Editorial

At least now, President Maithripala Sirisena seems to have realised his folly in the catastrophic decision of October 26 to eject his Prime Minister and instal another.

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is an old cliché, but so true. The incumbent President has shown all the qualities associated with that maxim and by now he must surely have felt the blowback from his own version of a ‘Great October Revolution’.

This may well be the reason why we saw a peace emissary turn up in Parliament on Thursday to offer an olive branch. He, a Minister of the new Government, conceded that the majority in Parliament must be recognised as the legitimate custodians of the office of Prime Minister and called for negotiations between the President, the Speaker and Opposition leaders. And on Friday night when they met, there was some movement towards a settlement of sorts – some light at the end of the tunnel.

We are told this move by the Minister had the imprimatur of the President, not the new Prime Minister who reacted angrily to the suggestion of a compromise. To many, it looked a face-saving measure on behalf of the President to defuse the situation, but no longer can these be treated as one-upmanship and prestige issues, when the nation’s future is at stake.

The President has indicated a willingness to compromise, but now the sticking point is backing down on his insistence that he will not re-appoint his former Prime Minister — despite him having the confidence of the majority of the Legislature. As far as the President is concerned, he is not only the Head of Government, but Head of State as well. While he can be an ordinary politician in his first role, he must act statesman-like in his second role. It is when the two roles overlap conflicting with one another that the people’s demand for the abolition of the Executive Presidency is even more justified.

The talks that were held on Friday could well be a delaying tactic by the President, spinning out the crisis with a veneer that he is doing something to help resolve it, but in fact, in the hope the Supreme Court gives a verdict in his favour when it meets next week. On the other hand, it could be a move to find a solution before a detrimental court order arrives on the weight of the evidence which would then be a slap in his face.

He is, by his own creation, faced with a determined Opposition, hurt and angry at their summary dismissal despite continuing to have a comfortable majority in Parliament. Then there is a recalcitrant new Government he has appointed and it is unwilling to attend Parliament and unable to pass laws trotting out lame excuse after feeble argument. It is another world record that Sri Lanka has created by having a Government that boycotts Parliament.

This hiatus is going to implode sooner than later unless issues are resolved. The Government has moved an extra-parliamentary Vote on Account to pass monies for Government expenditure, while simultaneously the Opposition has passed, by a substantive majority, a motion stopping the new Government from spending funds.

There is confusion all round and only China has shown willingness to sign contracts with the new Government. Serious allegations against the President are being levelled, with the JVP calling for him to personally pay for the damage caused to the economy and the country’s image.  Are we then on the cusp of a political settlement? It is the President who has positioned himself ‘between a rock and a hard place’ of his own making.

Disabled people part of inclusive society

Tomorrow, December 3, marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.  Countless numbers of Sri Lankans are suffering from both physical and mental disabilities – some temporary and some permanent. They have been made to endure their pain as Government inaction drags on regardless. The lethargy of an oversized Government in general, and insensitive officialdom in particular, are the problem.

Our INSIGHT report into this sluggishness (Page 10 today) explains the tardiness and apathy in implementing even Supreme Court orders and locally enacted legislation. At a time when Governments, Cabinets, Legislation and their conflicts are gripping the nation in the power struggle among politicians, the investigative report we publish shows how all this hot air often can mean very little to ordinary citizens and their day-to-day lives.

Way back in 2006, the then Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa gazetted, and a year later Parliament unanimously passed into the statute books, a comprehensive set of laws that gave guidelines to provide accessibility to persons with physical disability. This group includes many from the legacy of the recent armed conflict in Sri Lanka, soldiers and civilians alike.

With mushrooming new constructions in the cities, these not so new laws recognised the need for citizens with physical disabilities to have access to these high-rise buildings, be they apartment complexes or public housing, shopping malls or cinemas, hotels, or Government institutions like ministries and departments and banks.

These laws are universally accepted by the UN Convention for the Protection of the Rights of People with Disabilities, ratified by Sri Lanka’s Parliament in 2016. In economically advanced countries, such as Sri Lanka is always aspiring to be, a Government can be sued by a citizen for non-conformity with these laws. But in Sri Lanka, life takes its own pace, and time is not of the essence. The Social Services Ministry that has been tasked with the implementation of these laws, is also given step-motherly treatment and is, therefore, blissfully in the Land of Nod. Even a Supreme Court order made in 2011 – seven years ago, does not seem to wake up the ministry.

Activists are crying loudly for action. They want the lethargic bureaucracy to get a move on and see that these new constructions – and old ones, obey the laws of the land; that a Certificate of Conformity for new buildings must adhere to these rules. These activists have gone back to the Supreme Court on contempt charges accusing the Ministry of ignoring its fiat. And the Court has taken cognizance of these cries (see story on page 10).

Maybe the subject needs to be taken away from the Social Services Ministry and put under an active Minister, or someone who is himself, or herself physically disabled and feels the pain. But the Government itself is disabled these days and marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in such circumstances seems farcical. No longer should thousands of people be made to feel their “restricted ability” rather than “inability” requires them to languish on the fringes of society for the rest of their lives, and marginalised because the Government has been too slow in making them inclusive, active members of our society.