Columns

One was Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, who presented the Government’s first budget last Tuesday. The other, a day later, was President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s address to the nation to mark his first year in office. For both, the spectre of an uncontrollable, deadly disease becoming a bigger national crisis, was not lost. Not even with contradictory messages coming from different arms of the Government and a convenient news blackout of disturbing aspects of the crisis.

Making matters worse this week was the shutdown of Temple Trees, the official residence of the Prime Minister, from where Mahinda Rajapaksa operated. Staff there have been told not to report for work until they were notified. The move came as some personnel of the Police commando arm, the Special Task Force (STF), who were on duty were found positive with Covid-19. Police, which must deal with the public, are facing the brunt of the epidemic. They are making a remarkable sacrifice foregoing leave and facing untold hardships.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa delivering his address to the nation to mark the completion of his first year in office

In the preamble to his 45-page budget speech, Premier Rajapaksa took the unusual step of underscoring Sri Lanka’s “geopolitical significance.” He believed that “India will be a powerful economy in the world in the next decade.” He also believed “China together with several other Asian countries will be amongst the five most powerful economies in the world.” That seemed to be his brief outline of a “neutral foreign policy” amidst western claims of Beijing’s dominance over Colombo.

There were increasing signs in western capitals of pressure moves on the Government over several issues is in the making. This is ahead of the March 2021 sessions of the UN Human Rights Council. The US-backed resolution on Sri Lanka is to figure there. They have been buoyed by the victory of Joe Biden as the next US President though a controversy over the transition continues. Biden is strongly committed to human rights and has an enormous wealth of knowledge in foreign relations.

Interesting enough, it came amidst a call this week by Min Ye, professor of international relations at Boston University. He called for a revision of “the narrative of debt entrapment policy “as a describer of China’s outbound investment/loans/projects.” According to The Politico, the American political journalism website’s China Watch, “Serious studies conducted by scholars and researchers at US-based institutions have disapproved this narrative, whether it refers to Sri Lanka or Pakistan, or elsewhere. Surveys of recipient countries have shown that the ruling elites there do not support this narrative, and when the US pushes such framing, they found it offensive and patronising.”

During his visit to Sri Lanka last month, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo told President Rajapaksa that Sri Lanka was caught in a debt trap to China – a charge he flatly denied. US diplomats speak of Trump administration’s displeasure over the outcome of Pompeo’s Colombo visit.

In the past weeks, Premier Rajapaksa, who marked his 75th birthday on Wednesday, has been going through a punishing schedule. So much so, he was exhausted. He sought a ten-minute break midway as he read the Budget speech. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena seized the opportunity to extend it to 30 minutes – a tea break, for the first time before the reading ended. Just the day before the budget, (Monday) Rajapaksa hosted Presidential Secretary, P. B. Jayasundera and the Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle to breakfast at his Wijerama residence. He had wanted the budget speech to be read out by one of his nominees. However, it was Jayasundera who had persuaded him to read the entire speech. He felt it was better though he could have read a few paragraphs and tabled the speech. That episode became a whip hand for opposition politicians, and the Government’s detractors including the social media.

The Premier complained to confidants that for his heavy build, the space between the chair and table in Parliament was not sufficient to comfortably stand up. He has been medically advised to reduce weight. One of them remarked laughingly that the measurements were made by the Japanese who constructed the Parliament complex. They were generally short and small-made, he quipped. The Premier was back again on a tough schedule on Wednesday travelling to five different engagements outside the Greater Colombo area. To prove he was fit enough, Rajapaksa whose first task after waking up at pre-dawn, is to exercise at a small gym at home, he guffawed with laughter with those who wished him many happy returns.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa presenting the 2021 Budget proposals in Parliament on Tuesday. Pix by Parliamentary photographer

The ongoing economic crisis, the result of the raging Covid-19 epidemic, acted as a constraint in providing relief to poorer sections. Yet, the compulsory retirement age of state sector employees, which is now 55, has been raised to 60 years for both men and women. Laws are to be amended for this purpose. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce declared it welcomed the budget as business friendly, production oriented and demonstrative of policy continuity. Other major highlights of the budget appear elsewhere in this newspaper together with responses from different sectors.

