Ceylon Today Editorial

Trumpism, Geneva & exports

01 December 2016

In a globalized world, operating in the aftermath of the Cold War, three central themes dominate. Those are terrorism, economics and China (the world's second largest economy after the USA), perhaps,not necessarily in that order. Sri Lanka won its war against Tamil terrorism 7½ years ago, after waging war for 26 long years. Therefore, it's free from terrorism at least at this juncture.

But, not so, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, particularly with the rise of Islamist terrorism, threatening to destabilize the world order, with their guns aimed at the volatile Middle East and also at the West led by the USA, because of its belligerent policies towards lslamist terrorism.

Islamist terrorism targeting the West first came to a successful fruition 20 years ago in 1998, after their successful bombings, carried out almost simultaneously, of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania respectively, that year.

The USA is important to Sri Lanka for two reasons. Firstly, it's Sri Lanka's biggest export market and secondly, its attitude towards Sri Lanka politically has global repercussions. Space, constraints making comments on China, therefore, this Editorial is restricted to the USA only and its influence on the island both politically and economically.

In that context, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Atul Keshap speaking at the inaugural Sri Lanka-USA Business Council (SL-UBC) meeting (formed under the auspices of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC)) that took place at a Colombo hotel on Tuesday (29 November) said that Sri Lankan exports to the USA led by apparel and rubber products, grew by 7% year-on-year last year to comprise 27% of the island's total export basket. SL-UBC has a mandate to foster exports to the USA.

He further said that Sri Lanka needs to rise beyond apparel to high paying knowledge economy exports, where such Sri Lankan skills passed out from local universities were being made use of by companies such as Google and Facebook catering to this need, by operating from centres not based in Sri Lanka, but in Hyderabad!

Keshap also said that US-Sri Lanka relations are at an all time high, especially after 8 January 2015. But, there is a catch, despite all of Keshap's postulations and there were several of such made in his speech, such as his references to visits to Sri Lanka by officials from the Millenium Development Corporation and USA's Exim Bank and a visit by a US admiral and so on, since.

The rider however, is the so called US-Sri Lanka co-sponsored resolution adopted in Geneva last year to investigate alleged war crimes committed by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and of its agents in their war against LTTE terrorism which was successfully prosecuted to a close 7½ years ago in May 2009, after 26 years of bloody conflict against LTTE/Tamil terrorism.

This resolution has both economic and political ramifications to the island. Economic, because the West led by the USA, where one may but fairly say was behind this so called joint resolution, is Sri Lanka's key export market in terms of merchandise and tourism and knowledge services exports.

Possible sanctions as a threat, by Colombo not fulfilling this mandate will be disastrous to the local economy. However, Colombo, conforming to this resolution may agitate the country's 70% Sinhala-Buddhist majority who consider the protagonists behind this successful prosecution of the war, as heroes.

With the seemingly surprising regime change in the USA after President-elect Donald Trump's victory at last month's election, President Maithripala Sirisena wrote to the US administration to rescind these investigations.

When this newspaper asked Keshap what was Washington's response to this plea? An apparently agitated Keshap in response said that he hadn't studied this plea as he had been travelling. Therefore, this island may be waiting with bated breath until such time that he studies this plea and possibly make his recommendations to Washington!

Trumpism promised protectionism to the US voter. So, in that aspect, Sri Lanka's exports to the USA may be in danger, even if the Geneva question is sorted out. In response to this query, Keshap said that Trump will officially assume duties only on 20 January 2017. And, he hasn't named his economic team yet, the Ambassador said, inferring that USA's economic policies will be known, only then.

But, giving a gleam of hope, he said that the USA has always been a trading country. Therefore, will the USA's new economic policies be skewed protectionism, targeting only China? That, however doesn't appear to be so as Trump said that the USA will withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade pact involving and including several Asian countries, but not China and Sri Lanka.

Japanese Premier Shinzō Abe recently said that without the USA there is no TPP. Japan was also the first country with which the CCC formed its first trade council way back in 1979.

One wonders why, it took 37 years since, for the CCC to form a trade council with the USA, the island's biggest export market? Anyway, better late than never! Perhaps, the CCC/SL-UBC may add weight to Sirisena's plea, by also making a similar plea to Washington?

Daily News Editorial

The different face of GMOA strike

01 December 2016

The doctors are at it again. The GMOA yesterday downed its tools or rather stethoscopes in what was called a token strike, all on account of issues quite outside its remit. Hospitals countrywide were chock-a-block with unattended patients enduring hardships in various stages of agony, as shown on TV. The good doctors are protesting against certain budget proposals. They are opposing the abolition of the pension scheme for new recruits to the state sector, taxing public servants, violating fundamental health policies and exposing the domestic job market to foreigners.

Except for the so-called Health Policy issue, one is at a loss to fathom how, the issue of pensions, and the question of the so-called threat to the domestic job market, can concern the doctors who have taken the Hippocratic Oath to pursue a much more noble task- the healing of the sick. We did not see the doctors protesting when swarms of Chinese nationals were employed in the Hambantota harbour project during the Rajapaksa era. Is it because Indian nationals are much less in the scale of existence to the Chinese that the doctors looked the other way, never mind that India is the birthplace of the Noble One.

It cannot be a coincidence that the strike was staged on the eve of a private bus strike planned by certain private bus unions in the south. Coming on top of the doctors strike, it is clearly meant to cause the maximum impact on the general public and thus create the most damage to the government. Allay this to the demonstration launched on Tuesday by university students and that of Samurdhi officers at the entrance to the parliament drive, there can be no question that a sinister plot is afoot to bring about disruption in the administration with the hope of tripping the Yayapalanaya government.

