Midweek Review

National Voters’ Day celebration amidst economic chaos, deepening political uncertainty

Published

4 years ago

2022/03/16

EC Chairman Punchihewa handing over their proposals to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, at the Galadari Hotel. The President Rajapaksa, in spite of contesting the last presidential election on the SLPP ticket, is not a member of that political party.(Pic courtesy PMD)

Poor response from political parties

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Nimal Punchihewa, soft spoken Chairman of the Election Commission (EC), didn’t mince his words when he underscored the loss of public confidence as well as overall disappointment in the electoral system last week. Punchihewa stressed the need for far reaching changes in the electoral system while reiterating the EC’s proposals meant to improve and discipline utterly corrupt and wasteful electoral processes. The continuing failure on the part of Parliament to address the grievances of the electorate would be catastrophic and may pose a threat to political stability, he warned.

Attorney-at-Law Punchihewa said so at the ‘National Celebration of Voters’ held at the Galadari Hotel, Colombo, on March 11, the first such event since the establishment of the independent EC in terms of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.

The House enacted the 19th Amendment, in early 2015, with an overwhelming 2/3 majority. However, the present five-member EC, headed by Punchihewa, came into being in Dec 2020 in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in October of the same year, repealing the trouble ridden 19th Amendment, especially when it came to members of so-called independent commissions, some of whom behaved as if they were a law unto themselves. At least one lawyer, in one such commission had the audacity to attack the Opposition in a partisan way outside his ambit.

Punchihewa, one-time public servant and civil society activist, explained the remedial measures that could be taken to address deficiencies and limitations in the electoral system.

The EC Chairman also discussed the need for punitive measures against offending lawmakers, regardless of their standing in society and the contentious issue of campaign funding. The EC Chief pointed out how both external and internal elements could influence political parties through campaign funding.

Punchihewa, who had served the previous EC, too, cannot be unaware of the way then US Secretary of State John Kerry’s boastful public declaration in 2016 how they funded Sri Lanka’s Opposition at the 2015 national elections (presidential and parliamentary polls in January and August, 2015, respectively) and similar stunts in several other countries.

The EC never inquired into the matter of the US interference in Lankan polls after openly boasting of it, even though the issue was raised both in and outside Parliament. The writer personally raised the US interference with the previous three- member EC, headed by Mahinda Deshapriya, but the outfit always side-stepped the issue. Even the European Union Election Observation Mission sidestepped the issue when the matter was raised at a media briefing held at the Colombo Hilton.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Chief Government Whip Dinesh Gunawardena, Foreign Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris, who is also the Chairman of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peremuna (SLPP) and Punchihewa’s predecessor, Mahinda Deshapriya, were among those in the audience. Deshapriya now serves as the Chairman of the Delimitation Committee. The EC attracted criticism during Deshapriya’s tenure as the outfit’s Chairman with the controversial recognition of the now main Opposition Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) in early 2020 being one of the major controversies. The breakaway UNP faction won 54 seats, including seven National List slots at the expense of the UNP at the Aug 2020 general election. The UNP was reduced to just one National List member that was also filled months, after the lapsing of the stipulated time, to fill National List slots.

Punchihewa dealt with the EC’s one-year progress since its appointment in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution and the way forward for a better democracy after Saman Sri Ratnayake, Commissioner General of the Election Commission, greeted the invitees. Reference was made to the absence of Opposition Leader and leader of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) Sajith Premadasa. SJB members were not seen though the UNP Chairman and former Minister Vajira Abeywardena, attended the event.

Punchihewa, one-time EC’s Director General, Legal, emphasised the urgent need to introduce, what he called, quite a lot of amendments to existing laws to achieve the desired results. Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam, PC, was among the invitees. Perhaps, the EC should have invited Auditor General W.P.C. Wickramaratne, whose officers have, over the years, exposed how lawmakers, Secretaries to the Ministries, senior officials and some sections of the public sector, caused the revenue losses to the government, running into billions of rupees.

Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena recently acknowledged, at the Public Petitions Committee, the failure on their part to implement recommendations of parliamentary watchdog committees. Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) Prof. Charitha Herath, too, has on several occasions pointed out lapses in the law contributed to the deterioration of public finances. But, the powers that be have chosen to turn a blind eye.