Colombo district Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) parliamentarian, Harsha de Silva, an economist, echoed the common sentiment of the opposition when he said there was “nothing for the suffering masses.” Speaking during debate on the Budget’s second reading in Parliament, he said that “the economy has totally collapsed due to the worse impact of Covid-19 pandemic.” What has been offered so far, he said, was a moratorium on repayment of loans and similar concessions. There was an imperative need for a stimulus package, he pointed out. However, even if it was not branded that way, such a package has already been given to the private sector and is now being renewed for a further period by the Central Bank.

A much stronger criticism on the budget came from Malik Samarawickrema, a onetime Chairman of the United National Party (UNP) and former Minister. He appeared to suggest that some of the proposals that were offered were from the previous Yahapalana government. He told the Sunday Times, “The Budget is unrealistic and nothing but a fake. The Government must stop fooling the people and make them understand the serious situation we are in. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the whole world. Our exports and foreign earnings have gone down drastically, and our reserves are dwindling. This is not the time to increase the expenditure. The debt burden should also be enhanced. It is inevitable that the Rupee be depreciated, to increase exports and bring in much needed foreign currency.

“The revenue estimates for 2021 is a figment of someone’s imagination. The estimated revenue for 2020 is Rs 1,588 billion but realistically it will be around Rs 1,300 billion at best. To forecast the revenue to be Rs 2,000 billion in 2021 is nothing but a pipedream, more so with so many restrictions on exports. On the other hand, it is encouraging to note that the Rajapaksa administration is proceeding with the export strategy and the investment initiatives initiated by the former Government. The Government has adopted the National Export strategy developed by the former Ministry of International Trade and Development Strategies, (post was held by Samarawickrema), the Export Development Board and the private sector.

“The Government will also go ahead with the Eravur Zone, which was much criticised by the Rajapaksas themselves, the Hambantota Export Zone and the Milleniya  zone — all initiatives of the former administration. What is more interesting is that the Government has decided to enter into Free Trade Agreements and will recommence negotiations with China, India, and will look at FTAs with Japan, South Korea, the EU and the UK.”

The once powerful UNP, which has no representation in Parliament, not even for the bonus seat they received, said in a statement , “The Government has embarked on an economic model of increased borrowings for 2021, without any clear plan to increase the revenue in the country. The mismanagement of the economy by the Mahinda Rajapaksa government pre-2015 had placed Sri Lanka on the cusp of a debt crisis. The course alterations adopted by the UNP ensured that government revenue was increased. This resulted in the government achieving a primary surplus in 2017 (the first time since 1954) and enjoyed three consecutive years of primary surplus.

“The budget presented by Minister of Finance indicates there is no clear debt sustainability for the year 2021. The UNP is further concerned by the lack of transparency on the part of the Government regarding the country’s public finances. The delay in releasing the 2nd quarter and 3rd quarter economic figures will have an adverse impact on the country’s credit ratings. The Government has already seen the country’s credit rating downgraded twice this past year. If the Government continues to refuse to release the necessary economic indicators for the 2nd and 3rd quarters, the international credit rating agencies will be forced to estimate based on external figures.”

As the second reading of the budget continues in Parliament, reminiscences of the past come to mind. Both from the government and the opposition benches, there were worthy and dispassionate contributions that enriched the debate. Alas, except for a few in opposition and government benchers, most speakers on the government side, including newcomers, their contribution was nothing less than a thanksgiving. They sang hosannas for their leaders, a faithful exercise which seemed political insurance cover for the future. That left little time for substance. That appears to be a new culture.

