Ceylon Today Editorial

Regaining lost independence

 26 August 2016

The seeming regaining of the lost independence of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) was resonated by the speech made by CBSL Governor Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy at the two-day CIMA Business Summit inaugurated at a leading Colombo hotel on Tuesday.

Development Strategies and International Trade Minister, Malik Samarawickrama, who was the chief guest at this event, said that with the Government of Sri Lanka's (GoSL's) coffers virtually dry, GoSL's involvement in development works will be through public-private partnerships (PPPs).

Samarawickrama's speech was soon followed by Coomaraswamy's who was the guest of honour at this occasion. The Governor, however, said as GoSL's finances were parlous, that even engaging in PPPs may be difficult.

Samarawickrama, by prior notification, left the meeting during Coomaraswamy's speech. Therefore, it's not clear whether the Minister was present when Coomaraswamy made this statement. But the duo at least at face value, appear to have more things in common than working at cross purposes.

They are virtually of the same vintage, they studied at the same school in Colombo, both come from middle-class backgrounds, while Samarawickrama is a creature of the private sector, Coomaraswamy is an economist and a central banker, having had previously held a top economist post at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, which has a market oriented view.

And the UNP, the party which Samarawickrama represents in Parliament, is better known for its pro- market policies, than to the contrary.

Further, both have the passion for the same sport, rugby, having had excelled at the premier league level, with Coomaraswamy ending up captaining the national side. And, Coomaraswamy, prior to his appointment, was an adviser to Samarawickrama at his Ministry.

That's not all, Coomaraswamy in his speech said that it was Samarawickrama who was responsible for his appointment.

Nonetheless, it may be assumed that Samarawickrama and Coomaraswamy think alike in most matters, not least on the economy, presumably, making it that much easier for the Governor to fulfil his writ, which is to maintain both price and financial sector stability.

And, another feather in GoSL's cap is the ability to tolerate divergent views, at least in public, by those holding key positions in government, which certainly was absent, at least in the Mahinda Rajapaksa era.

And, on this score, Coomaraswamy explained the separation of powers between the CBSL and the GoSL vis-à-vis monetary policy and fiscal policy respectively, but was quick to add that the former was subservient to the latter and not vice-versa. He said that social development alone is not enough to see Sri Lanka through and cited the two southern insurgencies and the northern separatist struggle as examples. Globalization is of being competitive, the Governor said. Growth and equity are possible by private sector-led development, complemented by exports and foreign direct investments (FDIs). GoSL has no money, so it has to be the private sector which will have to drive growth, said Coomaraswamy.

GoSL is borrowing money to payoff debt, the Governor said, an action known as rolling over maturing debt by accumulating new debt. The size and liability of this new debt would be determined by the value of the interest rate component at which the new debt is subscribed to.

If the interest component at which the new debt is borrowed is smaller than the interest component charged on the old debt for which such a borrowing is made to settle, then all is fine, on the hypothesis that the economy is growing satisfactorily. But if not, compounded by a high interest rate regime at which price the new debt is subscribed to, then, that's a problem, of which Coomaraswamy is undoubtedly aware.

With reference to GoSL's objective of creating a social market economy, the Governor said that, that could be done by education to get decent jobs and not through subsidies. In 1980 Sri Lanka's and Thailand's export profile was similar. But now, Thailand exports automotives and high value, processed agro products, the Governor said.

In the 1977 era, Sri Lanka was the second country after Chile to liberalize. "But we, spoilt by donors, dodged being lean and mean to be competitive in a global economy, dishing out populist and welfarist policies," he said.

Nonetheless, the aid door is still open, as underlined by Samarawickrama's speech at the CIMA function, where he said that the severity of hardships may be mitigated with aid from the international community.

So, it's not all doom and gloom.

Daily News Editorial

Police Code of Conduct

 26 August 2016

The Police-public relationship sank to the lowest possible depths as Police became a totally supine arm of the State during the previous administration. The negative perceptions about the Police among the people are very hard to efface despite numerous public relations exercises by the Police. The conduct of the Police in several high profile cases has come in for flak in the media and their assertions have been vindicated by evidence surfacing in some of the court cases now underway.

In this context, the unveiling of a Code of Conduct for Police Officers by the National Police Commission (NPC) could not have come at a more opportune time. One of the main priorities of this Government was giving a totally new outlook to the Police, to make it truly independent and highly efficient. The previous Government had allowed the term of the NPC to lapse and the 18th Amendment effectively disbanded all Independent Commissions thereby taking an independent oversight mechanism away from the Police. However, the NPC was reactivated as part of the 19th Amendment and Police was again granted its due independence. It could once again act impartially, without being subservient to the Government or individuals in power.

The Police is one of the foremost public institutions in Sri Lanka, due to turn 150 years on September 3. However, it did not have a written Code of Conduct until now. Although some of the laws, regulations and guidelines were already included in the Police Ordinance Number 16 of 1965, (itself now over 50 years old), there was a dire need to update many of these to suit modern requirements. Today, policing has become a vast, diverse field with the infusion of new technologies and techniques and our Police force has to keep up with the times.

We hope that the new Code of Conduct incorporates steps that ensure a full stop to corruption at all levels of the Police force. We often hear of motorists who apparently “shaped up” their fines and tickets with traffic police personnel through monetary or other incentives. Higher rewards from traffic tickets and higher salaries overall have addressed this problem somewhat but more action needs to be taken. Granted, the Police force is not the only Government institution where this problem exists, but it stands out due to its everyday interactions with the public. With promotions being a vexed issue in the force, adherence to the Code of Conduct must be a benchmark for same.

