News
Smoke over BOC loan to stockpile cigarettes; and heat over Ramanayake’s seat in Parliament
Over the past year, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Government has faced criticism that certain businessmen close to Government higher-ups are profiting off those connections in dubious ways. The accusations have been made most recently regarding the controversial Ukrainian tourism project spearheaded by Udayanga Weeratunga and about hotels being used to house Sri Lankans returning from abroad under paid quarantine.
A fresh allegation of the same nature came up in Parliament on Tuesday (19) when National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) had approved a loan amounting to a staggering Rs 3.15 billion to a private company with connections with the Government. The company had sought the loan last year to stockpile cigarettes in the belief that the price of cigarettes would be increased in the 2021 Budget.
Mr Dissanayake revealed in Parliament that the firm in question, D.S. Gunasekara (Pvt) Ltd., had applied for the loan from the BoC’s Katuwana branch on September 1, 2020.
“Muditha Gunasekara, who is the son of the owner, is at present the Chairman of the Pulmudai Mineral Sands Company. Some ministers stayed over at his house in Colombo recently while some Government higher ups went to his house when they visited Anuradhapura. He is a close associate of this Government. The loan the company requested from the Katuwana bank branch could not be paid even if they put the branch building up for sale. They have applied for a pledge loan, putting the goods that they are seeking to purchase as collateral,” Mr Dissanayake told Parliament.
Mr Dissanayake queried whether it was Government policy to allow state banks to approve loans to stockpile liquor and cigarettes in the belief that their prices would increase in future.
The Budget was presented in November while the company applied for the loan in the first week of September. It had been approved by senior area officials of the bank. The request had then made its way to the BoC’s Board of Directors, where one member of the board had raised concerns, questioning whether this was the right sector that a state owned bank, should promote. He had also pointed out that the Government’s policy was to discourage tobacco consumption, the MP noted.
“The director had further pointed out that approving this loan would mean that tax revenue destined for the Treasury would be diverted into the hands of a private businessman. Yet, despite the director’s objections, the board ultimately approved the loan. For some reason however, the prices of cigarettes were not increased by the Budget. If it had been, the money due to the Treasury would have been lost. The Finance Minister must explain to the House as to how this loan was approved.”
The question of whether Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Gampaha District MP Ranjan Ramanayake, sentenced to four years Rigorous Imprisonment by the Supreme Court for contempt of court, could attend Parliament, was also a topic of heated debate during this week’s Parliamentary sittings.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa questioned Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Tuesday as to why Mr Ramanayake was not in Parliament. Mr Premadasa noted that the Chairman of the Election Commission had stated publicly that Mr Ramanayake’s seat would only become vacant after a period of six months from the date of conviction. “That statement implies that Mr Ramanayake’s seat will not fail vacant for six months. We have consulted legal experts on the matter and we are of the view that Mr Ramanayake’s Parliamentary seat will not fail vacant at all under the Constitution,” the Opposition leader claimed.
The fours years Rigorous Imprisonment sentenced handed down to Mr Ramanayake is “unprecedented and exceptionally severe,” said Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Jaffna District MP M.A. Sumanthiran. Mr Sumanthiran, who appeared for Mr Ramanayake as his counsel during the contempt of court trial, said Parliament had a responsibility on the matter as it was yet to enact a law for contempt of court. This means that the court has wide discretion to give any sentence it wishes for the offence, which is not a good thing, he added.
“We are not happy that Ranjan Ramanayake was sentenced to prison. We regret the outcome, Justice Minister Ali Sabry told Parliament. Mr Sabry however, insisted that Mr Ramanayake was disqualified from being an MP or even an elector under Article 89 (d) of the Constitution.
Some SJB MPs had pointed out that the Speaker had allowed Ratnapura District Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MP Premalal Jayasekara to take oaths and attend Parliament sittings despite him being sentenced to death after being convicted of murder. Justice Minister Sabry though, noted that Mr Jayasekara was sentenced by a High Court and so has appealed his sentence to a higher court. Mr Ramanayake on the other hand, had been convicted by the Supreme Court. Unlike Mr Jayasekara, Mr Ramanayake has no further grounds to appeal, the Justice Minister asserted.
The Speaker meanwhile, said he would need time to study the matter in detail and consult legal experts before making a decision on whether to allow Mr Ramanayake to attend sessions or to rule that he is no longer eligible to sit as an MP. He invited MPs to make any further submissions in writing during the next two weeks. He pledged to announce a decision within three weeks.
Parliament only sat for two days this week, with the Committee on Parliamentary Business deciding to cut down the week’s sittings from the four days initially scheduled to two after one more MP and nine other persons connected to Parliament tested positive for COVID-19. A decision on upcoming sittings is due to be taken by the Committee when it meets again.