Features
WHY THE HURRY ABOUT 20A?
by Professor G. L. Peiris
Minister Of Education
May I begin by expressing my appreciation to the Kandy Professionals Association for embarking on this very timely initiative of meeting every month, on a Sunday, to discuss in depth the issues involving constitutional reform, and the way forward in our country. I consider this an exercise of immediate relevance and value.
The decision by the Government to present to the Cabinet of Ministers the text of the 20th Amendment to modify significantly the contents of the 19th Amendment and, after obtaining the approval of the Cabinet, to move the Amendment in Parliament, has attracted considerable public interest and discussion. As a preliminary to this, I think it is important to explain to the country the need for this. The public should have a clear understanding of the rationale underpinning this reform. This is all the more necessary because of the elaborate myths which have been assiduously cultivated, skilfully spread, by vested interests throughout the spectrum of our society.
The core of their argument is that the retention of the 19th Amendment is essential to preserve seminal values which we all believe in – the Rule of Law, independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers. They contend that removal or reform of the 19th Amendment is an act of treachery and that all must stand firm against it. If this is allowed to happen, so they contend, the result will be a mortal blow struck against human rights, democracy and seminal institutions including Parliament. The argument, set forth in the most emotional terms, needs to be assessed in the light of cold reason. What is the truth of this? Nothing is more crucial at this point than to inform the public mind about the reality of the current situation.
It is strenuously contended by interested parties that the 19th Amendment brought immense benefits in its wake, and that it has to be protected at any cost. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is for the entrenchment of narrow vested interests that this intricately orchestrated campaign, fortified by abundant resources and closely knit organization, has been launched. Why is 20A necessary? For a variety of reasons, no doubt. But chief among them, indisputably, is the maintenance of law and order – essential as it is for the protection of life and limb. This takes precedence over all other obligations – development in the economic, social and cultural fields.
This, then, is the principal and indispensable obligation of the State. If this duty is not fulfilled, all else become illusory.
What impact did the 19th Amendment have in this regard? The 19th Amendment categorically states that the President is debarred from holding any portfolios. Who is the President? He is the leader elected by the entire population of the country by the free exercise of the franchise. The inalienable duty of the President is the security of the State and the People. But the 19th Amendment prevents him from functioning as the Minister of Defence. We emphatically reject this position.
The 19th Amendment did contain a transitional provision. That, however, was limited in its operation to former President Maithripala Sirisena, who was permitted to hold the portfolio of Environment and Mahaveli Development during his tenure of the Presidency. This was an individual-centric provision which did not apply to Presidents who succeeded him.
For all other Presidents, the 19th Amendment imposes an inflexible bar against the holding of any portfolio, including Defence. Arguably, Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution, read together, allow and indeed require, the President to hold the Defence portfolio, but this is a matter that would require judicial interpretation, in the event of a challenge in the Courts. Is this uncertainty and ambiguity desirable? Does it buttress or destroy the human rights and democracy which are sanctimoniously appealed to?
The 19th Amendment involves a basic conundrum. Articles 3 and 4 have the effect that the President is the repository of the Executive power of the State. Article 4(b) makes it clear that the defence of the nation is an integral and inseparable element of Executive power.
The defence of the country, then, is the sacred duty of the President. This is, without question, his responsibility. What he lacks, however, is the authority required to fulfil this responsibility. Here lies a fundamental contradiction, entailing as it does dire consequences for the nation’s security.
Prior to the enactment of the 19th Amendment, the Constitution of Sri Lanka contained explicit provision in respect of Urgent Bills. In the event of an unexpected contingency, an Urgent Bill could be presented to Parliament within seven days. The legislative process in ordinary circumstances, Is cumbersome and protracted: it may not enable a swift response to an unanticipated situation. To cater for this, the pre-19A law made provision for rapid intervention through the mechanism of Urgent Bills. It is this statutory provision that is abolished by 19A which compulsorily requires an interval of 14 days before legislation is introduced in Parliament. It is scarcely difficult to conceive of contexts in which this could imperil the safety and security of our country.