For President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, what he was unable to say during his address to the nation, ironic enough, was a matter for much disappointment. The jewel on the crown of his address would have been to tell Sri Lankans how he successfully fought the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic keeping numbers low and the death figure at single digit. Yet, he acknowledged that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised the control of the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. He declared, “If all of us adhere to health guidelines and fulfil our respective duties as responsible citizens we can control this new situation in the future in the same manner we handled the first wave of the coronavirus.”

Some people in the anti-Covid 19 operation failed in their duties somewhere, failed miserably enough to deny him that honour. So much so, the social media took over with biting criticism. A fine thread that ran through a few of them was the reference to the acronym GF or Gota Failed. That became the password for detractors of the Government in Colombo’s telephone circuit. It naturally angered him. On top of that came heavier criticism over the alleged conduct of a few around his immediate circle focusing on business and financial gains.

Thus, President Rajapaksa’s recorded address, televised on Wednesday night, was a mix — a strong response to his detractors, a re-iteration of the pledges he made during the presidential election campaign and a detailed catalogue of what he has achieved thereafter in one year. He made clear, “I am a person who has constantly faced challenges and overcome them. I am not a person scared of empty threats. I do not have the habit of simply running away from problems. Instead, I resolve those issues.”

“The best yardstick of the success or failure of mine,” President Rajapaksa said, “is the public opinion and not the organised propaganda spread by political opponents on social media platforms.” This, no doubt, is an acknowledgement that the national media has an important role in reflecting public opinion. They are easily the most important yardstick. Other than surveys or protests which are not altogether representative, there are no means of correctly discerning public opinion. Public views are printed or heard over the electronic media, both television and radio every day.

Withholding or blacking out important information which the public should know in official announcements does not help. It only lowers the confidence of the people in the Government. Take for example, the continued official reporting of confirmed Covid-19 cases. Announcements simply say the victims were contacts of others who were infected. That much is common sense. No details are given. If they did, a person wishing to travel to the area where the victim was found will not do so. That is how public cooperation becomes most useful. Drawing more criticism earlier was the strange deletion of references to the Brandix cluster.

These have cast serious doubts in the public mind that figures and facts are being managed and this has lowered the Government’s popularity in a big way. This is in addition to contradictory statements by different parties involved in the anti-Covid-19 campaign. There are claims by sections of the Government that the Brandix cluster is no more. Yet, there were public concerns of reported moves to brush the issue under the carpet. Now, the explosion there has become the subject of a high-level inquiry by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). This again is because Attorney General Dappula de Livera, single handedly pursued the matter when high level pressure moves were under way. Is this by itself not an acknowledgement that the first wider spread of the dangerous virus came from there? Did it not spread to the Peliyagoda fish market thereafter? Who was responsible for it? Is simply saying that the cluster is no more, the answer? The lack of transparency is patently showing.

Take for example the appointment Dr Jayaruwan Bandara as the Media spokesperson for the Health Ministry. Before this, he was acting Director of the Medical Research Institute (MRI). He was asked to revert to his original post as Deputy Director with the reported return of the original incumbent. Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi named him spokesperson for her Ministry. Just this week, she removed him.

This is what Dr Bandara told the Sunday Times, “Five days ago the Health Minister telephoned me. She said that her Ministry Secretary and the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) were with her. She said from now on it would be the DGHS who would be making media statements. I had to revert to the MRI as Deputy Director.” Asked whether he was issued a formal letter of appointment, Dr Bandara replied, “No, there was no letter given to me. There was no office or media staff. I functioned from the MRI.” That this is the situation in the Ministry of Health when the Corvid-19 pandemic rages is a serious indictment.

It was immediately after President Rajapaksa summoned a meeting of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 prevention that its role was broadened. Basil Rajapaksa, who heads a task force on economic recovery, was invited to this meeting together with others. The very next day (November 2) Basil Rajapaksa summoned a meeting (also attended by Covid Task Force members). He took over the responsibility of overlooking the working of the food supply chain. His meeting was attended by District Secretaries, Governors of Provinces and Co-operative Society representatives, among others. He said it was the responsibility of the Governors and District Secretaries to introduce lockdowns. They were also asked to oversee the adoption of quarantine measures at homes. The move to avoid lockdowns and curfews was the wish of President Rajapaksa. Yet, sections in the Government spoke out publicly about possible curfew thus causing a destabilising effect.

