PM seeks Indian support for peace
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is going to New Delhi next week for
talks with Indian leaders with a view to seeking Indian assistance to initiate
a dialogue with the LTTE as soon as possible, authoritative UNP sources
said.
Mr. Wickremesinghe's visit from December 22 to 24 for talks with Premier
Atal Behari Vajpayee and others would be the first phase of a new peace
initiative, they said.
Mr. Wickremesinghe is also expected to meet Defence Minister George
Fernandes, Home Minister L.K. Advani and Congress party Leader Sonia Gandhi.
Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando who will accompany the premier for
the talks in New Delhi said the ethnic issue would be high on the agenda
while other bi-lateral matters would also be taken up.
'We will ask the Indian government in what way it could help us to solve
the ethnic crisis," Mr. Fernando said. Responding to the premier's initiative,
Tamil National Alliance leader R. Sampanthan said his party believed India
could facilitate the process of resuming peace talks. He said the TNA which
supported the UNF peace policy during the election campaign believed that
top priority should be given to the issue.
Green light for Rosmead Place also?
Following the re-opening of Galle Road, in front of Temple Trees, for passenger
transport 24 hours a day, starting Friday, the possibility of re-opening
Rosmead Place is now being examined.
Colombo's DIG Gerard Ignatius said a request had been received to re-open
Rosmead Place to traffic, however, it would be necessary to consult the
PSD and MSD personnel who were previously in charge.
Galle Road had been closed for vehicular traffic for more than seven
years, since November 1994.
The Sunday Times Economic Analysis
Resurrecting a fallen economy
By the Economist
The new Minister of Finance will have a tough task on his hands as he attempts
to revive and restore the fallen economy. The economy is in bad shape for
many reasons. At least three reasons in particular requires mentioning
here.
First, during the last year we have had no proper economic management.
The political concerns absorbed nearly all of the attention and energies
of the government. Second, the election resulted in the government spending
recklessly and adopting a number of policies aimed at securing its political
popularity. Like many governments before, they hardly achieved the objective
of gaining adequate votes to gain power once again. What it succeeded in
doing however was to empty the treasury. The measures taken by the government
appears to have not only depleted the resources in the treasury but even
resulted in huge expenditures from other funds and borrowings that have
to be made good.
Third, the finance minister's task is made difficult, as he has to restore
the national economy at a time when the international economy is not faring
well. In fact it can be said that the international economy is almost in
a recession. The positive note on which the finance minister takes office
is that there is a new exuberance and buoyancy in the air. The public,
and particularly the business community, has confidence in the new government
providing the leadership and required policies for the country's development.
This psychological boost is an important contributor to actual economic
performance. The psychological foundations for economic performance are
a little understood area in economics, yet expectations rational or irrational,
play a substantial role in economic decision making and therefore economic
performance.
It is however important that this spirit of optimism and sense of expectations
of greater achievements in the future are not frittered away. Many of the
fiscal difficulties that the government has to face arose due to the previous
government not been accountable in its expenditures. It is absolutely necessary
that the new parliament gets down to tightening parliamentary accountability
of public expenditure. It is an accepted fact that parliamentary control
of public finances has weakened beyond recognition.
Early in 2002 a parliamentary committee, with the help of expertise
in this field, must devise the ways and means of ensuring the accountability
of funds. The Public Accounts Committee has a lead role to play. Its composition
must be appropriately selected and it must perform its functions with as
serious a sense of purpose as was performed by this committee in the first
two decades of parliamentary government. One of the first functions of
the government would be to present a clear statement of the current situation
of the economy without political rhetoric that would cloud the facts and
achieve no benefit.
Let us forget the last "Seven Years" as much as the previous "17 Years"
and get down to a proper appraisal of the state of the economy and the
government's financial situation. A clear statement of the government's
economic policies must follow this. In the precarious financial situation
the country is in, it would be essential to take the people into confidence
and explain the financial predicament honestly.
Without such an approach it would not be possible to take the correct
economic decisions. Many of the correct economic decisions are not palatable
to the people, but unless these are taken immediately the long-term future
of the economy is at risk. The first budget would have to face up to the
difficulties of coping with the difficult financial position of the government
as well as the problems arising from the global economic downturn.
An important factor would be the assistance that the international community
could give us. The Prime Minister has recognised this. One of the first
persons he met, even before settling the cabinet selection, was the Representative
of the IMF. The multilateral agencies would have to play an important role
in the reconstruction of the economy. They must recognise that they now
have a government they can do business with.
They must extend their fullest support with an understanding of the
Sri Lankan polity. They must use their imagination rather than prescribe
their policies without recognition of the broader context of the country's
socio-political situation. The task of economic reconstruction will not
be an easy one.