We have recently seen before our very eyes the horrendous consequences that were brought about by 19A. It created, in its foundation, two potentially warring centres of power. If the President and the Prime Minister belong to different political parties, we saw for ourselves the intensity of the conflicts, in terms of values, policy and even personalities, which arose in the day to day practice of Governance. It is the people of this country that paid an exorbitant price for this state of affairs. As many as 265 valuable lives were lost in the Easter Sunday carnage. To whom do we attribute responsibilities for this calamity? The Prime Minster says: “What can I do? I am not even invited to the National Security Council”. Indeed, meetings of the Council were not held for months on end. Was information conveyed to the President available to the Prime Minister, and vice versa? There was an internal tug of war – working not together but at odds with each other.
It is in the heat of this battle that the security of the nation collapsed altogether. The evidence being given on a daily basis before the Presidential Commission investigating this tragedy, is truly alarming. On the day this occurred, I was in Munich, Germany. On the following day the New York Times – a world renowned newspaper – carried on its first page the names, telephone numbers and addresses of those who were said to be involved in planning and executing this catastrophe.
Indian intelligence had brought these particulars to the attention of the Sri Lankan Government not once, but repeatedly. However, because of the internal dissensions which went from bad to worse, nothing whatever was done to avert the tragedy.
If there had been no 19A, responsibility would have been clear and undivided. What 19A did was to split it up and create chaos. The results are a permanent blemish on our national conscience. These are the matters of which the public should be informed.
What is the constant refrain of those who insist on the retention of the 19A? They proclaim the sanctity of the separation of powers, and regard authority in an individual or institution as the death knell of democracy and the basic elements of democratic culture. They assert their resolve to resist with the utmost vigour any attempt to dismantle the dual structure embedded in 19A. Is this an acceptable position?
At its very root, 19A elevated several institutions above the President. It took away the authority, hitherto vested in the President, to make appointments to high offices in the public service and the security establishment, including the Police. It characterised the retention of this authority in the hands of the President as a danger against which the public need to be protected.
On this footing the President was shorn of these powers. But to whom were they then transferred? To a Constitutional Council dominated by representatives of non-governmental organisations. This Constitutional Council is at the apex of the structure established by 19A, and wields the authority to constitute each and all of the Commissions which are said to be independent. Without the recommendations, or the approval, of this all-powerful body, the President is no longer empowered to make crucial appointments to the public service and the Police. In this regard the President is subordinated to this body – the Constitutional Council – which is sought to be sanctified as the embodiment of integrity, impartiality and probity.
Let us take a closer look at this body, close to being deified. Its membership includes persons who can in no way be regarded as legitimate representatives of the people. The whole object of the exercise, so the protagonists of the 19A whereby, stridently tell us, is to ensure depoliticisation of the State. Their contention is that everything in our country has become progressively politicised, and that the time has come to evolve a constitutional process where persons of undoubted rectitude, far removed from partisan politics, and professing fidelity to the highest moral and ethical standards, are vested with this awesome responsibility.
This is an absolute myth. Can it be maintained, by any stretch of the imagination, that the personnel constituting these Commissions are not tainted by partisan politics? A few examples will suffice. Professor Hoole is a member of the supposedly independent Elections Commission. He is expected to be apolitical. And yet, in an interview with a TV channel, he exhorted the public not to vote for the SLPP; he said that, if they were to do so, they would certainly regret their decision in the future. Can there be a more partisan intervention, coming as it has from a member of a Commission exalted as the zenith of objectivity and political neutrality? The yawning chasm between aspiration and reality is all too evident. Practice on the ground belies the grandiose pretence.
The Elections Commission is itself the creature of the Constitutional Council, identified by 19A as the source from which all the Commissions derive their authority. Mr. Javid Yusuf is a member of this overarching body. His impartiality is, therefore, by definition, axiomatic. Nevertheless, he makes so bold as to declare to the country at large in uncompromising terms, at a public forum: “Whatever you do refrain from giving the Lotus Bud a two-thirds majority. If you do this, you cannot evade responsibility for pushing the country to the brink of disaster”. Words to this effect are unabashedly uttered by a representative of the supreme body which functions as the fons et origo of all the “independent” Commissions.
