Saturday 14th December, 2024

Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar has sought to address an issue that is expected to figure in talks between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shortly. Dissanayake is scheduled to leave for India tomorrow on a state visit. Minister Chandrasekar is reported to have said the longstanding fisheries dispute between Sri Lanka and India could be resolved only if the Indian fishers stop bottom-trawling. Indian fishermen are notorious for employing internationally banned fishing methods, which must be stopped. But that alone will not help solve the vexed issue.

A prerequisite for solving any problem is to identify it properly. The issue Sri Lanka has been struggling to tackle is poaching by the Tamil Nadu fishers in its territorial waters. Bottom trawling is only one aspect of that problem, which has remained intractable because India is wary of reining in the Tamil Nadu fishermen responsible for illegal fishing.

What needs to be addressed is the entire problem of illegal fishing and not a part of it. Poaching is essentially a legal issue and there cannot be a diplomatic solution to it. No foreigners must be allowed to fish in Sri Lankan waters, and all those who do so must be arrested and made to face the full force of the law. Similarly, Sri Lankan fishers must be told in no uncertain terms that if they fish in India’s or any other country’s territorial waters, they will do so at their own risk.

Interestingly, the Tamil Nadu fishers let out howls of protests when Sri Lanka dumped discarded vehicles in its territorial waters, in June 2021, as part of a programme to create artificial reefs. They claimed those submerged contraptions would damage their nets and affect their livelihoods! It was an admission on their part that they fished illegally in Sri Lankan waters and used banned methods. We argued in an editorial comment that more such end-of-life vehicles should be dumped into the sea to disrupt the Tamil Nadu fishermen’s bottom-trawling operations.

There is more to the issue of illegal fishing than economic costs and threats to local fisherfolk’s livelihoods. Smugglers, especially drug traffickers, use fishing craft to carry out their illegal operations, as evident from the huge hauls of narcotics frequently found in trawlers. Therefore, illegal vessel movements in a country’s territorial waters must be stopped at any cost. Smuggling operations also pose a serious threat to a nation’s national security. Sri Lankan criminals resort to boat escapes and carry out gun-running operations with the help of rogue fishers, both local and foreign. A strategy to stop these illegal operations consists in tackling the poaching issue.

It has been revealed that some Tamil Nadu politicians are behind poaching in Sri Lankan waters. Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, as the Fisheries Minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, pointed out that most of the Indian vessels involved in poaching belonged to Tamil Nadu politicians, who rented them out on the strict condition that they be used for fishing in Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. Those politicians are driven by an ulterior motive, and therefore illegal fishing by Tamil Nadu fishers at the behest of their political leaders could be considered a willful infringement of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

It is hoped that the NPP government will tread cautiously in addressing the issue of illegal fishing, without leaving any room for India to opt for piecemeal remedies instead of preventing the politically-backed Tamil Nadu fishers from blatantly violating Sri Lanka’s sovereign right to control and manage its marine resources.

Friday 13th December, 2024

The Opposition continues to crank up pressure on Speaker Asoka Ranwala to resign over what it calls his false claim to have a doctorate. The JVP-led NPP government may have expected its opponents’ campaign against the Speaker to fizzle out with the passage of time. In this country, controversies crop up at such a rate that one finds it well-nigh impossible to keep track of them, and that may be the reason why the government has chosen to remain silent on the issue of the Speaker’s educational qualifications. But the Opposition remains maniacally focused on the Speaker’s claim in question, and SJB MP Ajith Perera has gone on record as saying that unless Ranwala resigns forthwith, the Opposition will be compelled to move a motion of no confidence against him. The government has sought to make light of the situation, but in vain.

The allegation that the third citizen of the country has made a false claim and misled the public and Parliament is too serious to be glossed over. Having failed to obfuscate the issue, the government is now evading questions thereon. Its ostrich-like posturing will only worsen the situation; the problem will not go away, given the Opposition’s determined bid to make the JVP/NPP bite the bullet and have Speaker Ranwala step down.

The government finds itself in a quandary; if it continues to ignore calls for remedial action, its rivals will intensify their campaign against the Speaker, and if Ranwala succumbs to the Opposition’s pressure by any chance, that will be a huge comedown for the ruling alliance. However, the government cannot go on dilly-dallying and prevaricating indefinitely. It will have to grasp the nettle soon.

If Speaker Ranwala fails to prove that he has a doctorate, and the government refuses to take any action, the Opposition is likely to go ahead with its no-faith motion. The JVP-NPP combine will find itself in a more unenviable position in such an eventuality.