This is more so, since there was hardly any strike by the doctors in the entire decade long rule of Mahinda Rajapaksa, except a feeble attempt against the recruitment of Indian doctors at the Lanka Hospitals, which eventually fizzled out without much ado. Was it because Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was at the helm of Lanka Hospitals that the doctors acted lukewarm, if not chickening out altogether? Ditto for the private bus operators. What in fact are these private bus owners demanding by urging the government to withdraw the Rs. 25,000 fine for serious road offences? That they be allowed to go their merry way breaking all highway rules with impunity and kill or maim more road users and commuters?

What will be the doctors demand next? They have already had their way with regard to admission of their children to selected government schools, with the President granting some leeway in this regard. The doctors had better realize that a national budget is a fiscal plan of any government that charters its future economic path. ECTA or any other trade agreement is part and parcel of this economic plan for the country. The GMOA cannot dictate to the government on how it should run the country or its economy. There are certain trade pacts entered into by governments in order to boost economic growth. There may be negative fallouts, which is left to the government to cope with. Even when the open economy was initially introduced there were negative fallouts, like the indiscriminate imports and the flooding of the local market with substandard goods. For all that, the open economy was pursued with by all successive governments after JRJ, including governments that had more than a sprinkle of socialist ministers who once railed against the open economy.

Besides, a budget is not a document to be amended or trifled with, once presented to parliament, on the whims and fancies of doctors, or anyone for that matter, lest the fiscal plans go haywire. The doctors union should not get involved in matters that are the sole prerogative of the rulers of this country, whether they are good or bad for the country.

None will know how many patients did have their conditions worsen due to the callousness of doctors. Equally, there will be no knowing if the delay caused by the strike in the treatment if a particular ailment would lead to the death of a patient.

Time was when our medical fraternity were deified by the public and treated with near reverence. The kindness shown and comfort given by doctors of yore, it was said, went a long way towards healing a patient than any medication. The remarks and comments made by some of the suffering patients, interviewed on TV, demonstrated the contempt in which our present day doctors are held, a far cry from the reverence shown to our medical practitioners in the good old days.

The government should wake up to the reality that what is being played out in the open today is a concerted effort by sinister political forces to cripple the essential services, that have a direct impact on the general public. By this means, it is intended to make the government unpopular, and what is more, show its ineffectiveness to govern.

The Island Editorial

MPs have all the luck!

01 December 2016

Santa seems to have got his wires crossed. Else, he would not have landed near the Diyawanna Oya several weeks ahead of Christmas. Usually, he favours children, but this time around he seems to have given priority to those who have torsos of adults and brains of children. Parliamentarians have received a massive increase in their allowances and a huge pay hike is said to be in the pipeline.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government came to power, promising economic relief to the masses. Initially, after the change of government, the prices of some commodities were slashed and public employees were given a substantial pay hike. But, what was given with one hand was taken away with the other after the self-proclaimed messiahs had been ensconced in power. It was a case of swings and roundabout for the people.

Less than two years on, even the trade unionists who threw in their lot with the present-day leaders at the last two elections claim the people are now in a worse predicament. Marcus Antony, who leads a trade union, representing the export promotion zone workers, has recently told the media that the present administration is facilitating the exploitation of workers as never before.

The unconscionable VAT increase has sent the prices of essential commodities into the stratosphere. Even the sick have not been spared. Any sensible government would have reduced taxes on private health care and education as those who opt for them, albeit for want of an alternative, do the cash-strapped administration a big favour. Now, thanks to the VAT hike it is a double whammy for those who pay for their health care and children’s education without being a burden on the impotent state which cannot develop hospitals and schools. Those who should be rewarded have been penalized! The ruling politicians must be descendants of legendary King Kekille, who was bovinity personified!

The government declared on Tuesday it was ready to face a doctors’ strike. That the government leaders don’t care two hoots about disruptions to public health institutions is only too well known. For, they are not dependent on free health care; they rush overseas if they ever so much as develop a tooth ache. It is the ordinary people without wherewithal who worry about doctors’ strikes.

President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe never miss an opportunity to wax eloquent on the virtues of reconciliation and the need to solve problems through negotiations. But, they have not met the protesting doctors, according to the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA).

Parliamentarians have all the luck. (No wonder the ordinary people have none of it!) They have just received another bonanza. Rs. 100,000 each has been added to their allowances and they will be paid Rs. 2,000 more for attending Parliament. It has been argued that MPs are invited to various functions; they have to buy wedding gifts etc and, therefore, they must be paid more. One is intrigued. Attending weddings etc is not among the official duties of an MP. He or she may accept invitations to such events in his or her private capacity. It is nothing but unfair to make the taxpayers who are struggling to dull the pangs of hunger pick up the tab.

Another absurd argument being peddled in favour of increasing MPs’ allowances and salaries is that unless they are paid well they will depend on moneybags for funds. They will be dependent on financiers anyway and it is only wishful thinking that an MP will choose to paddle his or her own canoe if he or she is paid more.

People try to propitiate devils they fear by making various offerings. A government, troubled by a gnawing sense of insecurity, showers bribes on lawmakers lest they should rock the boat. The government and the Joint Opposition are usually at daggers drawn, but when it comes to feathering parliamentarians’ nests, they get on like a house on fire.

The government seems to think that if it cannot fulfil its promise to grant economic relief to the people it should at least look after their representatives. The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration has proved that it is a government of politicians by politicians for politicians.