Faced with this uninspiring reality, I state without hesitation that these “independent” Commissions brought into being by 19A are far more politicised than any other practicing politician in this country. It is to Commissions of this ilk that powers denied to the President of the country are supinely entrusted.
Here is a state of affairs which defies rational understanding, by any criterion. The position of apologists for 19A is, at bottom, the following: conferment of these powers on the President is preposterous and unthinkable; they represent an intolerable affront to the basic elements of democratic culture, and to the essence of human rights. However, these same powers, in the hands of institutions created in the manner defined by 19A, are innocuous and entirely acceptable.
Does this bear scrutiny for a moment? The President of the Republic is elected by all the people of our country, for the finite period of five years, at an Islandwide election. If they are dissatisfied with his performance at the end of his tenure, they have every right and power to reject him at the conclusion of this period. But can the people, in whom sovereignty resides according to the Constitution, make a similar decision is respect of the members of the Constitutional Council and the “independent” Commissions? They are a law unto themselves, accountable to no one.
During the last few months, the President, the Cabinet of Ministers and Parliament have all changed in keeping with the democratically expressed will of the People. But members of the Constitutional Council and the “independent” Commissions remain entrenched in their positions, impervious to the winds of change. Is this defensible as the epitome of a structure of democratic governance, to be acclaimed widely?
Nowhere are the effects of the dichotomy established by 19A more apparent than in the domain of the economy. Ever increasing volumes of debt cannot provide a sustainable avenue for economic advancement. President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, in his Manifesto, has explicitly underlined the importance of resiling from the debt trap. The answer is investment, which is certainly feasible, but subject to obvious conditions. The essential requisite is confidence.
In the current intensely competitive international environment for investment, confidence has to be engendered by appropriate policy initiatives. Would any investor look seriously at Sri Lanka as a destination for investment, given the conditions generated by 19A?
The contemporary Yahapalana experience under the aegis of 19A was that the Prime Minister, in the exercise of authority conferred on him, established a Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM) which, in effect, arrogated to itself, under his Chairmanship, the authority to make major decisions straddling the whole spectrum of the economy, these decision being submitted to Cabinet for its mere formal imprimatur. President Sirisena, increasingly incensed by what he saw as the relegation of the Cabinet with regard to economic matters, in due course found his patience exhausted, and eventually intervened by doing away with the Prime Minister’s brainchild and substituting for it a novel institution, the National Economic Council, under his own superintendence and direction. A few months later, however, he dismissed his own handpicked Chairman of this body, declaring that the officer concerned, although drawing a handsome salary, was seldom in the country. This state of things is hardly likely to offer any incentive for investment in Sri Lanka.
These developments provide the backdrop for a series of reflections. Empirical experience has convincingly demonstrated the weakness of the foundations of 19A. In truth, political power is not to be viewed with innate fear or obsessive suspicion. The contrary is a facile assumption, intuitively made with a total lack of dispassionate thought. Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia are telling examples of Asian countries which could not have achieved the remarkable economic development they did accomplish without the advantage of strong Executive authority.
Admittedly, any system of democratic governance must contain viable checks and balances. However, as with everything else in life, there needs to be a sense of proportion. If the Executive is to be so constrained and hamstrung in every way as to make coherent decision making and movement forward impossible, the inevitable outcome is stagnation, or worse, anarchy.
This is the sad legacy of 19A which is now sought to be swept away as a matter of urgent priority.
Features
Time and timing as currency
The phrase “Time is Money” emphasizes the idea that time has great value, and wasting it is akin to losing money. This concept has origins in the 15th century, with Croatian merchant Benedetto Cotrugli first coining it in his book Della Mercatura et Del Mercante Perfetto. Later, Benjamin Franklin, a U.S. founding father, popularized it with his quote “Remember that time is money” in 1748.
Today we discuss “Time is Money” highlighting examples from various perspectives. A businessman missing a critical meeting or a student not studying, demonstrates how time directly influences success and financial gain. Moreover, while money lost can often be regained, time once spent cannot be recovered, reinforcing that time is, in fact, more precious.
Intrinsic value
The concept of “Time is Money” highlights the intrinsic value of time, equating its loss to financial loss as pointed out by Benedetto Cotrugli far back in the 15th century. Centuries later, it popularized US President Franklin. This phrase has since been a guiding principle across various aspects of life, demonstrating how time’s value directly influences success and financial gains.