In a way, Punchihewa’s statement is nothing but condemnation of the utterly corrupt political party system that has ruined the country. But, the EC should also work closely with the Auditor General, if the Commission is seriously interested in, the much-touted ‘system change.’ Corruption has become a way of public life with the Parliament, responsible for enactment of new laws and ensuring financial discipline, has pathetically failed in its responsibilities. The situation is so bad and appears to be out of control, the Parliament has become a mere spectator as the parliamentary system of governance continues to promote waste, corruption and irregularities by not taking remedial measures. The reports issued by the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), the Committee on Public Accounts (COPA) and the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) reveal corruption at every level.

The event at Galadari could have been held without high tea as well as wholly unnecessary dance performances at a time the vast majority of voters, regardless of the candidate and the party they voted for at the last presidential and parliamentary elections in Nov 2019 and Aug 2020, respectively, were struggling to make ends meet.

Although 15 political parties/groups represented the current Parliament, only a few were present on the occasion. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) as well as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) were very conspicuous by their absence. General Secretary of the Democratic Left Front and Water Supply Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara, in spite of breaking ranks with the government over the SLPP’s economic policy, sat with SLPP leaders whereas his rebellious former ministerial colleagues, Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila too were notable absentees. Nanayakkara along with Weerawansa and Gammanpila backed the fundamental rights petitions against the Yugadanavi deal (sale of 40 percent of Treasury owned shares of the power station to the US-based New Fortress Energy along with the controversial move to hand over a monopolistic position on supplying of LNG). The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the petitions. The SC didn’t give an order but stated the submissions were considered and leave to proceed refused. The SC didn’t give reasons at all though the case was heard for several days. When making submissions AG Rajaratnam said that the court should maintain harmony with the executive.

It would be pertinent to recall the devastating accident at an insecticide plant in India in the 80s.

On December 3, 1984, about 45 tonness of the dangerous gas methyl isocyanate escaped from an insecticide plant that was owned by the Indian subsidiary of the American firm Union Carbide Corporation. The gas drifted over the densely populated neighbourhoods around the plant, killing thousands of people immediately and creating panic as tens of thousands of others attempted to flee the area. The final death toll was estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000. Some half a million survivors suffered respiratory problems, eye irritation or blindness, and other maladies, resulting from exposure to the toxic gas; many were awarded compensation of a few hundred dollars

(Britannica). And for some inexplicable reasons the Indian Supreme Court upheld that pittance of a compensation package! Indian Chief Justice at the time P.N. Bhagawati, when he came to Sri Lanka as a champion of peace about a decade ago, a cheeky Lankan journalist asked him about that controversial decision of the Indian Supreme Court and he got virtually tongue tied and avoided answering the question.

A House in turmoil

Can political chaos be addressed through electoral reforms and constitutional amendments? Has the EC really examined the current crisis and how political uncertainty, in addition to waste, corruption and irregularities, contributed to the overall deterioration of the country’s financial status and unprecedented instability.

A few hours after the end of the National Voters’ day celebration, the government announced an inevitable increase in diesel and petrol prices. It would be pertinent to mention that India, too, now exercise the right to intervene here by way of revising fuel prices. Lanka India Oil Company (LIOC) that set up base here in 2003, is affiliated to Indian Oil Corporation Limited that comes under the purview of its Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

One-time distinguished career diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri, who had served the Indian High Commission in Colombo during the volatile1984-1988 period when Indian-trained terrorists waged war against Sri Lanka, is India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs. Rightly or wrongly he was then suspected to be involved in much more than diplomacy by especially those who saw how he and his wife lobbied certain key journalists behind the scene and the clout they wielded.

On March 10, the day LIOC announced staggering price increases in petrol and diesel that caused turmoil here, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner in New Delhi Milinda Moragoda met Minister Puri. The meeting took place at the Ministry of Urban Affairs in New Delhi. Let me reproduce a statement verbatim issued by the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi following the meeting between Moragoda and Puri: “At the outset, High Commissioner Moragoda thanked Minister Puri for the assistance that India has provided to Sri Lanka as envisaged under the four-pillars of cooperation, agreed during the visit of Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to India in December last year, in particular the USD 500 million line of credit to purchase petroleum products. Additional assistance, too, has been provided by India to enhance Sri Lanka’s petroleum stocks.

“High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda also briefed Minister Puri on the challenges that Sri Lanka is currently facing as regards to the supply and distribution of petroleum products and their impact on the Country’s energy sector. The High Commissioner and the Minister discussed modalities through which India and Sri Lanka could further expand cooperation in the petroleum sector to help overcome the present crisis.