Three factors that could make the task easier are the confidence of
the business community, ushering in of peace and international support.
These three the government must make every effort to obtain.
Time to build new image
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has done it again; it has tried to keep
someone who is not a Bandaranaike away from the leadership role and this
time the victim is Mahinda Rajapakse. No one of course suspects the credentials
of ex-Premier Ratnasiri Wikremanayake to be leader of the Opposition but
then that is hardly the correct choice, considering his age and the fact
that a general election will not be due for another six years.
And this inability to accommodate leaders other than those from the
Bandaranaike clan appears to be an innate defect in the SLFP from which
it is unable to extricate itself, settling always for compromises which
would save face but cost the party in the long run.
We are not saying that Sirima Bandaranaike replacing SWRD was a bad
decision. In hindsight, the late lady did remarkably well but that was
the beginning of the trend.
When Ms. B lost her seat in Parliament in the late seventies there was
chaos in the SLFP and the result was a compromise- Lakshman Jayakody- being
nominated to replace her.
Thereafter, presidential elections in 1982 posed another problem because
Ms. B was still disenfranchised and a second compromise was chosen- Hector
Kobbekaduwa, a mild-mannered and peaceful gentleman who was no match for
the might of JRJ and there began an era of decline for the SLFP.
Therefore it seemed logical that a threat to a Bandaranaike succeeding
Sirima could only have come from another Bandaranaike and so it came to
be that the siblings Anura and Chandrika began fighting among themselves
with Chandrika edging out her more experienced brother.
It was then that the SLFP was able to return to power. But in the interim
of all this, many a promising SLFP leader has fallen by the wayside or
crossed over , disillusioned and disgusted with the way the party treated
them: C. P. de Silva, Maithripala Senanayake and now, Mahinda Rajapakse.
This is no brief for Rajapakse and we hold no grouse against Anura Bandaranaike
either. But it is obvious, except for those who are blind and do not wish
to see, that the SLFP needs a new image if it is to recover from its electoral
setback because, as the poll results showed, President Kumaratunga's rhetoric
has lost all credibility.
Besides, beset with security concerns and her executive powers now restricted,
her ability to steer the party will be limited, at best. Leading a party
in power is easy. Leading a party in opposition is difficult. Already cracks
are appearing in the Peoples' Alliance. Former Justice Minister Batty Weerakoon
has gone to court over a National List MP slot. Alavi Moulana too has been
left out.
We hope, for democracy's sake that this is not the beginning of the
end for the PA or the SLFP.
A final sobering thought for the SLFP: okay, let's say Anura B succeeds
sister Chandrika.
But thereafter, who? Shouldn't that at least prompt the party to look
elsewhere?
Polls day rape victim blames police inaction
By Tania Fernando
A Swiss woman who was allegedly raped by a gang of robbers on election
day has accused the Tangalle Police of doing little to arrest the culprits.
The 52-year-old woman who has been living in Tangalle for the past three
years told The Sunday Times that she lodged a complaint with the police
after she was assaulted and raped by four robbers who stormed her house,
but todate she had received no information from the police on the status
of the investigation.
She said she was subjected to a medical examination. The robbers had
also got away with Rs. 30,000 in cash, according to her complaint.
Tangalle's Chief Inspector told The Sunday Times the investigation was
on but no breakthrough had been made as the suspects had left no fingerprints
at the scene of the crime.
"We are yet to get the medical report and it takes about two to three
weeks for that. It is not easy," he said.
Meanwhile, a Swiss embassy official said they were in touch with Police
and awaiting the medical report to take a decision.
Ticket shock for SriLankan's retired employees
Sri Lankan Airlines employees who accepted a voluntary severance scheme
(VSS) package offered by the company claim that the management has violated
the agreement by withdrawing the concessionary air tickets they are entitled
to.
A spokesperson for the retired employees said a condition stipulated
in the VSS contract was that they would receive five airline tickets but
the airline was now demanding that unless a payment made to them by mistake
was returned to the company, they would not get the tickets.
"When we accepted the VSS we were told that the company would be saving
millions of rupees by not paying us wages. Why are they now coming back
for a few thousand rupees?" she asked claiming that their retirement agreement
contained a clause that said there were no further outstanding disputes
with the company.
"These additional allowances have been paid by the company due to a
computer error and when the mistake was brought to their notice by a staff
member they did not look into it at that time. This extra monies were paid
for June, July and August," the spokesperson said.
When The Sunday Times contacted Sri Lankan Airlines, a senior official
promised to get back to us, but till the edition went to press there was
no response. |