From a business and academic standpoint, the effective use of time is essential. For example, a businessman missing a critical meeting or a student failing to study, illustrates how time, when used or wasted, can significantly impact financial and personal outcomes. Unlike money, which can often be recovered, time once lost is irretrievable, thus making it a more precious resource. In many fields, success is closely tied to effective time management; patients and entrepreneurs alike understand that timely actions can save lives and ensure financial success. A story that illustrates this concept is of a boy who saves money to buy a day with his busy father, emphasizing how valuable time can be over wealth.
Time value of money in finance
“Time is Money” thus encourages efficient and purposeful living. The Time Value of Money (TVM) builds on this principle and is a foundational concept in finance. It emphasizes that money available today is worth more than the same amount in the future because of its potential earning capacity, what we call inflation. This principle applies widely across business, consumer, and governmental finance and is critical for understanding investments, loans, and financial planning. TVM means that a rupee today can be invested to generate future returns, making it more valuable than a rupee received later. As a result, individuals and businesses use TVM to assess and select investment opportunities that balance risk and potential returns.
Impact on global markets
TVM plays a critical role in both domestic and international finance, impacting global markets where companies and governments manage debt and capital for growth. International Capital Markets allow firms to raise funds worldwide, thereby contributing to global economic expansion. For instance, companies invest internationally not necessarily for immediate returns but for anticipated future gains, applying TVM principles to build long-term value. The U.S. Treasury also applies TVM principles in managing federal debt through government securities, balancing debt while leveraging interest earnings.
In essence, the TVM concept underscores the importance of timing in financial decisions, shaping investment strategies and market dynamics globally. From personal time management to international finance, “Time is Money” remains a core principle, reinforcing time’s unique and finite value.
Essay on Time and Timing
Time is an invaluable resource, often equated with money, wellness, and success in various life domains. The concept of time underlies much of human decision-making, from financial planning to emotional well-being, and its management directly influences outcomes in both personal and professional arenas. This essay explores the multifaceted aspects of time and timing, focusing on the time value of money, the role of time in healing and overcoming depression, time constraints in knowledge testing, effective timing in life decisions, and optimal timing in business decisions.
The Time Value of Money
The time value of money (TVM) is a foundational principle in finance, underscoring the importance of timing in monetary value. The core idea is that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future due to its potential earning capacity. This concept justifies why investors prioritize earlier returns over delayed ones and highlights the impact of inflation, opportunity costs, and risk. TVM emphasizes that financial decisions should consider not only the amount but also the timing of cash flows, as compounded growth can significantly alter future values. Effective timing in financial investments, such as retirement planning and portfolio management, thus heavily relies on an understanding of the time value of money.
Time as a Remedy for Depression
Time can also play a therapeutic role in mental health, particularly in addressing depression. The concept of “time as a healer” is widely recognized, as time allows individuals to process and recover from emotional setbacks. According to Harvard psychologist Susan David, allowing oneself time to feel and understand emotions can promote psychological flexibility and resilience. Research suggests that the passage of time aids emotional regulation by helping individuals reframe negative experiences and develop coping mechanisms. Structured timelines, such as setting gradual goals for recovery or adopting cognitive behavioural strategies over time, can support those struggling with depression. Here, timing is critical: forcing recovery can lead to frustration, while a well-paced approach respects the natural course of emotional healing.
Limiting Time for Testing Knowledge
The role of time in education and assessments illustrates another facet of timing’s importance. Time-limited tests are designed to evaluate not only knowledge but also the ability to retrieve and apply information under pressure. This approach is supported by theories of cognitive load, which suggest that time constraints challenge students to prioritize critical information and employ effective recall strategies. However, excessive time constraints may undermine the accuracy of knowledge assessment by inducing anxiety rather than promoting knowledge demonstration. Balancing timing in testing allows educators to gauge genuine understanding while fostering confidence and reducing test-related stress.
