Editorial
Prez and PCs

Thursday 31st December, 2020
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Gama Samaga Pilisandarak (GSP) programme has apparently stood the people inhabiting far-flung corners of the country in good stead. The President seems to have taken a leaf out of the book of the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who made a name for himself as a man of action. President Premadasa launched a presidential mobile service (PMS), which he craftily used to make inroads into the provinces at the expense of the Provincial Councils (PCs). The fact that the people did not benefit from the PCs and were desperate to have their problems solved expeditiously made the PMS hugely popular. It also served as an indictment of both the PCs and the public service, characterised by lethargy, inefficiency and callousness.
The ongoing GSP is a presidential mobile service in all but name. However, President Rajapaksa has, to his credit, taken steps to reduce the cost thereof to a bare minimum; it is not a political dog and pony show as such, but it can be considered part of his re-election campaign.
One may argue that there are huge crowds at the GSP venues because people love to see the President and make various appeals to him. But the fact remains that they are faced with burning problems. Most of their complaints to the President are related to bureaucratic bungling, scarcity of water, lack of infrastructural facilities and seemingly intractable issues pertaining to agriculture, their children’s education and, most of all, rural poverty. These problems have gone unaddressed all these years despite the existence of the PCs with 455 members. The blame for this sorry state of affairs should also be apportioned to 225 MPs and more than 8,000 members of the local government institutions. Hardly anything gets done in this country without a presidential intervention.
If the past PC members had served the public faithfully and cared to solve their problems, people would have taken to the streets calling for the PC polls. The yahapalana government postponed the local government and PC polls for fear of defeat, but in so doing, it proved, albeit unwittingly, that the people did not care whether these institutions exited or not. The same holds true for Parliament as well to some extent in that there were no popular protests when the last general election was postponed for months.
Meanwhile, the government decision against holding the PC polls anytime soon is welcome. It has only made a virtue of necessity. An electoral exercise at this juncture is a recipe for disaster. There is no shying away from the fact that the national healthcare system is reaching breaking point, and the death toll from the pandemic is likely to rise exponentially, perhaps necessitating the setting up of triage tents at hospitals unless the runaway virus is brought under control urgently.
Opposition to devolution is growing. The opponents of the PCs maintain that the country has done without the elected PC members for two years or so and, therefore, the PC polls must not be held at all. They are also calling for the abolition of the PC system. Most vociferous among the critics of the PC are some Buddhist monks. The government has not taken kindly to their campaign. Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara, an ardent supporter of the PC system, while returning from a party leaders’ meeting, where the PC polls were discussed, on Monday, sought to pooh-pooh the monks’ protests, when he was interviewed by the media. He said the monks were not party leaders, implying that they should not be taken seriously as regards their opposition to the PC system.
Comrade Vasu is one of the few politicians people do not dislike. But he needs to be told that it is not only party leaders who should have a say in matters concerning the affairs of this nation; there are other stakeholders, whose views should be heeded. Religious leaders are among them. This, however, does not mean that the clergy should be allowed to run parallel governments or make unfair demands. Similarly, party leaders are vested with no power to commit the country to anything irrevocably at the expense of the national interest. The argument that a nationwide referendum should have been held on the 13th Amendment, which added another tier of government, posing a threat to the unitary status of the state holds water.
The popularity President Rajapaksa’s GSP is proof that the colossal amounts of funds allocated to the PCs have not benefited the rural folk, who have a plethora of problems, which have remained unsolved for more than three decades since the PCs were established. It is doubtful whether their lot will improve in any way even if the PC polls are held and new councillors returned. The proponents of the PC system will have a hard time, trying to counter the arguments being put forth against the PCs.
Editorial
Honorable MP in the Customs net

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.
Editorial
It’s asset disclosures, stupid!

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?
Editorial
Babes in arms!

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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