The Police must also end the impunity granted to its own personnel when it comes to traffic and other offences. We have seen plenty of Police cars and motorcycles breaking road rules with apparent impunity. No traffic officer dares to stop a senior police officer’s car which runs a red light. Parking in a no parking zone or the pavement? No problem if you are a Police officer. Talking on the phone while driving? No problem if you are a police officer and the list goes on. If all policemen and women are truly independent, such abnormalities cannot happen.

The Police must also get its priorities right. Ensuring road safety is no doubt a very important aspect of police work, but one wonders whether it is necessary to have traffic policemen literally every few metres in Colombo and other cities on duty every morning and night. What is the purpose of having a traffic officer in the middle of the road waving to traffic to pass by? The traffic will flow anyway. They also create chaos by turning off perfectly functioning traffic lights at busy junctions and trying to control the traffic manually. The truth is that no policeman can match the accuracy and efficiency of traffic signals, which also have the advantage of not getting tired, hungry, angry or bored. Just let the lights do their work - and as a bonus, traffic policemen can nab any drivers who run red lights. This brings us to the question of traffic policemen who like to hide behind trees and suddenly spring on to the road to nab oncoming drivers – there simply is no need to do so. They will be more effective out in the open, visible to motorists who will then be more careful.

If so many policemen are on traffic duty, are there enough personnel for busting crime? Fighting crime should be still the primary focus of the police force. This is part legwork, part intelligence gathering. The Police must deploy the maximum amount of resources to fight crime. Police intelligence and investigative arms such as NIB, CID, FCID and CCD must be strengthened to fight crime, drugs and other vice. The Police must also expand international cooperation with Interpol and other agencies to fight trans-national crime such as narcotics smuggling. International terrorism is another challenge for our police sleuths. Policing is never easy – it is a thankless 24/7 job, but a Code of Conduct will create a clearer picture of what is expected from them.

The Island Editorial

Of that bombshell

26 August 2016

The government usually loses no time in denying reports it considers false or detrimental to its interests. But, it, for some reason, did not act promptly regards reports in the widely circulated Australian newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and The Age, on a very serious allegation against President Maithripala Sirisena on Wednesday. The President’s Office took more than twenty four hours to issue a denial. The reports, based on the subject of an Australian Federal Police (AFP) probe involving Snowy Mountains Engineering Company (SMEC), could not have come at a worse time for the government, which has gone into overdrive to have its opponents arrested, hauled up before courts and remanded for months on end over unproven corruption charges.

The damning reports, quoting the findings of a Fairfax Media investigation, have gone viral on the Internet and reached the four corners of the earth. The SMEC has, however, told the AFP it hasn’t made any illegal payment in Sri Lanka. The government has threatened to sue anyone who levels bribery allegations against President Sirisena. It has gone so far as to claim that there has been a conspiracy behind the reports at issue.

Conspiracies galore!

At a time the government is desperate for foreign investment, nothing can be more inimical to the interests of this country than negative publicity from the international media and allegations of bribery and corruption against government leaders. On the other hand, the government has made fighting corruption its raison d’être and its leaders frequently wax eloquent on the virtues of good governance.

The allegation against the President has been a godsend for the Joint Opposition (JO), which has been looking for something to beat the government with. It is sure to gain a lot of political mileage out of this issue which can be flogged effectively for a long time. The JO has called for an investigation. This call should be heeded.

How would the government have reacted if the allegations in The Age/SMH reports had been against one of its political rivals? The state-controlled media would have torn that person to shreds and some of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption officials would have been flown to Australia post-haste to conduct a special investigation.

One should keep an open mind as for the allegations in The Age and SMH reports until the conclusion of the ongoing AFP probe. But, there is no way the government can prevent social media trials, some of which have already been concluded and judgments given!

Those in power at present effectively used the web-based media to disseminate various allegations against its rivals and engineer the downfall of the previous administration last year. The boot is now on the other foot.

Never too late

Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe has flayed former Attorney General Mohan Peiris, who later became the Chief Justice, for his failure to have the illegal sale of Lanka Marine Services Ltd (LMSL) assets properly investigated. Rajapakshe as the Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) exposed the illegal divestiture of two major state ventures, the LMSL and the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation, under the UNP-led UNF government (2001-2004). Subsequently, the Supreme Court declared those deals null and void.

Minister Rajapakshe told Parliament on Wednesday that the Supreme Court had ordered the CID to probe the aforesaid deals and the latter had sought the opinion of AG Peiris after carrying out preliminary investigations, but no legal advice had been given to date. There has been a serious lapse on the part of the AG’s Department. But, if the then AG had asked the CID to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the aforesaid illegal sale of state ventures some prominent members of the government of which Minister Rajapakshe is currently a member would have been thrown behind bars.

Minister Rajapakshe is now in a position to have the AG’s Department rectify the lapse at issue so that the CID can reopen the investigation into the LMSL deal. The present government has taken a tough stand on the abuse and theft of public property. Those responsible for the illegal sale of state property under the UNF government must be severely dealt with according to the law. People have been arrested and prosecuted for lesser offences. Someone was arrested and remanded for keeping an elephant calf considered public property!

We bet our bottom dollar that Minister Rajapakshe won’t be able to call for reopening the LMSL investigation. For, those who benefited from that deal are currently at the levers of power!