Timing in Effective Life Decisions
Timing is equally vital in personal life decisions, such as marriage, career changes, or retirement. Decisions made at appropriate times, considering life stage, external circumstances, and personal readiness, are more likely to yield positive outcomes. Psychologists suggest that a “readiness stage” approach, where individuals assess their mental and emotional preparedness for major life changes, can be beneficial. For instance, early career transitions may benefit from flexibility, while later transitions may require more stability and planning due to financial and familial obligations. Additionally, studies in decision-making indicate that hasty decisions often result in regret, underscoring the importance of well-timed, thoughtful life choices.
Timing in Business Decision-Making
In the business world, timing decisions are critical to competitive advantage and profitability. Decisions such as market entry, product launches, and mergers require precise timing to optimize outcomes. Market entry timing, for example,
can determine a business’s initial success; early entry in a growing market can yield significant rewards, while delays may lead to missed opportunities and diminished market share. Timing is also crucial in investment decisions, where factors such as interest rates, inflation, and competitor actions should be considered. Decision-makers often employ timing strategies to mitigate risks and align with favourable market conditions, illustrating that the timing of business decisions significantly influences long-term success.
Maximizing Efficiency and Wealth Across Industries
Time plays a crucial role in aligning resources effectively to boost efficiency and profitability across diverse areas. Here’s how timing impacts different fields:
=Cultural Rituals: Many rituals are anchored in specific times, aligning with cultural or religious calendars (e.g., holidays, harvest seasons, or prayer times). Observing these rituals on time fosters communal unity, individual spiritual well-being, and cultural continuity.
=Sports: Precise time management—through training schedules, rest periods, and game strategies—enables athletes to reach peak performance, reduce injuries, and boost factors like sponsorship potential and market value.
=Healthcare: Timing in medicine enhances treatment effectiveness, such as through carefully scheduled medication doses. Efficient hospital operations also minimize wait times, improve patient care, and lower costs, all of which contribute to health sector productivity.
=Supply Chain Management: Timely logistics streamline storage costs, facilitate Just-in-Time (JIT) systems, reduce waste, and improve customer satisfaction, directly increasing profitability.
=Finance: Timing in financial strategies—like choosing optimal entry and exit points in markets and adjusting portfolios—can maximize returns, manage risk, and build long-term wealth.
In all areas, effective time management maximizes resource utilization, efficiency, and profitability, ultimately paving the way to wealth and sustainable growth.
Conclusion
Time and timing are fundamental to achieving success across financial, personal, and professional domains, enhancing value and effectiveness in every field. In finance, not only does timing maximize returns through strategic entry and exit points, but an understanding of the time value of money also strengthens investment outcomes and long-term wealth creation. In personal wellness, allocating time for emotional healing is crucial in overcoming challenges like depression, as recovery benefits from mindful pacing and attention. In testing environments, time constraints balance the demonstration of knowledge with stress management, influencing performance. Across life and business, well-timed decisions align with preparedness and market conditions, increasing the likelihood of favourable outcomes. Whether in cultural activities, sports, healthcare, supply chain management, or finance, effective time management optimizes resources, enhances productivity, and ultimately fosters well-being, profitability, and lasting success.
(The writer, a senior Chartered Accountant and professional banker, is Professor at SLIIT University, Malabe. He is also the author of the “Doing Social Research and Publishing Results”, a Springer publication (Singapore), and “Samaja Gaveshakaya (in Sinhala). The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the institution he works for. He can be contacted at saliya.a@slit.lk and www.researcher.com)
Features
Adani’s ‘Power’ in Sri Lanka
“Integrity, transparency and the fight against corruption have to be part of the culture. They have to be taught as fundamental values” — Angel Gurría, former Secretary General of OECD
It is a matter of fact, though truly unfortunate, that most political conversations in our country, more often than not, start and end with issues on corruption. The intrigue and controversy surrounding the operations of India’s Adani Green Energy Ltd in the country is not an exception. This year, Sri Lanka entered a power purchase deal with Adani Green Energy Ltd. In terms of the agreement, the country will purchase electricity from the company over 20 years. The Adani Green Energy project received cabinet clearance from the previous government to produce 484 megawatts of wind power in two facilities the company would build in Mannar and Pooneryn and invest more than US$442 million in its projected life span of 20 years.