The discussion also focused on a range of issues pertaining to the energy sector, including ways and means through which Sri Lanka could establish long-term strategic ties in the petroleum, oil, gas and related logistics sectors.”

The Government increased fuel prices at midnight on March 11 following LIOC price revisions on Feb 06, 24 and March 10 that resulted in the sharpest difference in retail price of a litre of petrol and diesel at LIOC and Ceypetco service stations, Rs 92 and Rs 77, respectively. The bottom line is that Sri Lanka’s pricing formula is in the hands of India.

That is the unpalatable truth. Obviously, there is no mechanism to ensure that upward or downward revisions of fuel prices are decided through consultations. Instead, a foreign power can take that decision on our behalf. In other words, Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister is actually former High Commission staffer Puri.

How can EC ensure political parties do not follow agendas inimical to Sri Lanka’s national interests? Recent high profile but unsubstantiated accusations that had been directed at Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa over him pursuing a pro-American agenda are a matter for concern.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa removed Jathika Nidahas Peramuna (JNP) leader Wimal Weerawansa and Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) leader Udaya Gammanpila from Industries and Energy portfolios, respectively, following their clash with Basil Rajapaksa, who is also the founder of the SLPP. The political turmoil has taken a new turn with the SJB stepping up attacks on Basil Rajapaksa in Parliament.

The Opposition repeatedly questioned Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena over Basil Rajapaksa remaining mum in Parliament over the rapid deterioration of the economy. The failure on the part of political parties represented in Parliament to reach a consensus on national response to the current crisis is evidenced by the plight of the electorate. Instead, a sharply divided government has allowed the deterioration by refusing to take remedial measures.

The Opposition has sought to exploit the situation to its advantage whereas a section of the parliamentarians, including some of those accommodated on the SLPP National List, angered the top SLPP leadership by presenting an alternative set of proposals meant to restore the devastated economy.

The EC cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the utter chaos in Parliament and outside for want of a national response at a time of unprecedented crisis.

EC on key issues

The EC comprised five persons, namely Nimal Punchihewa, S.B. Divaratne, K.P.P. Pathirana, M.M. Mohammed and P.S.M. Charles, the only lady in the outfit. The EC has made representations to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms as well as the nine-member Committee, headed by Romesh de Silva, PC. The EC representations dealt with electoral reforms and constitutional reforms, respectively. The writer would like to briefly discuss the touchy issue of the need to reduce the number of registered political parties and the proposal to recall those who pursue strategies contrary to the pledges they made at the election and in the printed manifestos of the respective political parties.

Having asserted that the country cannot afford to continue with 76 registered political parties, the EC has proposed ways and means to reduce that number. Examination of EC’s proposals submitted to the PSC and Romesh de Silva’s committee proves how unsatisfying the current situation is.

A sensible Parliament will certainly give serious consideration to EC’s proposals. Nothing can be as important as the proposal to recall lawmakers if they stepped out of line. Will leaders of political parties have the strength to accept the proposal to establish a mechanism to remove MPs?

The recent dismissal of charges in respect of the Treasury bond scam perpetrated on March 29, 2016, by the Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar due to the flawed indictments raised many eyebrows. Yahapalana Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake has been among those who benefited as a result of the AG’s lapse. The indictments had been filed during Dappula de Livera, PC’s tenure as the AG. Sanjay Rajaratnam succeeded de Livera in May last year.

The Trial-at-Bar comprising Damith Thotawatte (Chairman), Manjula Thilakaratne and M. Izzadeen by a majority decision dismissed the relevant charges.

Can anyone explain the circumstances under which the indictment had been filed against the Perpetual Treasuries Limited (PTL) contrary to the Public Property Act? The AG’s Department cannot be unaware that in terms of the Public Property Act indictments can be filed only against individuals.

The Trial-at-Bar ruling should be examined against the backdrop of the AG and the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) withdrawing as much as over 50 cases since the last presidential election, in addition to the cases dismissed by various courts.

The AG as well as the CIABOC owed explanation as to how so many cases failed to achieve desired results or were withdrawn under controversial circumstances. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) and the civil society should raise these issues. Can BASL and civil society remain silent as the situation continues to deteriorate?

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Midweek Review

NPP drowning in sea of scams

Published

6 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

6 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