Ceylon Today Editorial

Sri Lanka is at a critical stage

28 April 2017

No, not the kind which all the Joint Opposition lackey's concoct conspiracy theories to scare the mass populace with, but a rather practical and important stage which resembles a cross roads. One would lead to us becoming a failed State due to poor governing, while the other would lead to us being finally developed and a successful State.

With the growing foreign influence, both economic and political of nature, in Sri Lanka in the form of China and India, we have come to this cross road, which depending on what path we take, would determine the consequences we have to face and the eventual future of our country. The biggest Super Powers of the world have become our greatest beneficiaries in economic development now. With the Southern part of the country being leased to Beijing in order to pay off our crippling debt to the Eastern Empire, and the Northern part of the country about to be given away to our ever present Big Brother India, things are looking pretty crucial to any observer.

Of course, this would lead to more conspiracy theories – we will be colonized and invaded by the Chinese, while the Northern part of the country will be taken over by the Indians. This would remain where they are, as useless and irrational delusions of tinfoil cap wearing politicians trying to win back what they lost. They would win something if their cards are played properly, and the government decides to muck up this brilliant opportunity we have at our hand, to finally see some work done in the country.

There are obvious benefits from shaking hands with India and China when concerned with our own economy. As planned, if the Colombo Port City, now dubbed as the Colombo International Financial City and the matters with regard to the Hambantota Magampura Harbour is handed over to Beijing, it will resolve a considerable percentage of debt Sri Lanka owes to China. Similarly, if the Trincomalee port and the British built oil storage tanks are leased to the IOC in a joint venture between India and Sri Lanka, it would also be a boom to our economy, eventually attracting investments into the area, which will spread to most parts of the North and the East. This would also see to an increase in job opportunities for the local population as well as an influx of foreign cash income to the country.

But this would also lead to heighten China and India having the opportunity to influence the country's politics to a greater length.

Accordingly, we would come under a diplomatic invasion – not a military one – similar to many cases from around the world. This, if it ever comes to pass, will not be anything new.

Furthermore, giving control of two pinnacle and crucial points of the country to two Super Powers, who are indirectly competing against each other can lead to major setbacks to us. For instance, giving India the control of Trincomalee will result in us, supporting the growth of India's naval strength. Being a peninsula country and with a considerably strong naval force, India, once in charge of Trincomalee will prove to be an unstoppable force. This will only be an eventuality if the Chinese controlled Hambantota moves to accommodate Chinese submarines and other naval vessels in the southern seas – India will see itself being forced to show their naval dominance in the Indian Ocean.

Ultimately, the Indo-China [diplomatic/economic] occupation of Sri Lanka will also lead to threatening our own national identity.

This is what the lackeys of the Joint Opposition pine for. Selling the idea of a threatened national identity, and a sovereignty going extinct, can lead to the mobilization of the masses on a massive scale. When hay is thrown to the raging fire it can only worsen matters.

President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe have their hands full at the moment. With one party's ideological perspective driving the country towards more liberal free trade and better prospects, we see another movement – one that wants to preserve the national sovereignty of our own – without any interference from aliens.

This is the cross roads Sri Lanka is facing. The decisions made by our leaders in the next few days will determine the course we will take in the future.

Daily News Editorial

MR and Bandaranaike policies

28 April 2017

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa laments that SLFPers in the Unity Government had ditched the policies of SWRD Bandaranaike and that it was only those in the Joint Opposition that follow the policies of the late leader and who were in fact are the true blue SLFPers. Speaking at an event in Matale he also says that the SLFP MPs in the government were controlled by Sirikotha. Both these remarks have been the refrain of Rajapaksa and members of the JO all along. For Rajapaksa, it appears that the Bandaranaike policies are the be all and end all of the SLFP and he is finding it difficult to adapt to the new social order. True, Bandaranaike policies may be still appeal to some, especially the old guard of the SLFP. But Rajapaksa must concede that even Chandrika, the daughter of SWRD, had misgivings about certain policies of the SLFP's founder.

It would be appropriate if Rajapaksa casts his mind back to 1994. On that occasion his leader was Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, daughter of SWRD whom he says the SLFPers in the present government had deserted. It would also be relevant to jog the memory of Rajapaksa as to the events that unfolded upon CBK taking over the reins of the country. Of the significant statements made by Chandrika at the time, one particular statement stood out. Said she: “I had been a good socialist all along but now I will be a good capitalist”.

And CBK walked the talk. She not only rolled back the Bandaranaike policies but even went one better than the UNP. CBK recalled the Shell Company which was shown the door by her mother. Not stopping at that, she embarked on a privatization programme with a vengeance that must have even made Ranil Wickremesinghe blush. Not only that, the new President leaned heavily on the experts and advisers of the UNP to get her economic programme going. She retained the Central Bank Governor A.S. Jayawardena even amidst the objections of some of her ministers.

Her iconoclastic actions even elicited a response by Dullas Alahapperuma in parliament that aanduwa vamata signal dala dakunata haravwa (the government had signaled to the Left and taken the turn to the Right). One was given the impression that it was a continuation of the UNP government in all but name.

Not only that, Chandrika strove to shed the communal patina that the SLFP had acquired since the Bandaranaike days and set about mending fences with the minorities. She took the daring step of appointing a Tamil, known to have links with the LTTE, as Chairman of the state run Rupavahini Corporation, without a thought to the ire this would invoke among the hardcore SLFPers.