According to the agreement, Adani Green Energy would be paid US$ 0.0826 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of power produced. On behalf of Sri Lanka, the deal was relentlessly pushed, defended and ultimately signed by the previous government. Moreover, the mandatory tender process was not followed – as if Adani Green Energy were some kind of divinely predestined privileged entity – indicating the inbuilt and rampant corruption of the Sri Lankan government at the time and the endless vested interests.
Not surprisingly, the project is now under litigation in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka over issues of violating fundamental rights. The main issues raised by the petitioners deal with environmental concerns surrounding the project and the woeful lack of transparency in the awarding process that lead to the granting of the deal to Adani Green Energy Ltd. In the context of this lack of transparency, the petitioners also argue that the agreed upon payment of US$ 0.0826 per kWh is a significant loss to the country and ideally this rate should be set at US$0.005 kWh. Comparatively, in a competitive tender for a much smaller wind power plant in Mannar that was closed in May 2024, the tariff is supposedly set below US$0.005 cents. This seems like the source for the litigants’ recalculation of the Adani rate.
The deal, its approval and the final granting process were mired in controversy even before litigation. In 2022, the then Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board, M.M.C. Ferdinando told the parliamentary panel, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE), that the deal was offered based on a request from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to then Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Ferdinando later retracted his statement and resigned from his post under pressure from the then government. In a similar vein, in May 2023, the then Sri Lankan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Sabry observed flippantly in an interview with The Hindu that Adani projects in Sri Lanka were a “government-to-government kind of a project.” In the same interview, he noted that it was the Indian government that selected the Adani group for infrastructure development projects including the northern Sri Lanka wind power project. Reading between the lines, Sabry’s public observations indicated a clear backdoor and informal Indian state involvement in the project offering considerable credence to what Ferdinando had told COPE earlier.
Moreover, despite the notoriety that Adani companies had already acquired across the world, Mr. Sabry had the nerve to say that his government was “very very confident” that the Adani Group’s companies had considerable capital ‘despite the $140 billion drop in share values after the publication of a negative report by US research company Hindenburg accusing the company’s top leader Gautam Adani of getting away with the “largest con in corporate history.” Another investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project consisting of a global network of journalists also documented serious malpractices by Adani companies. All this is in addition to The Guardian and Financial Times also reporting on Adani family’s surreptitious investments in the company’s shares.
It is against this background that the flamboyant and utterly inexperienced former Sri Lankan Minister of Energy attempted to convert the agreement with Adani Green Energy Limited in August 2023 into a formal government-to-governmental deal. This almost seemed like a formalisation of the controversy Mr. Sabry had already ignited by referring to the project as a “government-to-government kind of a project” when in reality no such formal state to state level agreement existed between India and Sri Lanka. Such foot-in-the-mouth pronouncements and actions raise alarm bells as to the shady nature of the project(s) and the ways in which they were protected by the then Sri Lankan government.
In this dubious context, it is hardly surprising that the Adani power deal in particular has ended up in litigation in the Sri Lankan Supreme Court. But it is not the only Adani interest in Sri Lanka. Therefore, the post-14 November 2024 Sri Lankan government needs to carefully and comprehensively revisit the power deal in the context of two essential considerations.
One, the malpractices evident in the local awarding process itself, the role of local power brokers who made it happen and evident corruption that enveloped the entire project needs to be investigated. Two, the project also needs to be evaluated in light of the global evidence against the Adani Group in general. This material is now widely available. In late October 2024, the Kenyan High Court suspended a US$736 million agreement between the state-owned Kenya Electrical Transmission Company and Adani Energy Solutions to build and operate power facilities, including transmission lines. It was only signed earlier in October.
In a lawsuit, the Law Society of Kenya argued that the deal was “a constitutional sham” and “tainted with secrecy.” In the case, the Law Society of Kenya also argued that the Kenyan state entity and Adani Energy Solutions did not carry out mandatory public participation focused on the project properly, which is a requirement under Kenya’s Public Private Partnerships Act. These conditions sound alarmingly similar to the Sri Lankan case.