This week’s official figures obtained by the Sunday Times of those afflicted with Covid-19 showed a rapidly rising trend.

Monday: Positive COVID-19 cases -387 (From Peliyagoda fish market, associates, and fisheries harbours 382, from quarantine centers 05)

Three deaths reported. The deceased are from Moratuwa, Colombo 10 and 13.

Tuesday: positive cases were 401. (From Peliyagoda fish market, associates and fisheries harbours 398, from quarantine centers 3) Five deaths reported. The deceased are from Ratmalana, Kirulapone, Dematagoda, Colombo 02 and 10

Significant incidents on Tuesday

• Another 68 prison inmates tested positive for COVID -19
• In the budget 2021, a new insurance scheme was proposed for the employees of Covid-affected sectors.

Wednesday: Total numbers of confirmed Covid-19 positive cases were

327 (From Peliyagoda fish market, associates, and fisheries harbours

325, from quarantine centers 02). Three deaths occurred. The deceased were from Kandana, Colombo 12 and 13.

Significant incidents on Wednesday

• A gazette notification declaring Sri Lanka Ports Authority operations of as an essential service was issued. This was due to poor attendance of employees. A total of 19 tested positive last week.

Thursday: The total numbers confirmed positive were 439 (From

Peliyagoda fish market and associates 437, quarantine centers 02

Four Deaths were reported from Colombo 10, 15 and from Kalutara.

Other significant developments on Thursday.

• Government decided to re-open schools on November 23, Grade 6 to 13 classes of all schools will be opened. However, schools in the Western Province and lockdown areas will remain closed.
• Special ambulance services to be introduced in isolated areas within the Colombo Municipal Council area.
• A mother and a son, who were treated at the IDH for Covid-19, escaped from hospital. They were from Eheliyagoda

Friday: The total numbers of positive cases were 439 (From Peliyagoda fish market, associates, and fisheries harbors 435) One death reported.

Significant developments

• The child who went missing at IDH while obtaining treatment for Covid-19 was found at Eheliyagoda. Mother still not found.
• The British Department for Transport has announced that travellers returning to England from Sri Lanka will no longer need to quarantine from November 21.
• Total deaths 74. For the week, the deaths were 17.
• Total number of Covid-19 positive cases is 19,280. (Note: 15,764 are from the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters according to the official statistics yesterday.
• Total number recovered 13,590. Patients in hospitals 5616

President Rajapaksa began his address with a reference to the Sinhala majority voting him to office “because they had legitimate fears that the Sinhala race, our religion, national resources and the heritage would be threatened with destruction in the face of various local and foreign forces and ideologies that support separatism, extremism and terrorism.” This was a repetition of the remarks he made when he took his oaths as President at the RuwanweliMaha Seya in Anuradhapura. He, however, added that “an administration that protects the rights of all citizens regardless of racial or religious differences will be established during my tenure.”

The list of his achievements took a major part of his address. Some critical comments on the previous Yahapalana government and a brief enunciation of foreign policy were also made by President Rajapaksa. He said, “The era of betraying war heroes, selling national assets, willingness to accept any deal for short-term gains and allowing foreign forces to interfere in the internal affairs of the country have now come to an end. We have once again shown the world our position as a proud, sovereign country, ready to maintain friendly relations with all the nations, non-aligned, non-partisan in conflicts between powerful nations. This is the reason today why we receive due respect from regional powers as well as global powers.”

On Thursday, President Rajapaksa took part in the proceedings in Parliament – a constitutional requirement that he does so every three months. He left Parliament after lunch together with brother Mahinda in the MPs’ canteen there. Earlier, when the government parliamentary group met on Tuesday, there were two additions. They were SJB parliamentarians Aravindh Kumar (Badulla district) and Diana Gamage (National List). Both voted with the Government when the 20th amendment to the Constitution was passed in Parliament.

