Ceylon Today Editorial

President’s fervent appeal

05 December 2016

President Maithripala Sirisena made a fervent appeal last Thursday to the Joint Opposition led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, not to create obstacles to the attempts made in making the new Constitution and keep away from carrying out false propaganda to derail the process now in place to strengthen peace and reconciliation.

President Sirisena while appreciating the role of Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan in supporting the efforts of the Government to solve the ethnic problem said, that narrow minded attitudes in politics will only lead to bloodshed and put the country forever in a turbulent state.

The country had suffered severe setbacks in the past in maintaining its integrity. The long drawn out civil war had destroyed all resources in the country putting the economy in peril. So efforts in drafting the new Constitution should be multifaceted, not only to resolving the issues of the minorities, but also in stabilizing the country's shattered economy.

The functions of the Joint Opposition led by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, since its inception have created obstacles to the National Unity Government as well as to the main Opposition in Parliament. According to President Sirisena his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa is acting in a highly irresponsible manner by indulging in false propaganda on the status of Buddhism and arousing the Buddhist clergy by saying that the new Constitution would be a threat to the country and it would even undermine Buddhism.

Being the former Head of State experiencing the arduous task of facing the civil strife in the island the statements made by Mahinda Rajapaksa and his men from the Joint Opposition could be seen as stirring the hornets' nest. Another prominent member in the Joint Opposition Dinesh Gunawardena even told in Parliament of the country facing a threat of a military coup. The highly irresponsible comments of this nature have highlighted the Joint Opposition's political bankruptcy and its attempts in creating a fear psychosis among peace loving innocent people.

It is important to remember the immense sacrifice made by the security forces in safeguarding the unity and integrity of the country. The military leaderships in the past remained loyal to the governments which were in power and maintained the best of traditions of the armed forces in the country. Therefore, the comments made by Joint Opposition's Dinesh Gunawardena had even undermined the dedication and the commitments of the armed forces in safeguarding the sovereignty of the country.

The Joint Opposition should realize the challenges still prevail in the North and the East in creating a healthy atmosphere to stabilize peace and reconciliation. The present government is now in the state of safeguarding the country from the errors committed by the previous regime in dealing with the post-war humanitarian issues and over the alleged war crimes committed during the last phase of the civil war in 2009 by co-sponsoring the UNHRC resolution in 2015.

Enormous humanitarian problems still remain unresolved in the North and the East. The reports of the foreign experts who had looked into the post-war issues have highlighted the struggle of the present regime in overcoming the adverse conditions created by the previous regime. The failure in working towards a reconciled nation soon after the end of war and only looking for ways and means of hanging on to power had led to the collapse of the Rajapaksa regime.

President Sirisena had also pointed out that his predecessor Rajapaksa had even promised the international community that he would go beyond the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and fulfil the political aspirations of people in the North and the East. However, according to President Sirisena now his predecessor with the intention of causing problems to the present government is saying something contrary to what he had pledged to the international community.

President Sirisena by making a fervent appeal to the Joint Opposition in Parliament to refrain from its undemocratic ways has clearly highlighted that the manipulations of the Joint Opposition remain a big threat not only to coexistence but also to good governance in the country.

Daily News Editorial

A wise move

05 December 2016

 

The decision by the government to introduce measures to prevent the politicisation of public enterprises would indeed be welcomed by all right thinking people of this country. Today, the public have become mere bystanders while state enterprises that are maintained by the tax payer are run to the ground through waste, corruption and inefficiency, chiefly due to politicisation.

Besides, some state enterprises have also become liabilities and continue to be subsidized by the government at the expense of other more important development projects. Hence, it is time that a complete reassessment is made on how our public enterprises could be run, without these continuing to be a burden on the public. Depoliticising the public service therefore is the first step towards achieving this end.

According to Public Enterprise Deputy Minister Eran Wickremaratne, an Act of Parliament will be brought in next year to depoliticise all state enterprises - in itself an admission that our public sector is still heavily politicised. He said, with the introduction of the Act, these institutions would be able to work independently.

Speaking during the committee stage debate of Budget 2017, when his ministry’s Financial Heads were taking up for discussion, Wickremaratne said there were over 55 loss making state enterprises during the past 10 years, with the losses exceeding Rs. 650 billion.

This is criminal indeed, for which no one has been held accountable up to date. Hence the proposed Act should contain provisions to make those at the helm of public sector enterprises accountable, for the acts of commission or omission, on their part, that drove state enterprises to incur such astronomical losses. That is, if the rationale of depoliticisation is to eliminate losses and turn around loss making ventures.

Improving efficiency should go hand in hand with depoliticisation. Decisions have to be rational, made with sound economic sense, and not politically based, if losses in state enterprises are to be minimised. There should be no room for the kind of mind boggling profligacy that was witnessed at SriLankan.

Politcisation has been the bane of the public sector of this country and all governments since Independence are guilty in this regard. It goes without saying that corruption goes hand in hand with politicisation and the country has had to pay a very heavy price in economic terms, as a result.