Earlier in 2023, accusations were made in India’s Gujarat State against another Adani Group company, Adani Power Mundra Limited that it had charged an excess of INR 39,000,000,000.00 over a period of five years under two power purchase agreements. An opposition politician in the state noted the case was a “textbook case of corruption, money laundering, loot of public money and above all, the classic case of cronyism that the Prime Minister and his government represent.” The issue here was that the rate at which coal for power production that was purchased by Adani Power Mundra was significantly higher than market rates at which coal was being traded in Indonesia, the source of the purchase. This meant that the state-owned Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited, a Gujarati state entity in the energy sector had to pay much more for the overall electricity supply. Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited has now written to Adani Power Mundra Limited asking that the excess amount charged be repaid. These are merely two of the many examples in which Adani companies have been embroiled in controversies.
This international context is a necessary backdrop in which to explore the working of all Adani projects in Sri Lanka, not only in the energy sector. As a presidential candidate, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake assured that, if he emerged victorious, the National People’s Power would cancel the Adani energy project because it posed a threat to Sri Lanka’s energy sector sovereignty. This is the correct political stance to take in the national interest given the highly questionable background. Moreover, the recent and ongoing controls placed by Adani Power on its power supply to Bangladesh is a classic example of Bangladesh’s energy sovereignty being utterly compromised at a very crucial time in the country’s national history. In real terms, Adani Power has slashed its supplies to Bangladesh by about 60% due to unpaid bills exceeding US$800 million. Sri Lanka could also find itself in a similar situation if it compromises its power supply and energy sovereignty by going ahead with the Adani project.
On 14 October 2024, the interim government of President Dissanayake informed the Supreme Court that it would reconsider the approval given by the previous regime to the Adani Group for its projects in Mannar and Pooneryn. The Supreme Court was more specifically informed on behalf of the Attorney General that the decision to review the project was taken at a Cabinet meeting held on 7 October 2024 and “the final decision of the new government would be conveyed after the installation of the new Cabinet after the November 14 parliamentary election.”
There is ample evidence in the public domain, both locally and globally, to review the conditions of awarding the Adani deal. One hopes that the new government has the moral and political strength to stand up for what is right and its pre-election convictions and people’s aspirations of dignity. The government also must expect considerable pressure from vested parties, in this case both the Adani Group and the Indian government, more generally. But it is essential to be mindful that we are not dealing with a project in an Indian state.
We are talking about a project that has come to us, an independent and sovereign country, through an entire field of corruption both locally and elsewhere. The problem with corruption, as Pope Francis once observed, is, “corruption is paid by the poor.” We cannot be endlessly languishing in the depths of poverty simply because of the corruption of our own leaders of the recent and not-too-recent past, and business magnates of the region. The Adani case is a good starting point to roll back mega corruption and illegality in the country.
Features
Education, democracy and unravelling liberal order
by Ahilan Kadirgamar
Sri Lanka is now at the crossroads with a new regime in formation that has to choose from different social and economic pathways for the country. In the United States, Trump is back with a fascist tide that is likely to sweep the world. In this context, what will become of the long journey of free education in Sri Lanka?
The trend in Sri Lanka after the open economy reforms of the late 1970s has been defunding free education, leading to the slow implosion of the education system. In fact, particularly over the last decade, there has been an insidious project of engineering the failure of state education, in order to create the environment for commercialising education. Privatisation, including fee-levying institutions, are now making education a cash earner – even as students become indebted – and a privilege of the wealthy. In this column, I sketch the ideological underpinnings of education that have to be debated and struggled for, as education, like other social pillars, are confronted with diverging paths ahead.
Kannangara and Dewey
When it comes to free education in Sri Lanka, we often go back to Kannangara’s Free Education Bill of 1944. Indeed, Kannangara claimed a new democracy like Sri Lanka needed universal free education. There were, however, great gaps in terms of those who continued to be excluded from free education after independence, particularly oppressed caste communities, the rural and urban subaltern classes, and the Hill Country Tamils in the plantations.