Barely three months after the parliamentary elections, the SJB formally has lost two MPs to the government ranks. This means that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) Government has one more than a two-thirds majority in Parliament. The challenge before SJB leader Sajith Premadasa is whether he will initiate disciplinary action against all his MPs who voted for 20A. He has said that he suspended Gamage pending inquiry, but she claimed she had already resigned.

For President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the coming weeks, is of importance. Yesterday, the vote on the second reading of the budget took place. The House will from tomorrow go into the Committee Stage debate, beginning with the vote on the Presidency. The final vote is due on December 10.

With the seasonal break thereafter, the Sunday Times learns that the President would carry out a Cabinet re-shuffle in January next year. Since 20A now allows him to retain any portfolio, he is expected to retain two ministries –Defence and Technology. The now defunct 19A had caused an anomaly with no reference to the President overseeing the subject of defence though he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. As the Minister in charge of technology, all matters related to development of IT will come under his purview.

State Minister Sarath Weerasekera, it is learnt, will be elevated to Law and Order Minister. Coming under this new Ministry will be the Police Department and the Civil Defence force. A member of President Rajapaksa’s Viyath Maga, Weerasekera won the highest number of preference votes in the Colombo district. This was the second highest in the entire country after the number of preference votes Premier Rajapaksa received in the Kurunegala district. Chamal Rajapaksa will continue to remain as State Minister of Defence.

Government sources said yesterday that Basil Rajapaksa is most likely to enter Parliament by January next year. This will pave the way for his inclusion in the Cabinet of Ministers. This week he has been under pressure from both President Rajapaksa and Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa to enter Parliament.

An equally important feature beginning January would be the introduction of a set of laws, mostly to give legal effect to budget proposals. However, it will also include changes to the Provincial Council election laws. This is on the basis that in terms of existing laws, PC elections would have to be held. As reported in these columns last week, Nimal Punchihewa, who has among other positions functioned as a legal advisor to the Election Commission, will now be its chairman. He is an Attorney-at-Law. Another official who will be added to the Commission is Nimal Wakista, a former Director of the State Intelligence Service (SIS), the country’s premier spy agency. A former Supreme Court Judge, Jagath Balapatabendi, has been named Chairman of the Public Service Commission. Acting Inspector General of Police, Chandana Wickremeratne, is to be confirmed in his position.

New laws for PC polls are confirmation that the Government plans to conduct elections thereafter. A government source said Governors were functioning for nine provinces with no PCs in place. “There is a strong need to rectify this situation,” the source said. However, an influential section of the government is not in favour of the 13th amendment under which the PCs are set up. They want it abolished and some of the backers for the move claim it may not find a place in the new draft Constitution. In his address to the nation, President Rajapaksa said “even though we were able to eliminate the problematic situation created by the 19th Amendment to the Constitution by passing the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, a few controversial aspects still remained. We have already appointed a Committee to seek public opinion to draft a new Constitution.”

It is not easy to simply abolish the PCs or for that matter repeal 13A. It is a subject which is a part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987. Be that as it may, a PC election which is ahead would be the first litmus test for the Government which won the August parliamentary election with the two-thirds majority.

One need not be a prophet or a soothsayer to say that the steadily rising number of Covid-19 cases could reach higher levels by the year’s end. The degree, however, rests in the hands of those responsible for fighting the deadly virus. After an initial outbreak for 52 days, in the second heavy resurgence was caused when some persons faulted. The country is now paying a heavy price.

The first and the foremost matter is to ensure that those dealing with the crisis speak in one voice, ensure transparency, and not resort to news management. That will ensure that the public, who are now accused of not co-operating, will be on board. It will obviate the Government’s own accusation, a fact which is only partly true. The other part is the outbreak in prisons where the inmates have remained confined. What happened there? The longer the issues are delayed, the longer suffers the Government’s reputation, though the President himself has been in office for just one year.