapaksa loyalists shouting, “Ranil hora.” (Videos of these protests are available in the digital realm.) Today, Ranil and Mahinda are savouring power, together! Interestingly, Mahinda yesterday blamed the Yahapalana government for the current economic crisis, according to a news item in today’s edition of this newspaper.

Kleptocracy is not of recent origin in this country, which has been plagued by it for decades. Last year, the people took to the streets, asking for a system change, but the SLPP-UNP combine has succeeded in hoodwinking them and perpetuating the corrupt system, which is geared to serve the interests of crooks. There is no future for a nation in the grip of a kleptocracy.

It is incumbent upon all Sri Lankans who cherish democracy and good governance and are concerned about the future of their children, most of whom the corrupt in the garb of people’s representatives are driving out of the country, to summon the courage to stand up and be counted.

Those who intrepidly stick their necks out, as Ranasinghe has done, by taking on the politically-backed crooks, must be protected at any cost.

Editorial

Under the shadow of dictatorship

Published

3 days ago

2023/11/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Tuesday 28th November, 2023

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s plan to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) to probe the affairs of the Constitutional Council (CC) has run into stiff resistance from all those who cherish democracy and are concerned about the future of this country. Speaking in Parliament, last week, the President lambasted the CC for impeding the process of making appointments to high posts including those of the IGP and judges. He went so far as to accuse some CC members of sabotage while claiming that the CC was part of the executive.

President Wickremesinghe is obviously trying to intimidate the CC into toeing his line. He expects it to endorse all his decisions blindly. As the Prime Minister of the Yahapalana government, he reduced the CC to a mere appendage of the UNP. Old habits are said to die hard.

President Wickremesinghe has overstepped his executive limits and made a mockery of his commitment to upholding the separation of powers. He has the SLPP parliamentary group on a string, lords it over the legislature and even tells the Opposition MPs to shut up during parliamentary sessions! A timid Parliament, which cannot ever so much as tame a bunch of arrogant cricket administrators, yields to his dictates. Even judicial independence is under threat. Government MPs try to summon judges before the parliamentary Committee on Privileges and Ethics for giving rulings that are not to the liking of the Executive.

The CC is not there to humour the President or any other government leader for that matter. It was created to prevent the Executive from making appointments to high posts arbitrarily and ensure, among other things, the independence of vital state institutions. It cannot be expected to rubber-stamp the President’s decisions and facilitate the ascent of misfits with political connections to top positions in the state service. As Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa told President Wickremesinghe in Parliament, the other day, the latter should not expect the CC to be as subservient as the UNP Working Committee.

President Wickremesinghe has the legislature, the Attorney General, the Cabinet and the public service under his thumb and is trying to manipulate the CC and the Election Commission (EC). He also makes decisions on matters that are before courts in what may be considered a bid to influence the judiciary. He has said the Local Government (LG) elections, which he prevented the EC from conducting by refusing to release funds, will not be held until 2025. It is the EC that should decide on such matters and the President must not usurp the powers of that institution to compass his political ends. Above all, the postponement of the LG polls is a matter pending before court.

What we are witnessing are the unmistakable signs of the country heading for a dictatorship.

****

Victory for the corrupt

President Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday sacked Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe, derailing the latter’s campaign against corruption in cricket. The removal of Ranasinghe from the Cabinet must have gladdened the hearts of the crooks whom he courageously took on in a bid to save cricket from their clutches.

Now, a stooge will be handpicked as Ranasinghe’s successor and made to further the interests of the Cricket Mafia. The corrupt always have the last laugh in this country.

The Auditor General has, in one of his reports, revealed serious financial irregularities in the cricket administration, and it was based on those revelations that Ranasinghe, in his capacity as the Sports Minister, sacked the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) office-bearers and appointed an interim committee. The fate that has befallen him reminds us of the judgements of legendary King Kekille, who always punished the innocent parties in cases heard before him and set the wrongdoers free.

Ranasinghe deserves praise for his efforts to cleanse SLC, and he can rest assured that all cricket lovers are on his side. President Wickremesinghe is doing more of what brought about the downfall of the Yahapalana government, which also protected the corrupt unflinchingly.

The SLPP-UNP regime has demonstrated once again that it is a government of the corrupt by the corrupt for the corrupt.