In her second term as President, CBK, in a magnanimous gesture, also apologized for the Sinhala Only policy of her late father that placed the country's youth population at a grave disadvantage and strove to make amends towards this end. So determined was CBK to effect a radical departure from her father's legacy she even attempted to craft a federal constitution, that however was shot down by parliament. Chandrika also took the extraordinary step of deciding to share Tsunami funds with the LTTE, the project however coming a cropper with the JVP threat to withdraw from the government.

While the policies and concepts of SWRD were being rolled back with a vengeance by CBK one cannot recall Mahinda Rajapaksa who was a Minister in her government making even a whimper of protest. Perhaps, being part and parcel of the government, he would not have wanted to rock the boat, unlike now, where he can take the liberties to criticize what he himself acquiesced to in a different avatar.

Be that as it may, the SLFP has come a long way since 1956 and Bandaranaike policies, needless to say, could not fit in to this day and age, especially with the advent of concepts such as global village. Besides, the ideological and policy differences between the UNP and the SLFP is now blurred, although some individuals like Dullas Alahapperuma still romanticizes on the SLFP of the past. Who would have imagined that the once arch foes would one day jointly govern the country?

Chandrika, no doubt, deserves all the credit for transforming the SLFP and bringing it in tune with the modern times. It is a very thin line that now divides the UNP and the SLFP, which is increasingly getting blurred. This is a happy augury for the country which had regressed due to the vituperative and contentious politics of the two major parties, over the decades.

Mahinda Rajapaksa's lament of the SLFP ditching the policies of SWRD may have to do with the fact that it was his late father D.A. Rajapaksa who followed Bandaranaike “like his shadow” when the latter broke ranks with the UNP and crossed the floor of the House. But he should not allow sentimentality cloud his better judgement.

The Island Editorial

End of yahapalanaya?

28 April 2017

 

The yahapalana administration has unwittingly admitted that there is only one person with a backbone within its ranks. Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne told the media on Wednesday that the government had decided to prove that it had a backbone vis-a-vis what he called politically motivated protests. President Maithripala Sirisena would, he said, put Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka in charge of the armed forces and police to bring order out of chaos.

The government has apparently got cold feet perhaps due to strong public criticism as evident from Minister S. B. Dissanayake’s claim that something President said at a Cabinet meeting in a lighter vein had got blown out of proportion. If so, a statement to that effect should have been issued by either the President’s Office or the Cabinet Spokesman.

Even those who hold Fonseka in high esteem for the role he courageously played in ridding the country of terrorism may look askance at the President’s decision. Fonseka has consented to accept the new role the President wants him to play. A former unsuccessful presidential candidate, he must be happy that he has got an opportunity to boost his image.

The government has demonstrated that it is ready to go to any extent to overcome the so-called wimp factor troubling it and hold on to power. Here is another instance of the yahapalana regime acting in contravention of people’s sovereignty. Voters rejected Fonseka at the last parliamentary election. The UNP brought him to Parliament through the backdoor and made him a minister with no heed for the will of the people. Now, President Sirisena has decided to get him to tame trade unions etc. Thus, people will soon have their right to protest suppressed at the hands of a person they rejected at the last general election!

Now, it is clear that the yahapalana regime has so far acted with some restraint in dealing with protests etc because of its inability to crush them with might and main and not out of any concern for people’s democratic rights. The Rajapaksa regime branded anyone who opposed its autocratic rule a traitor in a bid to justify the suppression of his or her right to dissent. The yahapalana government is using the label, ‘conspirator’, for that purpose.

The self-proclaimed champions of good governance flayed the Rajapaksa government—and rightly so—for ‘militarising society’ by deploying the army and police to curb protests. But, today, they are emulating their predecessor; they have decided to task a former army chief turned minister who still wears military uniform to deal with protesters.

Time was when the yahapalana leaders raked Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, (who left the army much earlier than Fonseka), over the coals for acting like a military person in handling civilians. In fact, he thought and acted like a soldier; he amply demonstrated his demolition skills as the Defence Secretary. He had no qualms about having unauthorised houses pulled down. He simply bulldozed his way through. Now, they want Fonseka to play a similar role under the present dispensation!

The yahapalana regime and its immediate predecessor are Tweedledum and Tweedledee where corruption is concerned. Former Central Bank Deputy Governor Dr. W. A. Wijewardena, who was a bitter critic of the Rajapaksa government, has told the Presidential Commission of Inquiry probing bond scams that the bond rackets have cost the state coffers Rs. 10 billion. The Central bank professionals have revealed that the Employees’ Provident Fund has also suffered a loss of Rs. 10 bn due to bond scams. But, the culprits are still free and there is no end to probes though there is irrefutable, incriminating evidence against them. The only discernible difference between the two governments is that people have so far had some freedom to express their dissent. The champions of yahapalana are now all out to deprive the public of that freedom.

Fonseka stands accused of his involvement in attacks on journalists. It may be recalled that the UNP, making a special statement, told Parliament in 2008 that Fonseka as the then Army Commander had under him a special army team which carried out attacks on media persons under the Rajapaksa regime. Crimes against journalists in the past are being probed at present. Doesn’t President Sirisena think his decision to put Fonseka in charge of the armed forces and police will lead to a conflict of interest?

Fonseka has had no experience in handling public protests democratically because he has never faced such situations as a politician. True, he is back in Civvy Street, but the fact remains that he still walks like a soldier, talks like a soldier, thinks like a soldier and acts like a soldier. How he will try to bring order out of chaos is not difficult to guess.

It is hoped that at this rate the much-dreaded White Vans which the previous regime was notorious for won’t make a comeback with a ‘vengeance’.