The government has a two-thirds majority in Parliament and therefore it can torpedo a no-confidence motion against the Speaker, but if it does so, its credibility and integrity will be at stake. While it was in opposition, it would take the moral high ground and tear all previous governments to shreds for defending their members who were in the wrong. Its frontal attacks on those administrations and its solemn pledge to usher in a new political culture resonated with the public, as evident from its spectacular electoral wins in the recent presidential and parliamentary elections. Therefore, it will have to be mindful of the moral aspects of its actions as much as their legality.

The JVP/NPP ascended to power by lowering the esteem of the national legislature in the eyes of the public with the help of an effective vilification campaign against the members of previous governments. It also pledged to raise the quality of the MPs and the standards of Parliament. In fact, it triggered a massive wave of anti-politics to make its victory possible. The issue of the incumbent Speaker’s educational qualifications and the Opposition’s campaign for his removal on the grounds that he has flaunted a fake doctorate is bound to have a corrosive effect on public trust in Parliament. This augurs ill for the country’s democratic wellbeing.

It is incumbent upon the leaders of all political parties represented in Parliament to have a serious discussion on the issue at hand and find a solution. They should do everything possible to obviate the need for a no-faith motion against the Speaker because such a situation would only further undermine public trust in the legislature and provide a big fillip to anti-politics.

The JVP/NPP is in a dilemma. While defending the Speaker, it has to safeguard the integrity of its civic morality initiative aimed at improving the moral and ethical standards of electors and the elected alike. One is reminded of the Juvenalian question: Who guards the guards themselves?

Thursday 12th December, 2024

Washington has given the JVP-led NPP government a much-needed leg-up while the latter’s political opponents are on the offensive, protesting against a host of unsolved issues that are likely to take their toll on the new administration’s approval rating. Public resentment is welling up, and the Opposition, which suffered a crushing defeat last month, is all out to recover lost ground and make an early comeback.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu said in Colombo over the weekend that the US government remained committed to supporting Sri Lanka’s on-going anti-corruption drive. His assurance must have gladdened the hearts of the NPP leaders. No sooner had Lu made that pledge than the US imposed sanctions on former CEO of SriLankan Airlines Kapila Chandrasena and former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga, and their immediate family members; the US said it had done so due to their involvement in ‘significant corruption’. Chandrasena has been designated for allegedly accepting a bribe for ensuring Sri Lanka purchased Airbus aircraft above the market value, and Weeratunga is facing sanctions for having allegedly benefited from a corrupt scheme involving the procurement of some MiG aircraft for the Sri Lanka Air Force.

US sanctions against Chandrasena and Weeratunga are welcome, but the question is why Washington has not targeted the masterminds behind the aforesaid corrupt deals. Chandrasena and Weeratunga are related to the Rajapaksa family, and it is now up to the NPP government to pull out all the stops and have the Airbus and MiG deals thoroughly probed. If it does so, it will be able to find out where the kickbacks ended up. Obviously, nobody would have been able to cut such mega corrupt deals without the blessings of the rulers of the day. If those who acted as fronts or collectors for their political masters are prosecuted successfully, the fear of having to serve long prison terms will make them reveal the truth.

Now that the US has offered to help trace Sri Lanka’s stolen funds and bring them back, the Dissanayake government should request Washington to probe the assets of those whom the JVP and the NPP accused of having amassed a great deal of ill-gotten wealth and stashed it away overseas. They have named and shamed the members of the Rajapaksa family. National Organiser of the SLPP and former Minister Namal Rajapaksa keeps daring the government to probe allegations against him and his family. So, why doesn’t the NPP government request Washington to probe the assets of the members of the Rajapaksa family in the US?

No one has drawn more flak from the JVP/NPP than Basil Rajapaksa for the various corrupt deals during the Rajapaksa rule. Political rivals of the Rajapaksa family have used him as a foil to make themselves out to be paragons of virtue. The JVP/NPP also gained much political traction by bashing Basil, and promising to probe his assets. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake often laments that investigations into an ‘ownerless’ palatial house at Malwana have hit a brick wall; the rivals of the SLPP claim that Basil had that house built through a front; they have not been able to substantiate that allegation. What prevents President Dissanayake from ordering a fresh probe into the Malwana mansion to find out the real owner of the property?

One may recall that in October 2014, speaking at a dairy farmers’ ceremony, Basil, who was a powerful minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government at the time, claimed that his situation was no better than that of an ordinary dairy farmer. He said he was a farmer’s son, and the only asset he had was a herd of dairy cows! That was how he sought to counter his critics’ claim that he had amassed ill-gotten wealth. So, if Basil has acquired assets that are worth more than a herd of cattle either here or in the US, he must be made to account for them. The US should be able to do so unless it is playing both sides of the fence, so to speak. After all, Basil is an American citizen.

While stumping for the NPP in the run-up to last month’s general election, President Dissanayake vowed to go all out to ‘catch the thieves of state assets’. It is high time he matched his words with deeds.