Few decades back, when I began thinking about the legacy of free education in Sri Lanka, I also read with much enthusiasm, the American pragmatist philosopher John Dewey’s classic work ‘Democracy and Education’. Dewey put forward an educational philosophy about the importance of critical learning and engagement for a democracy. Such advancements in educational thinking and policies were the backdrop for public free education with the emergence social welfare states in the post-Second World War era, including in the Third World after decolonisation. However, with the neoliberal turn following the long economic downturn in the 1970s, social welfare was rolled back with liberal democratic states abandoning education to the whims of the market.
Now, what happens when the liberal order itself comes under attack as with the re-emergence of Trump? Will it be more of market-oriented education or illiberal education – characterised by attacks, for example, on secularism and progressive values of gender equality – with the rise of conservative forces? Indeed, the story in the United States, in recent times, has been the merging of the two backed, by the Christian Right.
In this context, where is education in Sri Lanka headed? Will the NPP Government be able to redirect education towards universal free education from the commercialised educational thrust we have seen over the last few years? Much will depend on how the World Bank and the elite in Colombo engage with the Government and the resistance put forward by the people.
6% of GDP demand
The NPP claims it will slowly address the demand for 6% of GDP in state expenditure for education. Given the economic constraints and the drastic cuts to spending with the IMF programme, substantively increasing the allocation would require considerable political will on the part of the government, including walking away from the IMF’s austerity conditionalities.
Following the major FUTA struggle with its demand for 6% of GDP 12 years ago, in 2012, some of us took the issue of defunding general education seriously, and did some research on the state of rural schools in the Jaffna District. We found that even where there were adequate facilities and teachers, students did not perform well and many dropped out of school due to poor social and economic conditions. I published some of the findings of this research in a chapter titled, “From the Margins of Jaffna: A Political Economy of the Crisis in Education” (Crisis in Education, Dialogue, Vol. XXXIX 2012). I critiqued the World Bank claim that educational attainment will lead to higher earnings by analysing the opposite causal dynamics, where, in reality, social and economic exclusion undermines educational advancement.
All this is important today, as Sri Lanka goes through a long economic crisis. The social and economic impact in the country today is similar to the great disruption of social life during the decades of war in Jaffna where education deteriorated with intergenerational impact. We know that children are skipping meals, with increasing levels of absenteeism, and also dropping out of schools and universities to find cheap work for survival. While state investment in education is absolutely necessary at the current moment, economic rejuvenation and social protection programmes are also necessary to ensure meaningful education for the children of working people. In other words, the ongoing austerity measures pushed by the IMF, have a double impact on education, both defunding state education and disabling communities’ ability to access and engage in education. I believe, particularly amidst the economic crisis, there is need to think about the social determinants of education, along the lines of progressive analysis in health with their emphasis on the social determinants of health.
Emancipatory initiative
As Sri Lanka emerges out of presidential and parliamentary elections, the next six months are going to be crucial for education in Sri Lanka. While Dewey and Kannangara saw education as critical for democracy, I emphasise that the educational system is determined by broader political, social and economic changes. A polarised world with unrestrained extraction of resources and tremendous exploitation in the Global South will drastically affect the educational possibilities of the working people. In this context, what can a left of centre government, coming to power with support of a non-elite electorate, do to address the maligned state of free education?
I argue that demanding larger allocations for education alone will not be enough. We need to struggle against commercialisation of education and once again demand free education for all. Furthermore, free education has to come with the necessary social supports that enable the dispossessed sections of our society to meaningfully access education, which means an end to austerity. Moreover, in the troubling years ahead characterised by the rise of authoritarian and fascist tendencies around the world, the assault on education is likely to come in the form of both commercial extraction through educational businesses and an attack on the liberal freedoms.
In this context, I believe the idea of educational attainment leading to higher earnings and social mobility, in a time when an economic depression has disrupted livelihoods and people don’t even have the wherewithal to access education, for the moment has to be shelved. The struggle for free education needs to draw from more radical thinking in our times as we focus on self-sufficiency and the essential needs of our people. I draw inspiration from Paulo Freire’s ‘Pedagogy of the Oppressed’, and emphasise the need again to think of education as an emancipatory initiative for the millions in our country who have been dispossessed and reduced to poverty. We need to unconditionally reinforce free education as essential for democracy, equality and freedom.
(Ahilan Kadirgamar is a political economist and Senior Lecturer, University of Jaffna)
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