Over the years, most state bodies had been driving themselves into bottomless pits due to corruption, with the political appointees manning important positions in these state bodies making hay, knowing that they can getaway with it. It is not clear what form the Act to depoliticise the public sector will take, but it is essential that all vestiges of politicisation, including political interference in the running of the state enterprises, be dealt with. The Act should also provide for stringent measures to deal with corruption, that has been eating into the vital of these state enterprises over the years. It has been the practise for government ministers to get involved in all the crooked deals involving state sector enterprises coming under their purview.

Tenders are being manipulated so that politicians and their lackeys in these sector enterprises could line their pockets. This aspect should also be covered by the Act. The Act should also include provisions to keep out politicians in the running of the day-to-day affairs of these state enterprises. Recruitment should be based purely on merit, and ideally, political appointments should be made taboo. The country witnessed how state bodies like the Colombo port, the Petroleum Corporation, the CEB, the SLTB, SriLankan etc. were politicised under all governments and the consequences that visited these institutions. The latter was used as the private property of the Rajapaksas, with recruitments done by the members of the former first family. Whatever happened to the Weliamuna report that detailed the extravagances and scandals surrounding SriLankan? The government should act, to not only name and shame those involved in running the national carrier to the ground, but also to recover, at least part of astronomical losses, suffered through the systematic looting of this vital state asset, from all those responsible.

The Act should also provide the means to improve efficiency in state enterprises. This is because, down the years, there have been a host of square pegs in round holes at the helm of affairs in important state bodies, with dire consequences. The Minister’s emphasis on paying special attention to cut down losses in public sector enterprises is also welcome. It is better to try and turn around things in these state bodies first, before plunging headlong into privatisation. Certain unpopular measures need to be taken to contain losses in state bodies. One of the main reasons contributing to the huge losses suffered by some state enterprises is over-staffing. Here too politicians should squarely take the blame.

Being a banker, Wickremaratne no doubt would be the ideal person to work out what ails some of our state sector enterprises and offer solutions to contain the haemorrhage, if only he is given a free hand.

The Island Editorial

‘The Taming of the Shrew’

05 December 2016

 

 The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe coalition made its anti-China programme a main plank of its 2015 presidential election campaign. This, it did obviously to curry favour with India and the US-led western powers; it also raised a bogey at home to make the voting public believe that unless the Rajapaksa administration was dislodged Sri Lanka would end up as a Chinese colony. It undertook to drum China out as a development partner immediately after capturing power; it also made a solemn pledge to stop the showpiece Chinese project, the Colombo Port City, posthaste. And, it did as promised.

But, it did not take long for the sobering politico-economic reality to have a mellowing effect on the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government’s China policy. A few weeks into office, it started paying obeisance to China because its western allies were not willing to loosen their purse strings to help it financially. Even the then British Prime Minister David Cameron was seen tugging at his forelock before Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was visiting the UK, which was in need of funds.

Now, we are told that Colombo has offered to buy Chinese aircraft obviously in a bid to propitiate a resentful Beijing. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been quoted as saying in an interview with The South China Morning Post that his government will purchase military transport aircraft from China and seek Chinese assistance to build the Hambantota Port as a hub like Shenzhen.

PM Wickremesinghe has gone so far as to declare, in the press interview: "I have travelled around in some of the Chinese transport planes we have. They are good workhorses." China would never have expected such fawning admiration for its products from the prime minister of a government, whose head went to the extent of donning the Modi jacket during the last presidential election to ingratiate himself with India.

China has obviously let the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe regime stew in its own juice. The IMF bailout package which Sri Lanka had to opt for because aid was not forthcoming from other sources has cost the incumbent administration dear politically. Constricting aid conditions have entailed massive tax hikes and fund cuts in vital sectors so much so that the government is scared of facing an election; it keeps postponing local government polls.

How China has made the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government compliant and obedient reminds us of the Bard’s play, The Taming of the Shrew. The methods Petruchio employs to tame the shrew are mostly psychological whereas those used by China are economic. It is toe-curling to watch the present-day Sri Lankan leaders, driven by their yen for yuan, perform the ‘Dragon Dance’ as it were.

The jewel in the crown of Sri Lanka’s Megapolis project is the Chinese funded Port City, which has become an economic fulcrum of sorts. The government is banking on it to boost its development programme which has not yet got off the ground. China does not seem so keen to kickstart the project for obvious reasons. Hence, the government’s attempt to bribe China by ordering some military transport aircraft! China with trillions of dollars to lend always has the last laugh.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration is likely to experience some more turns of the Chinese screw in time to come. Perhaps, pressure may continue to mount until it overcomes resistance from India and purchases fighter jets (JF-17s) co-developed by Pakistan and China.

The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government wouldn’t have had to grovel before China in this shameful manner if it had acted wisely without going out of its way to snub that country in a bid to please its western masters, from whom its leaders won’t get anything more than an occasional ‘gloveless’ handshake, some blandishments and an invitation to an international forum.

Meanwhile, the present administration condemned the Hambantota Port and questioned its predecessor’s wisdom of locating it in that part of the country, which it called godforsaken. Now, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe has argued, in the aforesaid press interview, in a bid to prove a point that Hambantota is much more developed than Shenzhen in 1979, when he visited that part of China.

As for promoting the Mattala Airport and the Hambantota Port, the present government is in the same predicament as a salesman who is compelled to market some products, having condemned them as worthless in public. This is why politicians must desist from denouncing the country’s economic assets to gain undue political mileage.