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?

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.

Thursday 25th May, 2023

The outcome of yesterday’s vote in Parliament came as no surprise. The government secured 123 votes for its resolution to oust Public Utilities Commission (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Ratnayake. The Opposition could muster only 77 votes. The government can now install one of its stooges as the PUCSL head and have all its decisions rubber-stamped.

As for winning against the government, Ratnayake had the same chances as a badger engaged in a fight with a pack of mastiffs.

There will be no official with a backbone to oppose unconscionable power tariff increases hereafter, and it will be smooth sailing for the government. The power sector has become a metaphor for corruption in this country, and all governments go to any lengths to ensure that they can cut shady deals. So, the incumbent dispensation must be thinking that it will be able to do as it likes with the PUCSL as a mere appendage of it. Ruling party politicians and their crooked cronies must be on cloud nine.

The SLPP-UNP combine is obviously elated that it has demonstrated once again that it has a clear majority in Parliament. Some Opposition MPs were not present in the House at the time of voting, yesterday, according to media reports. Did they back the government by being absent and thereby ensuring that the Opposition would not be able to muster enough numbers to defeat the resolution?

Parliamentary majorities, however, are deceptive. A government can retain its parliamentary strength by engineering crossovers or entering into pacts with other political parties. It can also use ministerial posts to lure Opposition MPs. One may recall that the UNP-led Yahapalana government had a working majority in Parliament even after the SLFP’s breakaway in October 2018; the UNP even succeeded in scuttling the then President Maithripala Sirisena’s attempt to form a government with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Prime Minister. But the UNP suffered its worst-ever defeat at the general election that followed.

Government politicians may be able to enrich themselves further thanks to the outcome of yesterday’s vote in Parliament, but they cannot dupe the public into believing that it is politically strong, for it is gripped by a fear of elections.

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Unholy broken promise

The government is drawing heavy flak from some prominent Buddhist monks, who insist that it has reneged on its promise to make funds available for the State Poson festival scheduled to be held at the Mihintale Raja Maha Vihara. Chief Incumbent of the historical temple, Ven. Valawahengunawewe Dhammarathana Thera has expressed his displeasure at the government’s failure to allocate money. He says he is left with no alternative but to beg for funds.

This problem would not have arisen if the government had made a policy decision to stop funding festivals. Now that it has undertaken to fund the Poson festival at Mihintale, it has to honour its pledge. Some ruling party politicians have said money has already been allocated, but Dhammarathana Thera has denied their claim.

All ceremonies that cause a severe stress on the public purse must be cancelled in view of the current economic crisis. The government should have called off the Independence Day celebrations (2023), saved funds and put them to a better use like purchasing essential drugs for the state-run hospitals. It also held the Republic Perahera in Kandy!

An outspoken critic of the government, Dhammarathana Thera, unlike most other monks, is known for his courage to tell the self-important political leaders who visit him some home truths. One wonders whether this is the reason why government assistance for his temple is not forthcoming.

It behoves the government to stop quarrelling with Dhammarathana Thera and take action to ensure that his grievances are redressed and the State Poson Festival will be held as scheduled, and, more importantly, decide against allocating funds for festivals, religious or otherwise, thereafter.